Teen Art

Bigger Girl and Little Girl and Miss Lizzie are in the middle of a painting frenzy.

They are all artists at heart, and love to draw, paint, or generally make stuff. Right now, the downstairs looks like an art studio blew up in there.

Bigger Girl commented that she wished she could just paint her whole room with murals and designs.

So we told her to go ahead, and she is.

Have we lost our minds?

Well, a friend of mine told me that when she was a teen, her parents let her do as she wished with her room, figuring paint would take care of it later when she was grown. She had two purple walls, a black wall, and one wall covered in tin foil.

She loved it, and was always grateful that her parents let her express herself and do her room her way, which she later outgrew and changed back to something a bit less odd.

Thus Bigger Girl is telling us, "Thank you for letting me be creative," while covering her walls with who knows what.

All i know is a couple of gallons of paint when she moves out will be much cheaper than therapy.


Today is:

A Colonial Christmas -- Jamestown Settlement, Williamsburg, VA, US (through Dec. 31; enjoy 17th- and 18th-century Christmas traditions, comparing those of England and the Colonies)

Barbes Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (celebrates the fertility of sheep)

Becky Thatcher Day -- birthday of Laura Hawkins, in 1836, who inspired the character in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day -- If you can't see, feel free! Indulge in those bifocals you need, no shame.

Bizarre Bazaar -- Richmond, VA, US (Christmas shop until you drop, a 36 year tradition; through the 4th)

Carnival of Celendonia -- Fairy Calendar (Celendonia is the Fairy City all Fairies want to retire to, by the way.)

Chia Pet Hunting Season begins

Christmas in Appalachia -- Clinton, TN, US (through the 12th; an old fashioned country Christmas)

Christmas New Orleans Style -- New Orleans, LA, US (through the 31st; enjoy lots of fun through the whole city)

Civil Air Patrol Day -- US, date of establishment in 1941

Cookie Cutter Week begins

Crossing of the Cattle at Diafarabe -- Mali (celebrated through the month)

Damrong Rajanubhab Day -- Thailand

Eat A Red Apple Day

Festivals for Neptune & Pietas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (yes, the festival for the most promiscuous of the gods was on the same day as the festival for the goddess of devotion, duty, and honor; go figure)

Freedom and Democracy Day -- Chad

Fullveldisdagurinn -- Iceland (Self-governance Day)

Hata Festival -- Towa, Japan

International Prisoners for Peace Day -- a day to remember imprisoned conscientious objectors

Military Abolition Day -- Costa Rica

My Husband's Strung the Christmas Lights and Now I Can't Open the Garage Door Day -- commemorating a real event, be glad this isn't your husband

National Day -- Romania (Ziua Unirii)

National Pie Day

National Stress-Free Family Holidays Month -- sponsored by Parenting Without Pressure

National Transit Tribute to Rosa Parks Day -- American Public Transportation Association

Operation Santa Paws -- toy/treat/care drive to help local animal shelters, until the 24th

Proclamation of the Republic -- Central African Republic

Restoration of Independence -- Portugal

St. Eligius' Day (Patron of sick horses, stables, and, as most of us don't use stables any more, garages and gas stations, their modern equivalent)

Teacher's Day -- Panama

World AIDS Day -- International


Anniversaries Today

Napoleon weds Josephine, 1804


Birthdays Today:

Bette Midler, 1945
John Densmore, 1944
Richard Pryor, 1940
Lee Trevino, 1939
Woody Allen, 1935
Lou Rawls, 1933
David Doyle, 1925
Mary Martin, 1913
Charles Finney, 1905
Robert Welch, 1899
Cyril Ritchard, 1897
Rex Stout, 1886
Anna Maria Grosholtz Tussaud (Madame Tussaud), 1761
Oliver Wolcott, 1726
Louis VI of France, 1081


Today in History:

Henry V of England enters Paris, 1420
Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, governor, driven out of Jerusalem, 1626
Portugal regains independence from Spain, 1640
Massachusetts becomes first colony to give Statutory recognition to slavery, 1641
The first American school to offer manual training courses opens in Maryland, 1750
Charles and M.N. Roberts ascend 2,000' in a hydrogen balloon, 1783
Erie Canal closes for a month due to cold weather, 1831
Hans Christian Andersen publishes his first book of fairy tales, 1835
The first chartered mutual life insurance company opens, 1843
First appearance of Sherlock Holmes in print, in "Study in Scarlet", 1887
The first certified public accountants receive their certificates in New York, 1896
The first Western film, "The Great Train Robbery," released, 1903
The first Israeli kibbutz is founded, Deganya Alef, 1909
Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line, 1913
The first drive-up gasoline station opens in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 1913
Lady Nancy Astor is sworn in as the first female member of the British Parliament, 1919
The New York Daily News reports the news of Christine Jorgenson, the first notable case of sexual reassignment surgery, 1952
Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent, 1959
Malawi, Malta and Zambia join the United Nations, 1964
Lambda Theta Phi is established as the first Latino fraternity, in New Jersey, 1975
Angola joins the United Nations, 1976
The AIDS virus is officially recognized, 1981
At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart, 1982
Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 metres beneath the seabed, 1990