My husband came home from the grocery store last night with Hot Cross Buns. I was surprised because they had never had them before Ash Wednesday in past years. I almost refused to eat …
National Grammar Day is observed across the United States each year on March 4th. According to Global Language Monitor, the estimated number of words in the English language is 1,025,109. There is some controversy to that …
Today would probably have been a better day for the Music Man post since it’s about marching forth on March Fourth. In honor of dedicated musicians and performers of many diverse styles and backgrounds, Marching Music …
My Little Free Library has a *few* Dr Seuss books in it Meanwhile… Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, where I also grew up and went to High School. The Springfield …
“Scotland the Brave” (Scottish Gaelic: Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song. It was one of several songs considered an unofficial national anthem of Scotland. My cellphone ringtone is Scotland the Brave. At any …
National Flag Day is celebrated annually in the United States on June 14. This day commemorates the adoption of the United States flag on June 14, 1777.
On National Flag Day, Americans show respect for the U.S. Flag and what it represents. Our independence and unity as a nation is represented by our flag. The flag has become a powerful symbol of Americanism and is flown proudly.
Betsy Ross is given credit, by many, for creating the first American flag. Since 1977, the design of the flag has been officially modified 26 times. For 47 years, the 48-star flag was in effect. In 1959, the 49-star version became official on July 4. President Eisenhower ordered the 50-star flag on August 21, 1959.
Seventeen-year-old Robert G. Heft of Ohio is credited with designing the 50-star American flag. Of the more than 1,500 designs that were submitted to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his was chosen.
Most all these comments are way too close for comfort!
It has been said that “no one escapes childhood unscathed.” But sayings like these can have an especially significant meaning for a person who has experienced emotional abuse as a child. The effects of emotional abuse can be both debilitating and far-reaching, often extending out of childhood and into adolescence and adulthood. For many, experiencing emotional abuse at a young age can affect their self-worth and relationships. For some, emotional abuse may even have contributed to a current struggle with mental illness.
We wanted to know what kinds of effects childhood emotional abuse can have on adulthood, so we asked our mental health community to share one thing they do now that stemmed from the emotional abuse they experienced in their upbringing.
No matter what your experience of childhood abuse was, it is important to remember hope is never lost and there is help out there…
National Donald Duck Day is observed annually on June 9th. This day commemorates the birthday of the funny animal cartoon character, Donald Duck. Donald made his first screen debut on June 9, 1934, in The Wise Little Hen.
Donald Duck usually wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie and is most famous for his semi-intelligible speech along with his mischievous and irritable personality
Donald Duck has appeared in more films than any other Disney character. Donald was also declared in 2002 by TV Guide as one of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all times.
It was in Donald’s second appearance in Orphan’s Benefit that he was introduced to his comic friend, Mickey Mouse. Donald’s girlfriend, Daisy Duck, along with his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, were introduced shortly after that.
In addition to animation, Donald is also known for his appearance in comic books and newspaper comic strips.
One of Donald Duck’s famous sayings is “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.”
Observed annually on the first Sunday in June, National Cancer Survivor’s Day has been set aside to “demonstrate that life after a cancer diagnosis can be a reality.”
Each year on National Cancer Survivor’s Day, events and celebrations are held and hosted around the United States by local communities, hospitals and support groups honoring cancer survivors. Events may include parades, carnivals, art exhibits, contests and testimonies. President George W. Bush and the National Cancer Institute director each included a commencement at the 2008 celebration.
So today is my day and my mom’s day and countless other people’s day. I’m a kidney cancer survivor – 12 years now!
My mom survived colon cancer TWICE
My sister-in-law survived breast cancer TWICE
My DH survived melanoma and is working hard at surviving prostate cancer.
It hasn’t been all good though. There have been many more in my extended family who did not survive, including my dad and my aunt.
Congratulations to the survivors on this special “Who Knew” holiday, National Cancer Survivor’s Day
May 30, of each year, National Hole in My Bucket Day is observed. This wacky holiday is in honor of the fun children’s song; There’s a Hole in My Bucket.
The song which has origins in 1700 Germany, is about a back and forth conversation between Henry and Liza. Henry needs to fix his leaky bucket. In each stanza, Henry asks Liza for advice. In the end, he needs a bucket to carry water to repair his bucket.
What if every children’s song had its own national day? Sheesh!
Thanks, Grandpa… You weren’t American, but you fought valiantly for the cause overseas.
I never met my grandfather. He had died in Peshawar, India, fighting for the Black Watch during World War l. Peshawar was on the northern frontier of British India, near the Khyber Pass.
In 1947, Peshawar became part of the newly independent state of Pakistan after politicians approved merger into the state that had just been carved from British India.
We have a trunk of his belongings, though, and it’s very interesting to recreate his life.
My dad was born in Scotland in 1913.
In 1914, my grandfather was involved in this:
On the outbreak of war there were seven Black Watch battalions – for in addition to the Regular 1st and 2nd Battalions and 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion there were a further four Territorial ones which had become part of the Regiment in 1908. They were the 4th Dundee [Mary O’Note: I’m pretty sure this was his, since that’s where my dad was born], 5th Angus, 6th Perthshire and the 7th Battalion from Fife. The 1st Battalion was in action at the very start of the war taking part in the Retreat from Mons before turning on the Germans at the River Marne and the subsequent advance to the Aisne. Trench warfare then set in and the 2nd Battalion arrived from India, both battalions taking part in the Battle of Givenchy. Meanwhile the Territorial battalions had been mobilised at the start of the war but only the 5th was in action in 1914.
I guess this is why I love the Pipes and Drums of the Black Watch so much.
Thanks, Grandpa!
For several Augusts, we went to the Edinburgh Tattoo. This had been on my bucket list for a long time since my grandfather was in the Black Watch and I just love to hear bagpipes. Even my cellphone ringtone is Scotland, the Brave.
My mom says that my Grandfather’s name is inscribed as a war hero in Edinburgh Castle, where the Tattoo is held. You know, I’ll find that!
Thanks again for your service, Grandpa – and everyone who who served!
Another of the Who Knew?-type posts. It’s National Tap Dance Day. When I was a little kid, I took the “required” ballet and tap classes for a year. My mom has a picture of me in my tutu and one in my majorette costume for the tap recital. I imagine I only took for the year because those costumes cost extra money.
Later on, I bought tap shoes – still unused – and signed up with a friend for a local adult tap class. Unfortunately, we were the only ones who signed up for the class and it was cancelled. It was a major nightmare trying to get our money back. They wanted to give us a credit for the next time, but that would cost more money which we didn’t want to pay.
But, I digress.
National Tap Dance Day falls on May 25 every year and is a celebration of tap dancing as an American art form. The idea of National Tap Dance Day was first presented to U.S. Congress on February 7, 1989 and was signed into American law by President George H.W. Bush on November 8, 2004. The one-time official observance was on May 25, 1989.
Tap Dance Day is also celebrated in other countries, particularly Japan, Australia, India and Iceland.
National Tap Dance Day was the brainchild of Carol Vaughn, Nicola Daval, and Linda Christensen. They deemed May 25 appropriate for this holiday because it is the birthday of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, a significant contributor to tap dance.
Even Legos can tap to Puttin’ On The Ritz! A tribute to Fred Astaire, in the classic scene from the 1946 musical, Blue Skies, with the music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Although originally written for vaudevillian Harry Richman in 1930, the lyrics were readapted along with a brand new dance sequence some 16 years later.
Here’s the original from Blue Skies, although some has been cut with stills of Fred inserted:
And another version, with Taco 🙂
Just for comparison, the real original 1930 movie footage of Irving Berlin’s world-famous song, sung by Harry Richman, from the film of the same name.
And something completely different with my old favorites, The Nicholas Brothers from the film Stormy Weather.
Towel Day is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the author Douglas Adams by his fans.
On this day, fans carry a towel with them, as described in Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to demonstrate their appreciation for the books and the author.
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost.” What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.
Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.” (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)
—Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Little Free Libraries are pure literary generosity.
These charming book exchanges, which stand in front yards across the country (and around the world), are typically self-sustaining. Neighbors take a book when they see something they like, and donate a book when they have one to share.
Through this cyclical system, Little Free Libraries are kept full, with inventory that constantly changes.
But, recently, there have been reports of ne’er-do-wells who don’t get the honor-system concept. Instead of choosing one book, or dropping off a title or two, these killjoys take all the books — every last one — leaving nothing but empty shelves for the next patron to find.
Luckily, nothing like this has happened to our LFL, Greenbriar Little Free Library #33664 (https://www.facebook.com/GreenbriarLittleFreeLibrary/), although I read stories about theft and vandalism on a Facebook page for LFL stewards.
What do you think? Is it possible to steal something that is free?
Adrenal insufficiency is a condition where the adrenal glands don’t produce enough of certain hormones, primarily cortisol and sometimes aldosterone. This disorder can be categorized into primary (Addison’s disease) and secondary forms. Symptoms Common symptoms of adrenal insufficiency include: Chronic fatigue and muscle weakness Weight loss and decreased appetite Abdominal pain Low blood pressure, causing […]
Diagnosing Cushing’s disease involves a series of tests to confirm excessive cortisol production and determine its source. The diagnostic process typically includes: Initial Screening Tests 24-hour urinary free cortisol test: This involves collecting urine over a 24-hour period to measure cortisol levels 1,2. Late-night salivary cortisol test: Saliva samples are collected in the late evening to […]
A 35-year-old woman is seen in the outpatient clinic for evaluation of an incidental pituitary macroadenoma. Her medical history is significant for hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, polycystic ovary syndrome, and obesity. She initially presented to the emergency department (ED) a week ago after an episode of right visual field changes that she described as waviness in […]
Are you a parent with adrenal insufficiency? If you’ve ever struggled with how to talk to your child about adrenal insufficiency, you’re not alone. In this free webinar with Hilary Hodge, she will discuss: What adrenal insufficiency is and how you manage it What an adrenal crisis is and what to do if you have one […]
Hypopituitarism, a partial or complete deficiency of one or more anterior pituitary hormones, is a nebulous topic. No two patients are alike, and the caveats abound. Fortunately, we can treat patients with hormones in this era to maintain some semblance of normality. Truthfully, we are unable to completely restore function to normal due to the […]
What am I doing for Rare Disease Day? For me, it’s more that one day out of the year. Each and every day since 1987, I tell anyone who will listen about Cushing’s. I pass out a LOT Cushing’s business cards and brochures. Adding to websites, blogs and more that I have maintained continuously since […]
Cushing’s Disease is a rare condition caused by excessive production of cortisol, a hormone essential for various bodily functions 12. It is a specific form of Cushing’s Syndrome, where the overproduction of cortisol is due to a tumor in the pituitary gland 5. The condition affects 10 to 15 people per million each year, predominantly […]
Adrenal Insufficiency United’s Lunch & Learn Events are one day mini-conferences located in different cities in the USA. We find great local speakers to lead sessions and give presentations about issues affecting those with adrenal insufficiency. These one day events will be packed full of opportunities giving attendees more chances to ask questions, share their […]
The Double-Edged Sword of Cortisol Cortisol often receives negative attention, typically branded as the “stress hormone.” This steroid hormone plays a crucial role in the body’s ability to manage stress. However, many people remain unaware of the signs of elevated cortisol levels and what they might signify. Recognising Elevated Cortisol Levels You may have encountered […]
YOU’RE INVITED! GoodHormoneHealth Webinaron How to Stay Alive (and flourish) if have no adrenals (BLA and Addison’s)-in memory of Dr. Friedman’s patients who passed away from adrenal insufficiency Dr. Theodore Friedman (The Wiz) will be giving an updated webinar on how to flourish if you have adrenal insufficiency. Topics to be discussed include: How do […]
Adrenal insufficiency is a condition where the adrenal glands don’t produce enough of certain hormones, primarily cortisol and sometimes aldosterone. This disorder can be categorized into primary (Addison’s disease) and secondary forms. Symptoms Common symptoms of adrenal insufficiency include: Chronic fatigue and muscle weakness Weight loss and decreased appetite Abdominal pain Low blood pressure, causing […]
Diagnosing Cushing’s disease involves a series of tests to confirm excessive cortisol production and determine its source. The diagnostic process typically includes: Initial Screening Tests 24-hour urinary free cortisol test: This involves collecting urine over a 24-hour period to measure cortisol levels 1,2. Late-night salivary cortisol test: Saliva samples are collected in the late evening to […]
A 35-year-old woman is seen in the outpatient clinic for evaluation of an incidental pituitary macroadenoma. Her medical history is significant for hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, polycystic ovary syndrome, and obesity. She initially presented to the emergency department (ED) a week ago after an episode of right visual field changes that she described as waviness in […]
Are you a parent with adrenal insufficiency? If you’ve ever struggled with how to talk to your child about adrenal insufficiency, you’re not alone. In this free webinar with Hilary Hodge, she will discuss: What adrenal insufficiency is and how you manage it What an adrenal crisis is and what to do if you have one […]
Hypopituitarism, a partial or complete deficiency of one or more anterior pituitary hormones, is a nebulous topic. No two patients are alike, and the caveats abound. Fortunately, we can treat patients with hormones in this era to maintain some semblance of normality. Truthfully, we are unable to completely restore function to normal due to the […]
What am I doing for Rare Disease Day? For me, it’s more that one day out of the year. Each and every day since 1987, I tell anyone who will listen about Cushing’s. I pass out a LOT Cushing’s business cards and brochures. Adding to websites, blogs and more that I have maintained continuously since […]
Cushing’s Disease is a rare condition caused by excessive production of cortisol, a hormone essential for various bodily functions 12. It is a specific form of Cushing’s Syndrome, where the overproduction of cortisol is due to a tumor in the pituitary gland 5. The condition affects 10 to 15 people per million each year, predominantly […]
Adrenal Insufficiency United’s Lunch & Learn Events are one day mini-conferences located in different cities in the USA. We find great local speakers to lead sessions and give presentations about issues affecting those with adrenal insufficiency. These one day events will be packed full of opportunities giving attendees more chances to ask questions, share their […]
The Double-Edged Sword of Cortisol Cortisol often receives negative attention, typically branded as the “stress hormone.” This steroid hormone plays a crucial role in the body’s ability to manage stress. However, many people remain unaware of the signs of elevated cortisol levels and what they might signify. Recognising Elevated Cortisol Levels You may have encountered […]
YOU’RE INVITED! GoodHormoneHealth Webinaron How to Stay Alive (and flourish) if have no adrenals (BLA and Addison’s)-in memory of Dr. Friedman’s patients who passed away from adrenal insufficiency Dr. Theodore Friedman (The Wiz) will be giving an updated webinar on how to flourish if you have adrenal insufficiency. Topics to be discussed include: How do […]
