Birthday Cake

 

Today – just like every other day – there are at least 15 million people celebrating their birthdays.

More people have birthdays in August than in any other month.

"Happy Birthday to You" is the most popular song in the English language (followed by Auld Lang Syne and For He's a Jolly Good Fellow).

Once upon a time, only royalty had birthday parties. No one else was considered important enough to be celebrated.

Germans invented the birthday cake about 200 years ago. Originally, these cakes were sweetened bread dough topped with sugar.

The biggest birthday cake in the world was created in 1989 for the 100th birthday of Fort Payne Alabama. It weighed 128,238 pounds, 8 ounces and carried 16,000 pounds of frosting.

The world's most expensive birthday party cost more than 27 million dollars. It was on July 13, 1996 for the 50th birthday of the Sultan of Brunei.

Nine Butterflies

 

When one door closes and another opens, you’re probably in prison.

Sixty might be the new forty, but 9:00 pm is the new midnight.

When I say, "The other day," I could mean anytime between yesterday and fifteen years ago.

I had my patience tested. I'm negative.

When you ask what I’m doing today and I say "nothing," it doesn’t mean I am free. It means I’m doing nothing.

I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.

I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the beginning and don't know whose side I'm on.

When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?"

When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?

I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.

Milky Way

“President Spencer W. Kimball, speaking of the literal gathering of Israel, stated: ‘The gathering of Israel consists of joining the true church and coming to a knowledge of the true God. Any person, therefore, who has accepted the restored gospel, and who now seeks to worship the Lord has complied with the law of the gathering of Israel and is heir to all of the blessings promised the Saints in these last days.’ Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the great privilege of loving, sharing, inviting, and helping gather Israel to receive the fulness of the Lord’s covenant blessings. This includes Africans and Europeans, South and North Americans, Asians, Australians, and those upon the isles of the sea. ‘For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men.’ This gathering shall continue until the righteous are assembled in the congregations of the Saints in the nations of the world.” – Elder Quentin L. Cook

Four Pinwheels

 

Compliment three people daily.

Watch the sunrise at least once a year.

Be the first to say, “hello.”

Live beneath your means.

Treat everyone as you’d like to be treated.

Never give up on anybody.

Forget the Joneses.

Don’t deprive someone of hope. It may be all he has.

Pray for wisdom and courage.

Be tough-minded but tenderhearted.

Be kinder than necessary.

Remember a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

Keep your promises.

Show cheerfulness, even when you don’t feel it.

Keep in mind: “overnight” success usually takes about 15 years.

Leave everything better than you found it.

Notice that winners do what losers won’t.

When you show up at work, let the first thing you say brighten everyone’s day.

Don’t rain on other people’s parades.

Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.

Four Butterflies

 

Spain was still a fascist dictatorship the year Microsoft was founded.

There were no calculus classes in Harvard’s curriculum in 1636, because calculus hadn’t been discovered yet.

Two empires – the Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire – span the entire gap from Jesus to Babe Ruth.

Prisoners began to arrive at Auschwitz a few days after McDonald's was founded.

When the Egyptian pyramids were being built, wooly mammoths still walked the earth.

The last use of the guillotine was in France the same year Star Wars came out.

Oxford University was over 300 years old when the Aztec Empire was founded.

Nintendo was founded the same year that the Eiffel tower was finished.

At least a dozen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories were written after World War I.

When Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, you could already visit what is now Santa Fe, New Mexico, eat in a restaurant there, and stay at a hotel.

Pinwheel

 

It started innocently enough: three generations watching BattleBots together. When the show was over, the older two noticed the younger one had spent the whole hour peeling bits of pleather off the office chair. No real harm done; the chair was easily replaced. We added the old office chair to our yard sale, but no one wanted it. We took the chair to good will, but they wouldn’t take it, either. Next week our HOA rented dumpsters so residents could dispose of things too large for our bins. John wheeled the chair into one and walked back home. Then he walked upstairs, down the hall and to the sewing room before he realized he’d stepped through a puddle of ink in the dumpster. Blue ink. Vivid, permanent blue ink. The good news is we now have new carpeting on the stairs and the entire top floor. The better news is we’re finally rid of the cursed chair.

Four Jacob's Ladders

 

I’ve been a music student since I was eight years old. I was assigned my first simplified arrangement of Mozart’s work by age ten. Even then, I could tell you several things about the most famous composer of the classical period: He was a child prodigy who died very young. He was horribly underappreciated during his lifetime. He was extremely poor, and buried in a pauper’s grave. Nearly all of this is wrong. Mozart WAS a child prodigy. He was 35 when he died; very young by today’s standards, but 35 was actually the life expectancy for a male European in the 1700’s. Mozart was famous – like rock star famous – his entire life. His income as a music teacher, performing artist and imperial musician left him comfortably well-off. He was buried in a communal grave in the Cimetière Saint Marc, Vienna, not because he was poor, but because it was the fashion at the time. 

Four Crystal Stars

 

Snickerdoodles

 

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar, divided

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons cinnamon

 

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Mix in eggs until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring, until dough forms. Cover and chill at least half an hour. In a third bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into walnut-sized balls and roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar. Place dough balls about 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until golden.

Jacob's Ladder

 

“The word abide denotes remaining fixed or stable and enduring without yielding. Elder Holland explained that ‘abiding’ as an action means ‘to stay, but to stay forever.’ That is the call of the gospel message to everyone in the world. Come, but come to remain. Come with conviction and endurance. Come permanently, for your sake and the sake of all the generations who must follow you. Thus, we abide in Christ as we are firm and steadfast in our devotion to the Redeemer and His holy purposes, in times both good and bad. We begin to abide in the Lord by exercising our moral agency to take upon ourselves His yoke through covenants and ordinances of the restored gospel. The covenant connection we have with our Heavenly Father and His resurrected and living Son is the supernal source of perspective, hope, power, peace, and enduring joy; it also is the rock-solid foundation upon which we should build our lives.” – Elder David A. Bednar

Crystal Star

 

“I had a fantastic time meeting readers of all ages last week at the Barnes and Noble in Maple Grove, Minnesota. One of my favorite moments was when an eight-year-old boy stood in front of me and shouted: ‘He will defend the defenseless!  He will protect the weak!  He will write a poem!’

‘Ha,’ I said.  ‘That’s funny. What’s it from?’

‘Your book!’ he said, ‘The one about the squirrel!  Don’t you remember?’

‘Oh,’ I said.  ‘Yes, I do.  But it was a long time ago.  And may I say?  The words sound better when you say them.’

‘He shouts them,’ said his mother.  ‘All the time.  His teacher read the book aloud in class and then he made me buy him the book and here we are.’

‘Thank you,’ I said to the boy and his mom.  ‘Tell that teacher thank you, too.’

Thank you to all of you, everywhere, who believe that words matter.” – Kate DiCamillo, author of Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

Coming Together Again

 

I like to add soups to my menu plan when it’s chilly outside. They’re wonderful comfort food, and (if you’re careful about salt) soups are usually good for you. I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing with salads now that warmer weather is here. I’ve decided to deliberately plan a main-course salad at least once a week, and Friday seemed like a good place to start. Last week we had my favorite, Salade Niçoise, and this weeks it's John’s: a California Cobb. Next week we’ll enjoy Heather’s choice: Barbecue Chicken Salad. Start with a head of Romaine or red leaf lettuce; tear or chop into small pieces. Add a can each of corn and black beans, drained. Throw in 3 Roma tomatoes, 2 cooked chicken breasts and 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped. Toss and divide into individual bowls. Top each bowl with a handful of crisp tortilla strips, then drizzle with ranch dressing and barbecue sauce.

Open Book

 

If you think you know all there is to know about Dr. Seuss, you’re probably wrong. His first book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” was rejected 27 times before it was published. Two years ago, “Mulberry Street” was one of six books withdrawn for “hurtful and wrong portrayals of people.” Dr. Seuss’ publisher once bet him he couldn’t write a children’s book with fewer than 50 words. He won the bet by producing “Green Eggs and Ham.” Dr. Seuss owned a large collection of whacky hats. His favorite cure for writer’s block was to put one of them on before getting back to work. Dr. Seuss and his wife were unable to have children, so he invented an imaginary daughter. He named her Chrysanthemum-Pearl. And here’s the weirdest bit: if the way you pronounce Seuss rhymes with Zeus, you’re saying it wrong. Seuss was Theodore Geisel’s middle name. He and his family pronounced it “Soice.”

More Playing With Blocks

 

How to Avoid Mixing Your Metaphors

 

It’s not rocket surgery.

First, get all your ducks on the same page.

After all, you can’t make an omelette

Without breaking stride.

 

Be sure to watch what you write

With a fine-tuned comb.

Check and recheck until the cows turn blue.

It’s as easy as falling off a piece of cake.

 

Don’t worry about opening up

A whole hill of beans:

You can always burn that bridge when you come to it

If you follow where I’m coming from.

 

Concentrate! Keep your door closed

And your enemies closer.

Finally, don’t take the moral high horse.

If the metaphor fits, walk a mile in it. – Brian Bilston

Coming Together

 

On Trigger’s Internet Movie Database page (the actors on IMDb aren’t all humans) it says the first movie released featuring the famous palomino was Under Western Stars. But the first film SHOT with him in it was The Adventures of Robin Hood, with Errol Flynn. At the time, the horse’s name was Golden Cloud, and he played Maid Marian’s steed. Roy was offered several mounts for his first movie, and he chose Golden Cloud. The stallion with one stocking and a wide blaze was the only horse he tried; he knew immediately they were perfectly matched. Roy bought his costar for $2,500, in installments. Working onset, actor Smiley Burnette told Roy, “As quick as that horse is, you should name him Trigger.” Known as “the smartest horse in the movies,” Trigger appeared in 82 films and 100 TV episodes. After he passed, Trigger was stuffed and displayed at the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum until 2010.

More Mountain Peaks

 

“God has given parents the sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and teach them to observe the commandments of God. My message to all parents is this: The Lord loves you. He is with you. He stands beside you. He is your strength in guiding your children to make righteous choices. Accept this privilege and responsibility courageously and joyfully. Don’t delegate this source of heavenly blessings to anyone else. You are the ones to guide your child in the details of daily decisions. Help your children build faith in Jesus Christ, love His gospel and prepare for a lifetime of righteous choices. In fact, that is God’s plan for parents. Satan will oppose you, distract you, try to discourage you. But every child has received the Light of Christ as a direct line to heaven. And the Savior will help you, guide you, and encourage you.” – Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

May Mosaic

 

When we met him, he was an eight-week-old ball of white fluff. His dad was a West Highland White Terrier who’d won ribbons for his looks, and his mum was a white Schnauzer with behavior issues. Heather named him McDuff, after the dog in her favorite Rosemary Wells/Susan Jeffers books. Somehow, none of us called him anything but Duffy. He was still a puppy when we moved to England. We walked Yorkshire in all kinds of weather – mostly in the rain. Duffy was never fond of getting rained on, but he loved being toweled dry when we got home. He enjoyed playing fetch, but never quite got the hang of returning the ball. His favorite spot was wherever I was; if I held still long enough, he’d fall asleep lying across my feet. After more than 16 years, the “heartbeat at my feet” is silent now, and I miss him more than words can say.  

Ravenchase

 

My dad was fond of distinctive flavors, like limburger cheese, pickled eggs, and really dark chocolate. His favorite ice cream was black licorice. I have fond memories of him with double-scooped licorice cones from Baskin Robbins that left his clean-shaven face with a dark grey mustache and goatee. You don’t see licorice ice cream in grocery stores; even Baskin Robbins hasn’t carried it in years. But you can make it at home. Start by melting 4 ounces chopped licorice candy in a saucepan with 2 cups water. In a medium bowl, whisk 4 egg yolks with 3/4 cup granulated sugar. Add 1 1/2 cups milk and 1/4 teaspoon salt to saucepan; heat almost to boiling. Temper the egg mixture with the licorice mixture before combining; strain. Stir in 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, then add 1 teaspoon vanilla and enough black food coloring to make it dark grey. Cover and chill 4 hours before freezing in ice cream maker. 

Playing With Blocks

 

When Roy Rogers filmed Under Western Stars (1938), he chose Golden Cloud, a palomino stallion, as his costar. Roy later bought the horse, renamed him Trigger, and made several movies with him. Roy isn’t the only actor to keep a relationship with an animal costar. After National Velvet (1944) was filmed, MGM gave the horse who played The Pie to Elizabeth Taylor, though she was barely in her teens. If you’ve seen Bell, Book and Candle (1958), you’ll remember Kim Novak’s familiar, Pyewacket. This role was filled by several Siamese cats, and when the movie was “in the can,” Ms. Novak took one of them home. She never bothered to give another name. I’ve seen stories claiming after filming Rocky (1976), Sylvester Stallone kept the two turtles, and that they’re still alive. Though it’s not unheard of for red-eared sliders to live a long time, Cuff and Link are no longer with us. And they were never Stallone’s. 

Hope of Hartford

 

April 27, 1941 German troops occupied the city of Athens. The following day Nazi officers headed to Greece’s largest museum to catalog its treasures and decide which would be plundered for the planned Führermuseum in Berlin. But when they arrived, they found the building empty. The staff of the National Archaeological Museum had spent the previous six months digging tunnels in the museum’s basement extending under nearby streets. They’d shored up the tunnels with concrete and used makeshift wooden cranes to lower priceless antique statues into them. They meticulously recorded where each artifact was hidden, then filled their excavations with sand and topped them off with dirt. Their records were placed with the Treasurer of the Bank of Greece for safekeeping. The whole operation was completed ten days before the occupation. The Germans grilled the museum staff, but no one revealed the secret. After Athens was liberated in 1944, all the artifacts were uncovered and put back on display.

Mountain Peaks

 

Stanley Lieber grew up in Manhattan, the son of Romanian/Jewish immigrants. He dreamed of writing the next great American novel, and he loved drawing cartoon characters. He wanted to reserve his birth name for use as a serious author, so he drew under a pen name. Ted Geisel was raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. His family owned a brewery until prohibition shut it down. In college, Ted was caught drinking. His punishment was to be banned from working on the school magazine, where he was editor-in-chief. He invented his own nom de plume to continue contributing stories and drawings. Stanley was drafted in 1942. He was slated to serve overseas. The Army quickly recognized his special skills and put him in the army’s Training Film Division unit, an elite group of eight men that included Ted. And that’s how Stan Lee of Marvel Comics and Dr. Seuss ended up working together, creating films to raise morale of combat troups.

Providence Star

 

“I invite you to bear your testimony of Jesus Christ more often. Bear testimony of what you know and believe and what you feel, not just of what you are thankful for. Testify of your own experiences of coming to know and love the Savior, of living His teachings, and of His redemptive and enabling power in your life. As you bear testimony of what you know, believe, and feel, the Holy Ghost will confirm the truth to those who earnestly listen to your testimony. They will do so because they have watched you become a peaceful follower of Jesus Christ. They will see what it means to be His disciple. They will also feel something they may not have felt before. A pure testimony comes from a changed heart and can be carried by the power of the Holy Ghost into the hearts of others who are open to receive it.” – President M. Russell Ballard

Needle Point

 

Mother’s Day is just a week away. Strawberry Shortcake is my go-to Mother’s Day dessert, but it feels like we just had that a week or two ago. I thought I might go with this instead:

 

Foolproof Cheesecake

 

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

2 eggs

1 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, divided

1 store-bought graham cracker crust

1 cup sour cream

 

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a large bowl. Beat until smooth. Transfer filling mixture to the graham cracker crust and bake 35 minutes. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine sour cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Remove pie from oven and raise temperature to 450F. Pour topping mixture over pie and return to oven for 5 additional minutes. Cool completely before serving.

 

And who knows? I may even serve it with fresh strawberries.

Mexican Star

“’Two Beers and a puppy’ is a test I developed while working on the Esquire story on the American S.O.B. The test is: In order to find out how you actually feel about someone, ask yourself: ‘Would I have two beers with this person?’ And: ‘Would I allow this person to look after my puppy over a weekend?’ Some people are no and no. These people are to be avoided at all costs. Some people are yes and no. These people are to be cautiously trusted. Some people are no and yes. These people are no fun but they make the world a better place — for puppies, especially. And some people are yes and yes. These people are wonderful people and your life and work are better for having them in your life. Seek them out. Collaborate with them. Enjoy their company.” – Ross McCammon

Rambling Rose

 

Unless you have no nerdy friends, you already know today is Star Wars Day. No, the first movie wasn’t released on the 4th of May. It’s more a play on words: “May the fourth (force) be with you.” How does one celebrate Star Wars Day? A movie marathon may be in order. And speaking of order, Rotten Tomatoes suggests watching it thus: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith, Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rebels, Andor, Rogue One, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker. Even without adding The Bad Batch, this clearly cannot be achieved in a single day. In fact, you may still be working your way through the list July 21. Which, incidentally, is the day the first Star Wars movie was actually released. 

Moab My Way

 

When we lived in England, we visited as many interesting places as we could. We enjoyed playing tourist immensely, and were shocked at how few of our neighbors had bothered to see spots – like Hadrian’s Wall, Nottingham Castle, or Portmeirion – that were practically in their own backyards. Playing tourist in Utah requires a bit more effort, as everything seems to be a lot farther from home. But here’s our Utah sightseeing bucket list so far: We’ve heard the Hardware Ranch in Hyrum is a great place to see a few hundred elk up close. We found Bryce Canyon absolutely stunning (and we’d go back in a shot), but we’ve never been to Snow Canyon. We’ve never seen the Spiral Jetty, or the Golden Spike National Historic Park. Several of my students have been to Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville, but somehow, we’ve never made that trip. If your next vacation had to be close to home, where would you go?

Splice

 

In August, 1923, Frank and Elizabeth Fraser, their two daughters, and their collie/shepherd mix Bobbie set out to visit relatives in Wolcott, Indiana. When they stopped for gas, Bobbie was attacked by stray dogs, and he ran off. The Frasers searched unsuccessfully for their dog. Heartbroken, they returned to their home in Silverton, Oregon, afraid they’d never see Bobbie again. Six months later, Bobbie showed up at his home. He was skinny, bedraggled, and exhausted. Bobbie had walked over 2,500 miles, an average of 14 miles per day. He’d crossed the Continental Divide in the dead of winter. “Bobbie the Wonder Dog” became the subject of several newspaper articles. Letters arrived from people who’d sheltered and fed Bobbie along the way. The Humane Society used these letters to trace Bobbie’s journey. In 1924, Bobbie played himself in a silent film “The Call of the West.” In 1927, Bobbie was buried with honors at the Oregon Humane Society pet cemetery.

Sparkle and Shine

 

“As we strive to develop attributes like the Savior’s, we can become instruments of His peace in the world according to the pattern that He Himself established. I invite you to consider ways we can transform ourselves into uplifting and supportive people, people who have an understanding and forgiving heart, people who look for the best in others, always remembering that if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. I promise you as we pursue and develop these attributes, we will become more and more cordial and sensitive to the needs of our fellow beings and will experience joy, peace, and spiritual growth. We will be better able to resist the urge to take offense or offend those who hurt us. Our desire to forgive, as the Savior did, those who mistreat us or speak evil about us will surely increase and become part of our character.” – Elder Ulisses Soares