Bigger Girl, after school yesterday:  "I'm finished with high school!  I'm in a daze.  I'm going to go garden, because I don't have to study!"

Five minutes later:  "Darn, the boys are out in the yard.  That means I can't garden naked, can I?  And I've always wanted to plant Brussels' sprouts naked!"

New chapter in her life, same Bigger Girl.

Graduation is next week.

Speaking of graduations, there have been some good graduation stories in the last few years.  People in their 70's, 80's, or 90's graduating from college.  People who were just a class or two shy of graduating college back when "The War" started being found and honored with long overdue diplomas.  An immigrant who had degrees in his country working as a janitor in a college here, then after learning enough English, using that job to get a degree here.

Today i saw one that i will probably never see again.  A man who had worked in the family business his whole life, decided that to improve the business he would go back to college for an MBA -- and take all three of his sons with him.  They graduated together last Saturday.

That's got to be one for the record books.


Today is

Aldersgate Day -- Methodism

All Ascension of Jesus -- Orthodox Christian

Battle of Pichincha Day -- Ecuador

Bermuda Day -- Bermuda

Brother's Day -- celebrate all forms of brotherhood, biological, adopted, fraternity brothers, or members of your labor union

Day for the Naming of Rocks and Planets -- Fairy Calendar

European Day of Parks

Feast of Hermes Trismegistus -- Hellenistic Egyptian Calendar (thrice-blessed Hermes, patron of alchemy, date approximate)


Grand Prix de Monaco -- Monaco (premier Formula 1 race through the streets of Monte Carlo, run since 1929; through the 27th)

Hug Your Cat Day -- created by Apricat, star of books written by Marisa D'Vari, who says no matter how aloof, your cat really does want a hug

Independence Day -- Eritrea

International Tiara Day -- ladies, celebrate your powers of leadership in your life; tiara wearing is optional, it's the fact that you rule that matters

Kodiak Crab Festival -- Kodiak, AK, US (through the 28th; there's more than bears up here, you know!)

La Fete des Saintes Maries -- Les-Sainte-Maries-de-la-Mer, France (Roma [gypsy] festival, to honor St. Sara, St. Marie Jacobe, and St. Marie Salome, their patrons; through the 25th)

Lubiri Memorial Day -- Buganda Region, Uganda

Morse Code Day

Mudbug Madness -- Shreveport, LA (festival of crawfish and Cajun heritage; through the 27th)

National Escargot Day

Sts. Cyril and Methodius's Day (Patrons of Macedonia) related observances
     Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day -- Bulgaria
     Slavonic Enlighteners' Day -- Republic of Macedonia

St. Susanna's Day (Patron of martyrs)


Birthdays Today:

Billy Gilman, 1988
Joe Dumars, 1963
Rosanne Cash, 1955
Priscilla Presley, 1945
Patti LaBelle, 1944
Gary Burghoff, 1943
Bob Dylan, 1941
Tommy Chong, 1938
"Engineer Bill" Stulla, 1911
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, 1878
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1819
Abraham Geiger, 1810
Gabriel Fahrenheit, 1686


Today in History:

The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt, 1218
Peter Minuit buys Manhattan, 1626
The English  Parliament  passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants; Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded, 1689
John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day, 1738
Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito, 1822
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" by Sarah Josepha Hale is published, 1830
The first passenger rail service in US, from Baltimore to Elliots Mill, Maryland, begins, 1830
Samuel FB Morse taps out the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought", 1844
The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction, 1883
The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State, 1900
Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight), 1930
Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight, 1940
Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbana, 1956
Cyprus enters the Council of Europe, 1961
FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City, 1968
The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union, 1970
The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran, Iran, 1980
Eritrea  gains its independence from Ethiopia, 1991
Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel, 1991
15-year-old Sherpa  Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest, 2001
North Korea bans mobile phones, 2004