Random News: February 7, 2023

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s February 7, 2023, and it’s a Tuesday.

• My mom passed away early this morning at age 78.
• She wasn’t diagnosed with cancer until a few weeks ago, though she’d had health issues for a number of years.
• I’ll eventually be writing a proper memorial to her. She was a fascinating woman from whom I got a whole lot of the qualities — both good and bad — that make me that person I am.
• It’s important that I tell you that my feelings on life and death are very pragmatic. Everything that ever lived, from a person to a walrus to a tree to a bacterium, has a life cycle and it has a beginning and an end.
• What you do in between is what matters. My mom had a fascinating life and was extraordinarily supportive of me. I’ve been very fortunate to have had a great upbringing and a good relationship with both of my parents.
• I will miss her.
• And now, The Weather: “Layla” by Unknown Mortal Orchestra
• No other news for now.
• Today in history… In Florence, Italy, supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books, in a "Bonfire of the vanities” (1497). The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified (1795). The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres (1940). The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports (1962). Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered (1979). The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power (1990). Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-98, carrying the Destiny laboratory module to the International Space Station (2001). The U.S. state of Mississippi officially certifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery (2013).
• February 7 is the birthday of blacksmith/businessman John Deere (1804), novelist Charles Dickens (1812), author Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867), novelist Sinclair Lewis (1885), pianist/composer Eubie Blake (1887), physicist Harry Nyquist (1889), swimmer/actor Buster Crabbe (1908), saxophonist King Curtis (1934), actor Pete Postlethwaite (1946), actor/screenwriter Robert Smigel (1960), actor James Spader (1960), singer-songwriter Garth Brooks (1962), comedian Eddie Izzard (1962), actor Chris Rock (1965), NBA player/coach Steve Nash (1974), and actor Ashton Kutcher (1978).

Enjoy your day.