February 17, 2019
Dearest readers, thank you for visiting today.
We apologize for not producing this feature the past few days. We were getting some quality work in on our novel Katy and Markie: All the Things. Now, we are committed to Morning Coffee, however, nothing takes precedence over a novel. It has to be that way: if a novelist is not completely consumed by their latest project they are not writing, they are typing,
Have a good day,
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn
THE ALMANAC
On This Date:
In 1964 – The United States Supreme Court rules that Congressional districts have roughly the same population. The case was Wesberry v Sanders and began in Georgia when one James Wesberry sued because his Congressional district had two to three times the people of other districts in the state. The case had been dismissed at the district level. The number of people in each district is based on the census and currently each of the 435 congressional districts should represent 711,000 people.
In 1974 – Army Private First Class Robert Preston lands a stolen helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House. About 2am, Preston had stolen an army helicopter from Fort Meade, Maryland and had actually hovered for a few minutes before landing near the West Wing and then taking off again. At the time, neither President Nixon nor his wife Pat were in the White House, and Preston would serve a year in prison, including a couple of months at hard labor, before being discharged. Preston had recently washed out of helicopter training and was anxious to show the army his skills.
Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1962:
Hot 100 – Duke of Earl…Gene Chandler (1st of three weeks)
Soul Chart – Duke of Earl…Gene Chandler (1st of five weeks)
Country Chart – Walk On By…Leroy Van Dyke (11th of 13 weeks)
Album Chart (Mono) – Blue Hawaii…Elvis Presley (10th of 20 weeks)
Album Chart (Stereo) – Breakfast at Tiffany’s Soundtrack…Henry Mancini (2nd of 12 non-consecutive weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.
Numbers Racket
10,649: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.022: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
632: days until Election Day 2020.
Philosophy 101
Progress, once started, is endless…We proceed because we must.
Gore Vidal
Empire
Progress is an interesting animal because almost by definition anything can be progress: merely waking up in the morning means we have progressed from one day to the next and we don’t even have to get out of bed to claim this progress, either. Most progress, however, takes work. Advancement at work takes education and furthering skill. A lasting, happy marriage needs progress and progressing in the life we were meant to live takes work, too. Progress is not inevitable. Merely marking off another of the long procession of days doesn’t mean we’ve advanced; it merely means we’ve survived.
True progress, the type of progress that is measurable, is not accomplished by accident: you will not climb Mount Everest while wandering around the Gobi Desert. You must have a plan to climb Mount Everest and the courage to execute that plan and the patience to put up with the inevitable reverses that attend any great effort.
Our individual lives are no different. We must have a plan to scale the mountains we have set before us. This involves looking inside to see what our hearts are calling us to do and to go and try to climb those mountains. When we climb our mountains with diligence and courage we will find ourselves living the life we were meant to live, life’s great prize.
Gore Vidal (1925-2012) was an American writer.