For This I Went To College?

"Oh, yuck! Oh, yuck! Oh, yuck!" #1 Son came running out of #2 Son's bedroom with half of the missing silverware in the house and an expression of utter disgust on his face.

"I'm not going back in there!" Usually he spends at least a bit of his free time in there each day on his brother's CubeStationXthingWiiWhatever the current device is that they share ownership of.

What's wrong?

"He took a can of ravioli in there, and it's not ravioli any more!"

Call him here, i said, and when he came, gave him a plastic bag and firm instructions to grab the can with the bag, turn it inside out, tie it off, and dispose of it outside immediately.

"There's a spoon in it," #1 Son noted, and i said to get rid of it, too.

Yes, a few days ago, we had no spoons in the drawer. Doesn't matter. If it's that far gone, i'm not going to try to salvage it, even if i am a tightwad.

#2 Son appeared a few moments later with the tied off bag and headed for the front door.

That room is one part of the nest that, when it is empty, is going to have to be fumigated, if not bulldozed.

So i went to college so i could have a teenage boy who is a slob? No, i'm not the neatest or most organized person. Yes, my floors leave a lot to be desired when we have only partially trained kittens in the house and i can't find their messes fast enough. Green food is entirely another matter.

Or maybe this is the punishment for getting married.

Anybody want to try to reform a slob teen for me?


Today is:

Air Force Day -- India

American Touch Tag Day -- go outside and remember how much fun it is to play tag

Anti-Columbus Day

Cosmopolite's Day -- a day to treat yourself to an indulgence you don't generally get

Feast of St. Bridget -- Sweden (traditional date, others who recognize the saint celebrate on July 23)

Feast of St. Keyne -- Celtic Saint, patroness of the spring and tree arbor that bear her name; the first to drink of her water after being newly married will have the upper hand in the marriage.

Independence Day -- Croatia

Jack-O-Launch -- DeLaney Farm, Aurora, CO, US (including the official Punkin Chunkin Contest, a free festival for the whole family)

Marching Band Festival -- Blinn College, Brenham, TX, US (if you love marching bands, this is the place to be; 37th annual, 36 high school bands participating, 3,500+ musicians)

Monster Myths by Moonlight -- Milford, KS, US (learn the truth about Hallowe'en "monsters" like bats, spiders, snakes, vultures, owls, and other fabulous creatures)

Natchitoches Historic Pilgrimage -- Natchitoches, LA, US (tour historic homes in the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Territory; through tomorrow)

National Fluffernutter Day

National Pierogi Day -- this day in 1952, Ted Twardzik, Sr., produced Mrs. T's Pierogies samples and took them to a local grocery store; eat a pierogi today in his honor

Navy Day -- Peru

San Ernesto Day -- celebration of Che Guevera as a saint among Bolivian campesinos

Sawara Festival -- Chiba, Japan (through the 10th)

Sergeant Alvin C. York Day

St. Demetrius' Day (Patron of Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia)

St. Pelagia's Day (Patron of actresses)

St. Thais' Day (Patron of fallen women)

St. Triduana's Day (Patron against eye disease)

Tube Top Day -- if you dare; i don't

Universal Music Day -- celebrate music as the universal language

Warai Festival -- Wakayama, Japan (laughing festival)

Yom Kippur -- Jewish (began last night at sundown)


Birthdays Today:

Matt Damon, 1970
Stephanie Zimbalist, 1956
Sigourney Weaver, 1949
Chevy Chase, 1943
R. L. Stine, 1943
Jesse Jackson, 1941
Paul Hogan, 1939
Rona Barrett, 1936
Juan Peron, 1895
Eddie Rickenbacker, 1890
Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro, 1676


Today in History:

Constantine, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, defeats Licinius, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, at the Battle of Cibalae, 314
Great standing on the Ugra river, a standoff between the forces of Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Great Horde, and the Grand Duke Ivan III of Russia, which resulted in the retreat of the Tataro-Mongols and eventual disintegration of the Horde, 1480
The supernova "Kepler's Nova" is first sighted, 1604
The Massachusetts Bay Colony forms its first government, 1633
First recorded eruption of Galunggung (volcano of West Java, Indonesia) sends boiling sludge into the valley (this volcano would later erupt at such a time as to cause passenger jets to be damaged and forced into emergency landings), 1822
The first Hawai'ian constitution is proclaimed, 1840
The telegraph line from LA to SF opens, 1860

A gas explosion causes the Peshtigo Fire, in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, which killed between 1,200 and 2,500 people and consumed the entire town of Peshtigo and surrounding forests and several other villages -- the deadliest fire in American history, it covered 1.5 million acres, and occured on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, 1871

The Great Chicago Fire, which consumed 4 square miles, killed 200, and destroyed the original Emancipation Proclamation, began, 1871

The first women's prison run by women opens at the Indiana Reformatory Institute, 1873
Dow Jones begins reporting an average of selected industrial stocks, 1896
Edmonton, Alberta and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan are incorporated as cities in Canada, 1904
New York Yankees's Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series; one of only 20 perfect games in MLB history, 1956
Algeria joins the United Nations, 1962
Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia, 1967
Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60mph at Blowering Dam, Australia, 1978
A deadly earthquake hits Pakistan, 2005