I had an enjoyable New Year's Eve dinner out at Mike and JoAnn's (and Eva's) house. Tim and Michelle and their two dogs, Cedric and Tycho were there also. Mike fixed his famous Chicken & Noodles and JoAnn baked a special loaf of awesome bread and a dessert she called Berry Skillet Cobbler that was loaded with blueberries and strawberries
JoAnn's Berry Skillet Cobbler
All was delicious. I came home earlier than the others, since I am getting to be an old guy who needs his rest.
No New Year's resolutions this year, except in general to try to do the best job I can do at whatever I set out to do each day after day after day.
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WORD FOR TODAY
redoubt
noun
1. A small, often temporary defensive fortification.
2. A reinforcing earthwork or breastwork within a permanent rampart.
3. A protected place of refuge or defense.
From Wikipedia:
A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a hastily-constructed temporary fortification. The word means "a place of retreat". Redoubts were a component of the military strategies of most European empires during the colonial era, especially in the outer works of Vauban-style fortresses made popular during the 17th century, although the concept of redoubts has existed since medieval times. A redoubt differs from a redan in that the redan is open in the rear, whereas the redoubt was considered an enclosed work.
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Born January 1, 1735
Died: May 10, 1818
Died: May 10, 1818
Paul Revere was an American silversmith, early industrialist, and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride."
Paul Revere did not gain immediate fame for his April 1775 "Midnight Ride." In fact, it wasn't until Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1861 poem, which greatly embellished Revere's role, that he became the folk hero we think of today.
Born January 1, 1752
Died January 30, 1836
Died January 30, 1836
Betsy Ross, born Elizabeth Griscom and briefly known by her second and third married names Elizabeth Ashburn and Elizabeth Claypoole, is widely credited with making the first American flag. There is, however, no credible historical evidence that the story is true.
Born Jan. 1, 1895
Died May 2, 1972
Died May 2, 1972
John Edgar Hooverwas the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972 at age 77. Hoover is credited with building the FBI into a large and efficient crime-fighting agency, and with instituting a number of modernizations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories.
Late in life and after his death Hoover became a controversial figure, as evidence of his secretive actions became known. His critics have accused him of exceeding the jurisdiction of the FBI. He used the FBI to harass political dissenters and activists, to amass secret files on political leaders] and to collect evidence using illegal methods. Hoover consequently amassed a great deal of power. Said one journalist in the 1960s, "Hoover does not have to exert pressure, he is pressure".
Born January 1, 1919
Died: May 22, 1990
Died: May 22, 1990
Thomas Rocco Barbella, better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American boxer. Graziano was considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch. He was ranked 23rd on The Ring magazine list of the greatest punchers of all time.
Graziano's life story was the basis of the 1956 Oscar-winning drama film Somebody Up There Likes Me, based on his 1955 autobiography of the same title. The film starred Paul Newman and was directed by Robert Wise.
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Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.
--Oscar Wilde
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