Brain Benders From The Family

"Mom, when a person is dead, why do we refer to them as 'the late'?" Bigger Girl asked.

My first thought was, i have no idea, after all, they will never be late for anything again.  They won't be on time, either, when you look at it that way.

"Mom, do you know how insane Columbus was?  He was really a lousy leader who sparked civil war and would never believe he wasn't in the Orient when he was over here!  I mean, the guy changed the course of world history, and he was nuts!  How does that happen?"  #2 Son is taking world history, and has his own ideas about some things.

How, indeed.  Then again, as i pointed out, many of the people who have changed the course of history were either mildly nuts or straight out certifiable.  How they do what they do is beyond me.

"Mom, why do the kittens love playing with this old hockey mask so much?  They love to drag it around by the broken strap, and fight each other over it."  Little Girl is very observant of animal behavior; her friends don't nickname her "Wolf" for nothing.

Sweetheart, i answered, if you can figure that out, you will make a great living as a pet psychiatrist.

"Honey, do we have any 'good' cereal?"  When Sweetie asks that, it is finally something that i can answer, by simply handing him a box of Froot Loops.

Play to your strengths, i guess.


Today is:

Air Force Day -- Pakistan

Arcola Broom Corn Festival -- Arcola, IL, US (includes a parade; through Sunday)

Dri-jerbal -- Marshall Islands (Labor Day)

Feel the Love Day

Grandma Moses Day

Great Canadian Beer Festival -- Victoria, BC, Canada (through tomorrow)

Independence Day -- Brazil

Kettle Moraine Jazz Festival -- West Bend, WI, US (while we don't usually associate Wisconsin, of all places, with jazz, these people put on a first class show with nationally recognized entertainers; through tomorrow)

Lazy Moms Day -- a day for mom to be lazy, and let the kids do the housework!

Lusaka Peace Agreement Day -- Mozambique

Mushroom Festival -- Kennett Square, PA, US (food, fun, and fungi in the Mushroom Capital of the World; through tomorrow)

National Acorn Squash Day

National Napoleon Day (the dessert, not the general)

National Threatened Species Day -- Australia

Neither Snow Nor Rain Day -- celebrates the opening of the US Post Office in NYC on this day in 1914, which building has the famous inscription on it

Norwalk Seaport Oyster Festival -- Norwalk, CT, US (vintage ships, crafters, entertainment, oysters, and a Kids' Cove; through Sunday)

Ohio River Sternwheel Festival -- Marietta, OH, US (a three day riverfront extravaganza)

Popeye Picnic -- Chester, IL, US (celebrate everyone's favorite cartoon sailor in the town where his creator, E.C. Segar, was born; through Sunday)

Puyallup Fair -- Puyallup, WA, US (one of the top ten fairs in attendance in the world; through the 23rd)

Salami Day -- sponsored by salamiday.com

St. Cloud's Day (a/k/a Clodoald the Confessor; Patron of nail makers; St. Cloud, Minnesota)

St. Regina's Day (Patron of poor people, shepherdesses, torture victims)

Turn A Cartwheel in Public Day -- the internet has it out for us

Victory Day -- Mozambique

Welsh Fairies Bonnet-Hurling Competition -- Fairy Calendar


Anniversary Today:

Sergey Brin and Larry Page incorporate Google, 1998


Birthdays Today:

Gloria Gaynor, 1949
Richard Roundtree, 1942
Cuneyt Arkin, 1937
John Phillip Law, 1937
Buddy Holly, 1936
Don Messick, 1927
Peter Lawford, 1923
Anthony Quayle, 1913
Elia Kazan, 1909
Michael E. DeBakey, 1908
Grandma Moses, 1860
Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533


Today in History:

Traditionally, the solar eclipse date that marks the birth of Heracles of Thebes (Latin Hercules), BC1251
The Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem, 70
In the world's first submarine attack, the American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship HMS Eagle in New York Harbor, 1776
The "Troy Post" of NY first uses "Uncle Sam" to refer to the US, 1813
Last hold-up of Jesse James, 1881
Edith Eleanor McLean becomes the first baby in the US to be put in an incubator for premature infants, 1888
The Boxer Rebellion in China officially ends with the signing of the Boxer Protocol, 1901
Eugene Lefebvre (1878–1909), while test piloting a new French-built Wright biplane, crashes at Juvisy, France when his controls jam. Lefebvre dies, becoming the first 'pilot' in the world to lose his life in a powered heavier-than-air craft, 1909
The first day of the first Miss America Pageant is held in Atlantic City, NJ, 1921
Philo T. Farnsworth demonstrates the first use of television in San Francisco, 1927
The last surviving member of the thylacine species, Benjamin, dies alone in her cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania, 1936
Integration begins in Washington, D.c. and Baltimore, MD public schools, 1954
Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa, 1986
A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocks Athens, rupturing a previously unknown fault, 1999
Hurricane Ivan, a Category 5 hurricane, hits Grenada, killing 39 and damaging 90% of its buildings, 2004
The first presidential election is held in Egypt, 2005