February 27, 2019
Dearest Readers,
Yay! It’s Morning Coffee time. We’re glad you stopped by.
Today On This Date visits 1951 and 2010 and Top of the Charts visits, well, the top of the charts on this date in 1971 and Philosophy 101 takes up the matter of our most profound aspirations.
Many thanks for reading,
Cheers!
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn
THE ALMANAC
On This Date:
In 1951 – The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution – limiting presidents of the United States to two elected terms – comes into force after being ratified by the Minnesota legislature. The amendment had been sent to the several states in 1947 when everybody crapped their pants after Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to four terms. It remains the only term limit on an elected federal official.
In 2010 – An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale hits the coast of central Chile, killing 525 people with 25 reported missing. Aftershocks measuring 6.2, 5.4 and 5.6 – themselves sizeable earthquakes – hit with an hour with tsunami warning issues throughout North America an Oceania, though such damage was minor. The quake was so strong a NASA scientist said it was likely the earth’s axis shifted three inches, shortening the length of a day by a bit more than one-millionth of a second.
Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1971:
Hot 100 – One Bad Apple…The Osmonds (3rd of five weeks)
Soul Chart – Jody’s Got Your Girl And Gone…Johnnie Taylor (2nd of two weeks)
Country Chart – Help Me Make It Through the Night…Sammi Smith (3rd of three weeks)
Album Chart – Pearl…Janis Joplin (1st of nine weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.
Numbers Racket
10,660: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.061: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
621: days until Election Day 2020.
Philosophy 101
Michelangelo insisted the purpose of art, at least when practiced at the highest levels, was to channel the most profound aspirations of the human spirit.
Miles Unger
Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces
One of the great things about the arts is their diversity: what moves you might bore me and vice-versa. Sure, there are some works that are universally acclaimed as masterpieces, but a lot of music and books, paintings and sculpture is subjective. The very bests works, however, move us deeply, their influence on us profound and lasting.
It’s the same with life: when practiced at the highest level we are channeling our most profound aspirations. The good news is we do not have to be a guru or a monk to do this. We are all born with assorted talents and those that get on this world are those that spend their time cultivating and maximizing those talents. It doesn’t matter what those aspirations are, either. You’re reading this because we like to write. But, as the saying goes, there are a billion Chinese who couldn’t care less about today’s column, just like there are a billion Chinese who couldn’t care less about how you are going to spend your day. All that matters is that we spend our days making our time serve us, that we follow the path we were meant to take with diligence and courage. All that matters is that we have the wisdom to know what we are about, the courage to live the life we were meant to live and the patience to see it through to the end.
Our aspirations do not have to make us rich or cause us to live down the ages, though there is the danger of that happening. All that matters is that they come from deep inside.
Miles Unger is an American writer, writing on the arts, books, and culture.
Michelangelo (1475-1564) was an Italian sculptor and painter.