(Published on surfKY News on February 23, 2012)
Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Save February, she alone
Hath eight days and a score
Til leap year gives her one day more.
Nearly 2000 years ago, Julius Caesar decided to reorganize the calendar and add an extra day every fourth year. Since the Earth takes 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to travel around the sun, if an extra day was not added, the calendar year would not synchronize with the solar year. Nearly 1600 years later, Pope Gregory XIII made the system even more accurate by ruling that centurial years (1700, 1800, 1900, etc.) should not be treated as leap years unless they were divisible by 400.
(Published on surfKY News on February 16, 2012)
The first time I heard about random acts of kindness was on the Oprah Winfrey Show. She was talking about how people were performing selfless acts for others, for no reason other than because they can, with little or no recognition for the acts. The phrase, “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty” is claimed to have been written by Anne Herbert onto a place mat at a Sausalito, California restaurant in 1982/1983.
One of my favorite movies is “Pay It Forward”. It stars Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment. The plot of the movie is centered on a class assignment to devise and put into action a plan that will change the world for the better. Eleven-year-old Trevor (Osment) develops a plan based on the networking of good deeds, rather than paying back a favor, the recipient “pays it forward” and asks that person to continue to pay it forward, creating a pyramid of acts
(Published on surfKY News on February 9, 2012)
We are coming upon the sweetest day of the year. There are many ways to celebrate Valentine's Day with your special someone and if you try to be creative about it, you can find many things to do that will not break your bank account.
Consider getting all the ingredients to make a special dinner. Put on some music and enjoy preparing the meal together. If you do not enjoy cooking, order your favorite carry out, throw some pillows on the living room floor and enjoy your takeout while watching a romantic movie. If you are an artsy kind of person, you can make your own card or a book of vouchers to entitling your sweetheart to such things as a massage or a relaxing bubble bath.
(Published on surfKY News on February 2, 2012)
I remember a time in my life when I did not care one way or the other if the sun was shining or if it was raining or if it was snowing outside. The weather was not on my list of priorities. Funny how, when we get older, our priorities change.
If I get up to a dreary, cloudy day, my mood feels like that. But if I see that the sun is shining and everything it bright, I feel so much better. There are many days that I still feel like I have the blahs, but at least when the sun is shining, it is a little more bearable.
