DIANE'S CORNER ... Celebrate Singles Day

China is one of the world’s biggest economic powerhouses in innovation and technology, as much of the United States’s companies have been outsourcing to foreign countries to increase profits. While China has its own economic laws, it has a holiday that not many people in the U.S know about: Singles Day! It sounds strange, but it is a huge part of modern Chinese culture. So, let’s see what it is all about!

Learn about Singles Day

A lot of people get sad about being single. They think it is a negative thing, but we don’t agree! Being single means that you can focus on yourself. Plus, they often say that you need to learn to love yourself before you can love anyone else, right? Being single enables you to focus on number one.

This is something that we should celebrate, not look down on, and that’s exactly what the people of China do! This day has been created so that people can show their pride in being single, and it is a day that is now celebrated in many places across the world.

History of Singles Day

Singles Day is a Chinese holiday that originated from Nanjing University to be a celebration for single people during the 1990’s. The date corresponds with four “ones”, representing four singles. It was originally called Bachelor’s Day due to how four male college students decided on this day to celebrate the idea of being single.

This idea spread to different universities and eventually into mainstream culture, evolving over time as something men and women can enjoy. The holiday serves as a time when people can meet up and socialize at parties, and has also become one of the most popular shopping days in China.

In 2017, Alibaba Group, a multinational e-commerce conglomerate in retail and manufacturing, earned over $25 billion in sales, beating the previous record of $17.6 billion in 2016. This event is four times the size of America’s biggest shopping days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Shopping becomes a source of wealth and entertainment for the Chinese economy, and in 2017, according to Forbes.com, Alibaba says over 15 million products from more than 140,000 brands participated in the holiday, including 60,000 international brands that offered discounts on Tmall, a retail company operated by Alibaba, which increased up from 100,000 the year before. Alibaba also launched a new luxury retail website, JD.com, and opened it’s first automated, robot-managed warehouse to help smooth the transition of the intense sales.

Joke of the Day

thanks, Mary

What did the man say to the bartender?

I’ll have a corona, hold the virus.

NASA releases photos of the universe and they’re out of this world

The new NASA images show off the universe from a different perspective. The new images come from a variety of missions and telescopes that show off the universe. The photos show a number of different galaxies, supernovas and stars.

When a star like the Sun runs out of fuel, it expands and its outer layers puff off, and then the core of the star shrinks. This phase is known as a “planetary nebula,” and astronomers expect our Sun will experience this in about 5 billion years.

Word of the Day

adventitious

The Great Banyan Tree with adventitious roots, Kolkata, India

MEANING:
adjective:
1. Arising from an external source.
2. Happening by chance.
3. Appearing in an unusual place.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin adventicius (coming from outside, foreign), from advenire (to arrive), from ad- (toward) + venire (to come). Earliest documented use: 1603. Also spelled as adventious.

USAGE:
“The great thing about tomatoes is that they form adventitious roots all along their stems, so overgrown seedlings, well watered, may still develop great root systems and bear lots of fruit.”
Bara Damrosch; Never Got Around to Sowing for Spring? You Still Have Time; The Washington Post; Jun 8, 2017.

“The ‘bank holiday’ and Emergency Banking Act were adventitious measures rather than ones FDR had been planning all along.”
George Selgin; Assessing the Not-So-Great New Deal; USA Today; Sep 2020.

Messier 82, or M82, is a galaxy that is oriented edge-on to Earth. This gives astronomers and their telescopes an interesting view of what happens as this galaxy undergoes bursts of star formation. X-rays from Chandra (appearing as blue and pink) show gas in outflows about 20,000 light years long that has been heated to temperatures above 10 million degrees by repeated supernova explosions. Optical light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (red and orange) shows the galaxy
Idiom of the Day

What does 'All mouth and trousers' mean?

Someone who's all mouth and trousers talks or boasts a lot but doesn't deliver. 'All mouth and no trousers' is also used, though this is a corruption of the original.

What will be the next star in our Milky Way galaxy to explode as a supernova? Astronomers aren’t certain, but one candidate is in Eta Carinae, a volatile system containing two massive stars that closely orbit each other. This image has three types of light: optical data from Hubble (appearing as white), ultraviolet (cyan) from Hubble, and X-rays from Chandra (appearing as purple emission). The previous eruptions of this star have resulted in a ring of hot, X-ray emitting gas about 2.3 light years in diameter surrounding these two stars.

This Day in History

1851 - The telescope was patented by Alvan Clark.

1889 - Washington became the 42nd state of the United States.

1918 - World War I came to an end when the Allies and Germany signed an armistice. This day became recognized as Veteran's Day in the United States.

1920 - The body of an unknown British soldier was buried in Westminster Abbey. The service was recorded with the first electronic recording process developed by Lionel Guest and H.O. Merriman.

1921 - The Tomb of the Unknowns was dedicated at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia by U.S. President Harding.

1940 - The Jeep made its debut.

1946 - The New York Knickerbockers (now the Knicks) played their first game at Madison Square Garden.

1958 - Hank Ballard and the Midnighters recorded "The Twist." This version was a moderate hit in 1960. Chubby Checker's cover version gave rise to the Twist dance craze.

1981 - Stuntman Dan Goodwin scaled the outside of the 100-story John Hancock Center in Chicago in about six hours.

1987 - Vincent Van Gogh's "Irises" was sold for a then record 53.9 million dollars in New York.

1992 - The Church of England voted to ordain women as priests.

1993 - In Washington, DC, the Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated to honor the more than 11,000 women who had served in the Vietnam War.

1998 - Vincente Fernandez received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2002 - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates pledged $100 million to fight AIDS in India.

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, November 11
You are a sensual, passionate person who possesses both a natural charm and a strong will. You are a "benevolent leader" type--going your own way without ruffling too many feathers (at least not for too long). You may raise a few eyebrows at first, but then you'll find that people naturally follow your lead. A unique blend of sensitivity and softness, with strength and integrity, is all part of your charm. You truly stand out for your unique qualities. Famous people born today:

1493 Paracelsus, Swiss physician and alchemist (Zinc, Laudanum), born in Einsiedeln, Switzerland (d. 1541)

1821 Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist (Crime and Punishment, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man) who helped shape literary modernism and existentialism, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1881)

1885 George S. Patton, American WWII general (Sicily, Italy and Normandy) known as "Old Blood & Guts", born in San Gabriel, California (d. 1945)

1907 Joseph G. Hamilton, American physician who was a pioneer of using radioactive isotopes in disease treatment and diagnosis, born in Waverley, Massachusetts (d. 1957)

1910 Raemer Schreiber, American physicist (Manhattan Project) who helped develop the first atomic bomb during World War II and prepared the Fat Man bomb that was used in the bombing of Nagasaki, born in McMinnville, Oregon (d. 1998)

1922 Kurt Vonnegut Jr, American author (Slaughterhouse Five, Sirens of Titan), born in Indianapolis, Indiana (d. 2007)

1962 Demi Moore [Guynes], American actress (Ghost, Striptease, GI Jane), born in Roswell, New Mexico

1974 Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor (The Departed, Inception, The Wolf of Wall Street), born in Los Angeles, California

READERS INFO
1.
(Not So) Totally Useless Facts of The Day:
Owls do not have eyeballs. They have long, tube-shaped eyes that are unable to turn in their sockets, which is why owls have to move their whole head to see in different directions.

Once upon a time, 18th century England to be exact, pineapples were rented for the night. They were such a status symbol that people would rent one and take it with them to a party or gathering.

In 1999, a waitress named Tonda Lynn Dickerson was tipped a lottery ticket and won $10 million. Article She was sued by her co-workers for their share. Then she was sued by the customer who tipped her the ticket. Then she was sued by the IRS and almost kidnapped by her ex.
2.
thanks for the Offbeat Holiday, Patty
11^th November – Origami Day.
Origami, to most people like myself, when done properly is a god-like artistic skill. Originating in Japan many centuries ago, the practice of origami takes great patience, discipline, and a lot of practice. So today give it your best shot to make something origami, even if all you can make is just a paper airplane like me!

3.
Coronavirus Style by Sylvia, CAN DO Correspondent

On Feb. 24, 1987, observers in the southern hemisphere saw a new object in a nearby galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud. This was one of the brightest supernova explosions in centuries and soon became known as Supernova 1987A (SN 87A). The Chandra data (blue) show the location of the supernova’s shock wave — similar to the sonic boom from a supersonic plane — interacting with the surrounding material about four light years from the original explosion point. Optical data from Hubble (orange and red) also shows evidence for this interaction in the ring.

Pictures of the Day

Harold H. Piffard (1867–1938) was a British artist and illustrator. This illustration by Piffard, entitled The Thin Red Line, appeared in the 1917 edition of the magazine Canada in Khaki. It depicts a narrow belt of poppies separating a war-ravaged scene from a stretch of peaceful countryside. The scarlet poppy has come to be seen as a symbol of remembrance. Macaulay, quoting an account of a 1693 battle in Flanders, wrote that "the ground was strewn with skulls and bones of horses and men, and with fragments of hats, shoes, saddles, and holsters. The next summer the soil, fertilized by 20,000 corpses, broke forth into millions of scarlet poppies." Similarly, the opening verse of the World War I poem "In Flanders Fields" refers to poppies springing up among the graves of war victims in Belgium.

Banksy Adds a New Superhero to the Mix

The real MVPs

Galaxy clusters are the largest objects in the universe held together by gravity. They contain enormous amounts of superheated gas, with temperatures of tens of millions of degrees, which glows brightly in X-rays, and can be observed across millions of light years between the galaxies. This image of the Abell 2744 galaxy cluster combines X-rays from Chandra (diffuse blue emission) with optical light data from Hubble (red, green, and blue).

knit
thanks, Nancy

Barbed Wire pattern by Corinne Edinger

knit
thanks, Leah

Diamonds in the Rough Cowl pattern by O/C Knitiot

knit

Ace of Spades Dishcloth

knit

Heritage Socks

knit .. Christmas

Children’s Scarf: Christmas Tree

thanks for the funnies, Mary

Crochet Patterns of the Day:

thanks, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

Sleeping Mask

The Casey Set

crochet
thanks, Ava

Crochet Toffee Apple Baby Booties Pattern

crochet
thanks, Clara

Watson Waffle Crochet Cardigan

crochet

Crochet Twist Necklace

crochet

Attleboro Sweater pattern by Christine Guest

crochet .. Christmas

Teddy Go Round Afghan

RECIPE

thanks, Shelley, New York Food Correspondent

Vegetable Dumplings

Quarantine Cooking Recipes

thanks, Debbie

Basic Homemade Bread

CROCKPOT RECIPE

Slow Cooker Venison Roast Recipe

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

Best Lentil Soup Recipe

COPYCAT RECIPE

thanks, Jenny

Copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits Recipe

SWEETS

thanks, Gloria

Giant Cinnamon Roll in a Skillet by Gemma Stafford

ADULT COLORING

FUN

thanks, Dana

These Are The 50 Easiest Questions In "Jeopardy" History. Can You Get Them All Correct?

me: You got 42 out of 50 right! You nailed it! You got them basically all right! Your father and I are so proud. You did it!!! WE DID IT!

you: ?

CRAFTS .. Thanksgiving

thanks, Iris

Yarn and Stick Centerpieces

Cut bunches of 4-to-6-inch pieces of yarn and tie them onto painted sticks with just one tie (you can also leave your sticks unpainted). Mix up the colors or tie them in color bands to give you a striped effect. Stand them in upcycled bottles and jars filled with rice. You can take these one step further by dipping yarn in fabric stiffene, and writing a word like “thanks” on parchmentpaper. Let it dry and hot glue the end to the top of the stick.

CHILDREN'S CORNER .. Thanksgiving

thanks, Hazel

Pumpkin Button Craft

PUZZLE

Boat on Beach Jigsaw Puzzle

WORD SEARCH

bombs
bullets

camps

death
defend
dismal

fields

glory

honor

losses
lost

merit

ovens

peril
planes
prayers
protect

rant
remember
rescue
resist
rose

sirs
struggle
submarines

trenches
tyranny

victory
volunteer

warrior

SUDOKU .. easy

solution:

ICE BREAKER ...

thanks, Kris

You can use 'ice breaker questions' to build a rapport, enabling strangers to engage in back and forth conversion. With a little practice and possibly a beer or two, you’ll be breaking more ice than the Titanic.