Potato, Po-tah-to

"Is there anything i can get for you from the store?" Sweetie asked as Saturday along about 10am saw him finally crawling into the daylight. He loves to sleep in on Saturday.

"How about some bananas," i replied, "and a bag of russet potatoes. The 5lb bag that's $2.19 right now." Last time i went to the store, i forgot the potatoes.

"Sure thing," he said, glad for the excuse to go somewhere that offers a free cup of coffee. He loves running errands on Saturday, when he does finally get up, that include him getting coffee.

At that point i took off to take Mikey and Dansig to the vet. Mikey's eye has been crusty, and it turns out it was a corneal abrasion, nothing major. Dansig has coccidia, and is on Ponazeril for two days.

When i got back, Sweetie had gone to get his new glasses and gone to the store. He handed me one bag with bananas, which i put on the counter. Then he handed me a bag of red potatoes.

"Here are your russets," he said.

"Uh, these are not russets," i responded. "These are baby red potatoes."

"Yep, russet means red colored. Those are russet red potatoes." he said.

It took a lot of convincing, but now he knows his russets from his reds. Poor guy.


Today is:

Bodhisattva Kuan Yin/ Kannon/ Tara -- Chinese Buddhist (festival of the birth of her who declared women to be the spiritual equals of men)

Bunching of Fairies for the Second Flight -- Fairy Calendar

Charter Day -- Pennsylvania, US

Daylight Savings Time begins
Check Your Batteries Day -- especially those in your smoke detectors/carbon monoxide detectors

Debunking Day -- internet holiday possibly started by someone tired of internet myths

Feast Day of Hercules/Herakles -- Ancient Roman and Greek Calendars

Frankenstein's Birthday -- Mary Shelley's famous tale was published today in 1818

Girl Scout Week begins -- Girl Scout Sunday/Girl Scout Sabbath/Girl Scout Shabbat this week; patches may be earned by scouts who attend religious services this week

Johnny Appleseed Day / Apple Appreciation Day -- death anniversary of John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman; some say March 18

King Moshoeshoe I's Anniversary -- Lesotho

National Day of Prayer for Farmers -- because if you eat, you should be thanking (and occasionally praying for) farmers

National Oatmeal-Nut Waffles Day

Reestablishment of Independence -- Lithuania (independence from the USSR)

St. Constantine's Day

St. Eulogius of Cordova's Day (Patron of carpenters, coppersmiths)

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign -- Canisteo Valley, Canisteo, NY, US (over the next couple of weeks)

Worship of Tools Day -- begun by someone who knew we would be nowhere without tools



Anniversaries Today:

Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare, 1302
Emperor Napoleon married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise, 1810


Birthdays Today:

Douglas Adams, 1952
Bobby McFerrin, 1950
Charles W. Swan, 1942
Sam Donaldson, 1934
Rupert Murdoch, 1931
Ralph Abernathy, 1926
Mercer Ellington, 1919
Ezra Jack Keats, 1916
Lawrence Welk, 1903


Today in History:

Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty),BC1425
Volcano Etna in Italy erupts killing 15,000, 1669
The first English daily newspaper "Daily Courant," begins publishing, 1702
Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation, 1708
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is published, 1818
Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Maori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand, 1845
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government, 1848
The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield, 1864
The Meiji Japanese government officially annexes the Ryukyu Kingdom into what would become the Okinawa prefecture,1872
The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins, lasting 4 days, 1888
The first confirmed cases of the Spanish Flu are observed at Fort Riley, Kansas, 1918
The Bank of Canada opens, 1935
Reginald Weit became the first African American to play in the US Tennis Open, 1948
Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," the first Broadway play by a black woman, opens, 1959
Mt. Etna in Sicily erupts, 1974
Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon, 1983
Mikhail S Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader, 1985
Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, 1999
Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile, 2006
An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people and triggering the second largest nuclear accident in history, 2011