On a Duet Monday

How was your weekend? Come on now, tell us about it.

Mine included time on the ballroom floor, watching football, having dinner and playing Uno with friends, volunteering in the inner city, playing free money at the casino (we didn’t win), and walking around a part of downtown Cincinnati that is having a rebirth.

As I mentioned on Friday, I’m phasing myself into a blogging break, so I’ll return midweek for that dose of satire to recharge your week.

Here are your reasons to celebrate each day. By the end of the week, I will post of list for the rest of September because I don’t want you to miss celebrations during my blogging break.

• (Week) Line Dance Week
• (Mon) Teddy Bear Day, Chrysanthemum Day, Wonderful Weirdos Day
• (Tues) Swap Ideas Day, Sew Be It Day
• (Wed) National Day of Service & Remembrance, Hot Cross Buns Day, No News is Good News Day, Odd Day, Libraries Remember Day, Make Your Bed Day (hey Moms, use this), and Happy Birthday Viveka
• (Thurs) Video Games Day and Chocolate Milkshake Day

To help celebrate September’s Piano Month while getting your week off to a good start, enjoy this outstanding, unique, must-watch piano duet.

Have a good week!

Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 196

On Politics
The decision of the potential bombing of Syria seems like a damn if you do – damn if you don’t proposition.

I have never heard of Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) until Wednesday while I was watching the House Hearings regarding Syria. Congratulations Rep. Duncan for demonstrating that you are clearly a partisan ass.

I recently saw this bumper sticker: God is NOT Government. My response: Who says it is? Jeff Duncan?

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Nation annoyed about spending long weekend away from work
FAA installs 36,000 foot air-traffic light
Local dad tells child “Tech is the future”
Majority of Americans favor sending Congress to Syria
Jellyfish falls short of dream to kill Diana Nyad
Royal baby already making new friends

Interesting Reads
String music
Infographic about minimum wages around the world
Psychology and Bidding on the Price is Right
The US Power Grid and Green Power
Faith and Doubt

On Potpourri
Friday is Iguana Awareness Day. Did you know that male iguanas are bulls and females are cows?

Other celebrations for this weekend include

• (Fri) Great Egg Toss Day, Do It Today (I’ll celebrate Sunday), Lazy Mom’s Day,
• (Sat) Feel the Love Day, Fathers’ Day (in Australia), Salami Day, Neither Rain nor Snow Day,
• (Sun) Date Nut Bread Day, Fight Procrastination Day (I celebrated Friday), Hug Your Hound Day, Drive Your Studebaker Day, and Grandparents’ Day

Time: The Musical – Act 7 faced turbulence. Although the special prosecutor (asked for by the critical left) is now on the case, but has not filed the final report, I’m getting information for an undisclosed source. YUK!

My college football teams got off to a good start last weekend with impressive wins. With big games again this weekend, Go Bearcats, Beat Illinois – Go Falcons, Beat Kent.

As Dancing with the Stars announced their cast, I say “Ho hum” … but I’ll watch, although I sense the end is near – but we did see comedian Bill Engvall’s funny act many years ago.

I will be starting my fall break from blogging very soon, so I will be fading away from regular posting for a few weeks. But, I won’t be totally absent.

Saturday will feature an archival selection of Saturday Morning Cartoons..

Being that September is piano month, here’s some interesting entertainment to send you into the weekend. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

On Catch-Up Tuesday

Whew. This past 3-day weekend was full of racing around, so I need a breather … and this post will give me a chance to catch up.

Before I forget, Time: The Musical returns Thursday (Wednesday night in the US) with an act featuring songs with Hour(s) in the title. Get ready!

From ballroom to several gathering of friends to a family wedding to a Cincinnati tradition, our weekend kept us busy. Toss in my mother-in-law’s hospitalization, we decided to forego Monday activities for some relaxation time.

We had to cut short a pig roast to attend a Cincinnati tradition … a grand fireworks display synchronized to music down on the river. Because a half million spectators gather for this, we have not attended in many years – but hassle-free television doesn’t do the display justice. Last Tuesday (and completely out-of-the-blue) we received an invitation to attend a private party at a historic mansion on a hill not far from the river. Knowing this may be our only chance ever, we left the pig roast for the Wiedemann Hill Mansion. (Their website has nice pics.)

The restored home is not only beautiful, but he had a great view of the fireworks, and it was our first time view from the Kentucky side of the river, which has downtown Cincinnati as a backdrop. The pic below was taken from a short distance away from our viewing location. If you have a spare 30 minutes and enjoy fireworks, view the show here.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer, Photo by Amanda Davidson

Meanwhile, the weekend also brought a new month, so month-long celebrations in September include Bourbon heritage, chili peppers & figs, happy cats, guide dogs, apples, potatoes, honey, eating chicken, coupons, mushrooms, prime beef, peas & radishes, papaya, whole grains, rice, pianos, ice cream sandwiches, food allergy awareness, California wine (as if I need a reason), and being kind to editors and writers.

This week’s daily celebrations include:

• (Tues) Another Look-Unlimited Day, Skyscraper Day
• (Wed) Beetle Bailey Day, Peter Rabbit Day, and Eat an Extra Dessert Day
• (Thurs) Be Late for Something Day, Waffle House Day, Teacher Day in India

Because this feelings like a Monday Morning Entertainment post, let’s honor Piano Month with a clip from the great Victor Borge playing while wearing ugly pants. Enjoy, and I’ll be back tomorrow with some satire bits.