Cassie-b

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

This great long word means Fear of Friday the thirteenth.

Friday the thirteenth is considered the unluckiest of days, unless you were born on Friday the thirteenth. If you were born on this day then Friday the thirteenth is your lucky day.

If you’d like to read a LOT about this day, click here.

So far, I have managed to avoid Paraskevidekatriaphobia.
Anyone superstitious?

The origins of Friday superstitions are many. One of the best known is that Eve tempted Adam with the apple on a Friday. Tradition also has it that the Flood in the Bible, the confusion at the Tower of Babel, and the death of Jesus Christ all took place on Friday.

Yet Another Hierarchial Officious Oracle

It started out as Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web,” named after co-founder Jerry Yang.

The name is an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle,” but Yang and co-founder David Filo apparently looked up the word in the dictionary, and insist they selected the name because they liked the general definition of a yahoo: “rude, unsophisticated, uncouth.”

Today, both Yang and Filo maintain the title of “Chief Yahoo.”

The word was originally invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book, ”Gulliver’s Travels”.  In the book, it represents a peron who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human.

Good Dinner

We had an impromptu dinner with good friends the other night, and he fixed French Onion Soup.

It was a little different than the kind you get at a restaurant, and it was really delicious.

Thanks again for the great dinner.
And the great company.

the recipe is in the extended entry.

French Onion Soup - Alton Brown

10 sweet onions (like Vidalias) or a combination of sweet and red onions
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups white wine
10 ounces canned beef consume
10 ounces chicken broth
10 ounces apple cider (unfiltered is best)
Bouquet garni; thyme sprigs, bay leaf and parsley
1 loaf country style bread
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Splash Cognac (optional)
1 cup Fontina or Gruyere cheese, grated

Trim the ends off each onion then slice from end to end. Remove peel and finely slice into half moon shapes.

Set electric skillet to 300 degrees and add butter. Once butter has melted add a layer of onions and sprinkle with a little salt.

Repeat layering onions and salt until all onions are in the skillet.

Do not try stirring until onions have sweated down for 15 to 20 minutes. After that, stir occasionally until onions are dark mahogany and reduced to approximately 2 cups.

This should take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Do not worry about burning.

Add enough wine to cover the onions and turn heat to high, reducing the wine to a syrup consistency. Add consume, chicken broth, apple cider and bouquet garni. Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

Place oven rack in top 1/3 of oven and heat broiler.

Cut country bread in rounds large enough to fit mouth of oven safe soup crocks. Place the slices on a baking sheet and place under broiler for 1 minute.
Season soup mixture with salt, pepper and cognac.

Ladle soup into crocks leaving one inch to the lip. Place bread round, toasted side down, on top of soup and top with grated cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

Thanks Empress and Buzz.
They’re Beautiful!

HAVE A LITTLE LIQUID REFRESHMENT

According to my May Holiday Calendar, Today is beverage day. 

May I suggest you have a glass of the beverage of your choice.

And Have a great weekend!

EMOTICONS

Emoticons are ASCII glyphs originally designed to show an emotional state in plain text messages. Over time they have turned into an art form as well.

Emoticon etiquette.”

Don’t overdo the use of emoticons. More than one in a paragraph and three in a message are a good indicator you are a “newbie.”

Please note: The nature of the internet has always been an “anything goes” type of culture.

In most cases, emoticons are constructed to be viewed by tilting your head left so the right side of the emoticon is at the bottom of the “picture.

For lots more emoticons, click here.

Near as any research can pinpoint, the emoticon was invented by Scott E. Fahlman on 19 September 1982 in a message posted on Carnegie Mellon University bulletin board systems.

Fahlman is quoted as saying “I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: . Read it sideways.

The List

This is something that I hardly ever do, but I don’t want to disappoint Dawn. Warning - I’m not very good at this sort of thing.

I have been tagged by Dawn
The object of this exercise is simple. Pick five from the list and complete the phrase. Feel free to add additional occupations after you’ve done yours. Pass it on to others. Silly? Yeah. Fun? Of course!

If I could be a scientist…
If I could be a farmer…
If I could be a musician…
If I could be a doctor…
If I could be a painter…
If I could be a gardener…
If I could be a missionary…
If I could be a chef…
If I could be an architect…
If I could be a linguist…
If I could be a psychologist…
If I could be a librarian…
If I could be an athlete…
If I could be a lawyer…
If I could be an innkeeper…
If I could be a professor…
If I could be a writer…
If I could be a llama-rider…(by Ogre)
If I could be a bonnie pirate…(By Teach)
If I could be a servicemember…(By Jeremy)
If I could be a business owner…(By Blue 944)
If I could be an actor… (By Blue 944)
If I could be an agent…(By KelBel)
If I could be video game designer…(By KelBel)
If I could be a comic book artist…(By Stoli)
If I could be a hooker…(By Pollo Loco)
If I could be a crack addict (by Elizabeth)
If I could be a porn star (by Elizabeth)
If I could be a mime (by Garrison)
If I could be a domestic engineer (by Rick)
If I could be a chimney sweep (by laine)
If I could be a masseuse (by laine)
If I could be a taxi driver (by Brian)
If I could be a priest (by Brian)
If I could be the Sherrif Of Nottingham (Karen)
If I could be a dancer (Karen)
If I could be Santa Claus (Karen)
If I could be on a reality TV show (Dawn)
If I could be a magician (Dawn)

If I could be a librarian, I’d be sure to have children’s hour reading at times when working parents could bring their children.

If I could be a gardener, I’d have the prettiest lawn in the neighborhood.

If I could be a chef, I’d invite all my blog friends for a gourmet dinner.

If I could be a chimney sweep, I’d be sure to shower every night.

Well folks, that’s all I got.

Have a nice day!

May

As I was looking at this calendar of unusual holidays for May, I was simply amazed at how many days I would like to celebrate.  I can usually choose one or two events, but this month I don’t think I can limit it to so few.

Happy May.