Killjoy

When it comes down to it, I hate to be a killjoy.

That's why I let #2 Son, the 13 year boy, do things like fish in the creek, make ziplines with friends in their yards (we don't have trees in our yard), and even, this morning at church, finish destroying a chair that was already broken. He and his best friend at church had a blast taking it out to the dumpster, ripping it apart, and throwing it away. After all, it was going to be thrown out anyway. Why not have fun with it?

Unfortunately, I had to veto setting fire to toilet paper, raiding the church fridge, and a mock "snowball" fight with the t-shirts that were rolled up and ready for a fundraiser sale.

What is it about getting two boys together that makes such mayhem?

I love boys, and I love their propensity to get out there and find fun things to do. I hate having to be the killjoy when everything they want to do is destructive or dangerous.


Today is:

Burgsonndeg, Luxembourg (bonfire to the victorious sun, celebrating the end of winter)

Card Reading Day

Feast of Peace and Love -- Old Roman Calendar

International Mother Language Day

National Sticky Bun Day

Orthodox Sunday -- Orthodox Christian

Shaheel Day, Bangladesh (Martyr's Day, for those who died in the Bengali Language Movement in 1952)

St. Peter Damian's Day (patron against headaches)


Anniversaries Today:

The Washington Monument is dedicated, 1885


Birthdays Today:
Charlotte Church, 1986
Jennifer Love Hewitt, 1979
Alan Trammell, 1958
Kelsey Grammer, 1955
Tyne Daly, 1946
Alan Rickman, 1946
David Geffen, 1943
John Lewis, 1940
Barbara Jordan, 1936
Rue McClanahan, 1935
Nina Simone, 1933
Roberto Gomez Bolanos, 1929
Erma Bombeck, 1927
Sam Peckinpah, 1925
Ann Sheridan, 1915
Anais Nin, 1903
Andres Segovia, 1893
Charles Scribner, 1821
John Henry Cardinal Newman, 1801
Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana, 1794


Today in History:

England begins the trial against Joan of Arc, 1431
John Wilkes is thrown out of the English House of Commons for his pornographic poem "An Essay on Woman," a satire of Pope's "An Essay on Man," 1764
Freedom of worship is established in France under its Constitution, 1795
The first locomotive, Richard Trevithick's, runs for the first time, in Wales, 1804
The first Native American Indian newspaper, the "Cherokee Phoenix", begins publication, 1828
The first known sewing machine in the US is patented by John Greenough of Washington, D.C., 1842
Sarah G Bagley of Lowell, Massachusetts becomes the first US woman telegrapher, 1846
The US Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in the US, 1857
Edwin T. Holmes installs the first electric burglar alarm, in Boston,Massachusetts, 1858
The first Roman Catholic parish church for blacks in the US is dedicated,in Baltimore, Maryland, 1864
Lucy B. Hobbs becomes the first US woman to earn a DDS degree, 1866
Benjamin Disraeli replaces William Gladstone as English premier, 1874
The first telephone book is issued, to 50 subscribers in New Harbor,Connecticut, 1878
Oregon becomes the first US state to declare Labor Day a holiday, 1887
The North Carolina legislature adjourns for the day to mark the death of Frederick Douglass, 1895
Dr. Harvey Cushing, the first US neurosurgeon, performs his first operation, 1902
Gustav Mahler conducts his last concerto, 1911
The Battle of Verdun (WWI) begins, will last until Dec. 18; over a quarter of a million casualties, half a million injuries, 1916
The last Carolina parakeet, Incas, dies in the Cincinnati Zoo, in the same cage that had held Martha, the last passenger pigeon, 4 years earlier, 1918
The Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution, 1921
Great Britain grants Egypt independence, 1922
The first issue of "New Yorker" magazine is published, 1925
The first instant developing camera is demonstrated in NYC, by E H Land,1947
Watson and Crick discover the structure of the DNA molecule; according to legend, they walk into the Eagle Pub in Cambridge and Crick announces "We have found the secret of Life," 1953