March 26, 2016 Ridley's Believe It Or Not Purple Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not For March 26, 2016. Unfortunately still 300 days to go in President Obama’s dancing with the stars pathetic lame duck term but fortunately March Madness is in full swing for both men and women and the Stanford women advanced to the Elite Eight by upsetting Notre Dame last night. I trust your Saturday is proving to be a great one and your Easter will be also; and as always, I hope  you enjoy today’s holidays and observances, a music link to Kay Starr, factoids of interest, a  relevant quote from Solange Nicole while looking forward to enjoying a serving of spinach or,  better yet, fiddleheads,  blessed with a positive attitude and  secure in  the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable events like birthdays, weddings, or  anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem  at a great price  tailored to the event and the recipient. You need only contact me for details.

1. Purple Day (United States and Canada)—celebrating not the urgent need for Reds and Blues in this contentious election year to reach across the aisle and practice some bipartisanship but rather since 2008 to promote awareness of epilepsy, a disorder that affects an estimated 3 million Americans.

2. Make Your Own Holiday Day—nothing like empowering oneself to create a holiday to celebrate when the holiday cupboard is bare—since edible ferns are breaking through the ground at this time of the year, this poet declares this day to be Fiddlehead Day; sautéed fiddleheads are the epitome of a tasty side dish and since you need a walk in the woods to find them also a great source of exercise.                       

3. 1952 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song in 1952 on a long run of nine weeks in that position Wheel of Fortune by Kay Starr. Here is a link to Kay Starr performing Wheel of Fortune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeIce5NsWKk

4. National Spinach Day—you don’t have to be a fan of Popeye the Sailorman to enjoy a serving of spinach, especially if it has been sautéed in olive oil and garlic or used in an omelet.   

5. The Road Not Taken—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1874 of four time Pulitzer Award winning for poetry, Robert Frost.  

On this day in:

a. 1344 after a siege of 21 months the city of Algeciras surrendered to the Christian Castilians; the siege marked one of the first military actions in Europe in which gunpowder was used.      

b. 1484 William Caxton translated and then printed Aesop’s Fables.      

c. 1982 a ground breaking ceremony was held for the Vietnam War Memorial.

d. 1995 20 years after its signing by Luxembourg, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands the Schengen Treaty which provided for the abolition of border checkpoints became effective.    

e. 1999 David L. Smith introduced the Melissa worm to infect Microsoft systems which it successfully did to the tune of one in five computers worldwide. Smith was caught and sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined a paltry $5,000 but released after serving only 20 months.

Reflections on disabilities on this Purple Day: “There's nothing more debilitating about a disability than the way people treat you over it.” Solange Nicole, noted poet and author,

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© March 26, 2016 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet 
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