National Quiet Day - September 9, 2020

DIANE'S CORNER ... 

Celebrate National Quiet Day

Noise is everywhere, on the crowded train, in the busy office, in the pub, the school playground, and even at home. We simply can’t seem to get away from the buzz of everyday life. Sometimes it’s just all too much.

We know that peace and quiet are good for the both the body and the mind, but it’s increasingly difficult in today’s world to experience real quiet, and that’s why a National Quiet Day is so important.

Everything that’s created comes out of silence. Your thoughts emerge from the nothingness of silence. Your words come out of this voice. Your very essence emerged from emptiness. All creativity requires some stillness.

Wayne Dyer

Every day we are surrounded by the chatter of TV, the radio, even our friends and family. Few are the opportunities we have to engage in a little quiet contemplation, giving our vocal chords a rest to simply listen to the world around us and simply experience it. Quiet Day is dedicated to taking a little time to free your voice and mind from the rigors of conversation.

History of Quiet Day

Quiet Day was established to remind us to slow down and give silence a chance. During this celebration, you are encouraged to simply not speak, and preferably to take a chance to not communicate at all.

The sounds of our voices, and in fact our active interaction with others has served to keep us spiritually silent and separated from the world around us, and in some odd ways from the very people we interact with every day. Quiet Day allows you to engage the world around you by removing the shield that is the wall of words we use every day.

In India, there are meditation retreats where time is spent kneeling and in contemplation, sometimes as many as 10 days in succession. These are called Vipassana retreats, a word which means “to see things as they really are”, and comes from ancient Buddhist practices.

While Quiet Day is just one day, the principles included in these retreats can be applied to your one day of silence. The peace and clarity it can bring has the possibility of opening your mind to things about your life that have long since been buried in verbal noise.

Rex Whistler (1905-1944) was a British artist and illustrator who among other things designed a series of faces that could be inverted to reveal an entirely new face. Sadly, Rex was killed in 1944 while in combat during World War II.  He was only 39 years old.  

Joke of the Day

ExplanationA word-play with the word “prison”.

Word of the Day

Homeric

Homer and His Guide, 1874

Art: William-Adolphe Bouguereau

MEANING:

adjective
1. Relating to Homer, his works, or his time.
2. Epic; large-scale; heroic.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Homer (c. 750 BCE), who is presumed to have composed the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. Earliest documented use: 1594.

USAGE:

“During the summer holidays, my school friends and I played Homeric games of hide-and-seek that lasted for weeks and covered the whole of Shanghai.”
J.G. Ballard; The Kindness of Women; HarperCollins; 1991.

Idiom of the Day

Act of God

An act of God is something like an earthquake or floods that human beings cannot prevent or control.

This Day in History

1776 - The second Continental Congress officially made the term "United States", replacing the previous term "United Colonies."

1850 - California became the 31st state to join the union.

1893 - U.S. President Grover Cleveland's wife, Frances Cleveland, gave birth to a daughter, Esther. It was the first time a president's child was born in the White House.

1898 - In Omaha, NE, Tommy Fleming of Eau Claire, WI won the first logrolling championship.

1926 - The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was created by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).

1955 - The Dual Music System Jukebox was introduced by the J.P. Seeburg Corporation. It was the first to hold a hundred singles.

1965 - Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched the eighth perfect game in major league baseball history.

1979 - Tracy Austin, at 16, became the youngest player to win the U.S. Open women’s tennis title.

1998 - Four tourists who had paid $32,500 each were taken in submarine to view the wreckage of the Titanic. The ship is 2 miles below the Atlantic off Newfoundland.

2014 - Apple unveiled the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition.

thanks, Amy

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, September 9

Although you are a little hard to read, you are a gentle person with huge stores of compassion as well as many, many moods. As confident as you may seem, you are uncomfortable with criticism and disharmony around you, and you grow to be an expert at smoothing over situations and calming people around you. You possess a wonderful balance between logic and intuition. It may be too easy to fall into ruts, but your innate intuition and ambition will allow you to rise above these periods of inertia. Others find your perspective, ideas, and advice especially unique and irreplaceable. In relationships, you may stay longer than most would in a difficult set-up. You have staying power, however, and this can serve you well. This can also translate literally as a long life and good health overall. Famous people born today: 

1754 William Bligh, British naval commander (mutinied against on HMS Bounty), born in Plymouth (probable), England (d. 1817)

1828 Leo Tolstoy [Lev Nikolayevich], Russian novelist (Anna Karenina, War and Peace), born in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia (d. 1910)

1890 Colonel Harland Sanders, American founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, born in Henryville, Indiana (d. 1980)

1923 Clifford "Cliff" Robertson, American actor (Charly, Spider-Man) and spokesman for AT&T, born in La Jolla, California (d. 2011)

1941 Otis Redding, American singer-songwriter (Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay), born in Dawson, Georgia (d. 1967)

1960 Hugh Grant, English actor (4 Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones' Diary), born in London, England

1966 Adam Sandler, American actor and comedian (Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Saturday Night Live), born in Brooklyn, New York

1980 Michelle Williams, American actress (Dawson's Creek), born in Kalispell, Montana

thanks, Michelle

READERS INFO

1.

(Not So) Totally Useless Facts of The Day:

Back in 1996, when founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were working on creating what we now know as Google, they initially called it Backrub—a nod to the way the search engine analyzed the web's "back links" to determine how important a site was. A year later, though, they decided they needed to upgrade to a name that indicated just how much data they were indexing. They eventually came up with Google, a play on the word “googol,” a mathematical term for the number represented by the digit 1 followed by 100 zeros.

Sports fans all know that the national anthem will be sung at sporting events; however, many don’t know that the first time it was sung was in Brooklyn, New York, at a baseball game in 1862, during the Civil War. However, the song hadn’t yet been designated as the national anthem, and wasn’t really a common occurrence at sporting events. That began to change on September 5, 1918, during Game 1 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs. By the time World War II rolled around, baseball and football
teams were playing the national anthem as a show of patriotism, and the tradition continues to this day.

The Statue of Liberty was the idea of sculptor Frederic Bartholdi. He was inspired to create Lady Liberty after seeing the colossal statues in Luxor and intended her to stand in Egypt. Bartholdi envisioned a colossal monument featuring a robe clad woman representing Egypt to stand at Port Said, the city at the northern terminus of the canal in Egypt. Early models of the statue were called “Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia.” Egypt rejected the plan as too costly. Bartholdi
eventually repurposed his concept into “Liberty Enlightening the World”—the official name for the statue that has been overlooking New York Harbor since 1886.

2.

thanks for the Offbeat Holiday, Patty

SEPTEMBER 9 - TEDDY BEAR DAY 

Whether or not you still have your childhood teddy, today is the perfect day to celebrate your childhood friend! In 1902, American President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear cub while hunting in Mississippi. ... Morris Michtom (with his wife Rose, invented the Teddy Bear then founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which after Michtom's death became the largest doll-making company in the United States) wrote President Roosevelt to ask permission to name the new toy a “Teddy Bear”.

3.

thanks, Ara, Corner reader, mother of Artist:

Enlichenment watercolor on paper on panel, 8"x8"  

A juried exhibition, Tieton Arts & Humanities invites artists to submit work that is no larger than 10 inches by 10 inches by 10 inches. Works can be of any media or process from photo, painting, printmaking, book arts, video, ceramic, glass, metal, wood, and more.

10x10x10xTieton — Tieton Arts & Humanities

4. 

Coronavirus Style by Sylvia, CAN DO Correspondent

Pictures of the day

Craigdarroch Castle is a historic Victorian-era mansion in  Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, built in the Scottish- baronial style in the late 1800s. The wealthy coal baron Robert Dunsmuir intended it as a family residence, but died before it  was completed. His widow sold the Craigdarroch estate to a  speculator, who subdivided the land into building lots. To  stimulate sales during a slow real-estate market, he announced that the home would be the subject of a raffle, to be won by one of the purchasers. The winner mortgaged the house to finance speculative ventures, and when these failed, the ownership  passed to the Bank of Montreal in 1919. The house was used  in 2015 as the filming location for The Boy, a horror movie.

REDHILL, ENGLAND

What the cellphone has wrought: discarded phone booths that were once a staple of British streets.

knit
thanks, Marilyn

Charlie's Socks of Sophistication pattern by Katie Douglass

knit
thanks, Ivy

Garter Stitch Rainbow Baby Jumper

knit

Corylus
knit

Color Block Hat

knit

The Essential Knitted Wristwarmers

Crochet Pattern of the Day: 

thanks, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

LissMiss Blanket

Fantasia Shawl

crochet
thanks, Sharon

Bloom Bathroom Organizer

crochet
thanks, Helen

Mouse Granny Square

crochet

Lacy Pineapple Shawl pattern by Marly Bird
crochet

{ Oliver, the bear with long thin legs… }

crochet

Post Stitch Throw

Quarantine Cooking Recipes

thanks, Debbie

You may have heard something over the last few months about the surprising rise (ha!) in popularity of sourdough. And it's great! But it can be complicated, too. If you're new to bread making, this no-knead recipe will get you far-better-than-grocery results with a lot less effort, so it's a good place to start.

How to Make the Absolute Easiest No-Knead Bread

RECIPE

thanks, Shelley, New York Food Correspondent

We've made this classic easier and faster by using the microwave to par-cook the peppers, saving you about 45 minutes of cook time! This is a great recipe to use up leftover rice. Be sure to really pile in the filling (mounding it is ok) as it will shrink as it cooks.

The Best Stuffed Peppers

CROCKPOT RECIPE

thanks, Patsy

Crock Pot Cheesy Creamed Corn

VEGAN/ VEGETARIAN RECIPE

Both vegetarian and vegan diets may provide health benefits, including reduced body weight, lower cholesterol levels, and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, it is important for vegetarians and vegans to ensure that they are meeting all of their nutritional requirements.

thanks, Alice

Pancakes got an anti-inflammatory upgrade in this matcha recipe. By using wholesome ingredients and adding in a high-quality Japanese matcha powder, you’ll have a healthy and delicious way to start the day.

Candice Kumai's matcha pancakes

COPYCAT RECIPE 

thanks, Jenny

Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!

Panda Express Orange Chicken (Copycat)

SWEETS

thanks, Jeri

How to make your own fortune cookies

ADULT COLORING

FUN

Treehouse Maze

Get from the roots of the tree to the storage chamber of the treehouse.

solution:

CRAFTS

thanks, Miriam

DIY Tree Branch Planters for Succulents!

CHILDREN'S CORNER

thanks, Joanne

DIY Marbled Nail Polish Mugs

PUZZLE

Yacht Ropes Jigsaw Puzzle



WORD SEARCH

accept amount baker because bill bizarre block

cola consumption convenience courage cover east estimate

fewer generate insect item lists living

mercury particular piece placate price repression rite

sane sheet storage store teen volatility

SUDOKU ... hard

solution:

QUOTE

thanks for the pics, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

CLEVER 

thanks, Karla

IKEA just released 70 years-worth of their catalogs in digital format.

Svenska IKEA kataloger | IKEA Museum

EYE OPENER ... Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah Hacks

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

On seeing weather-beaten trees: Is it as plainly in our living shown, / By slant and twist, which way the wind hath blown?- Adelaide Crapsey, poet (9 Sep 1878-1914)

OPTICAL ILLUSION

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