Or Impish

 "Here, have a Bertie Bott's Bean."  Little Girl was holding one out for Bigger Girl.

"No, thank you!" Bigger Girl exclaimed.  "That's grass flavor, I recognize it!"

"Well, at least it's not ear wax," Little Girl smirked.

"This time," Bigger Girl responded.

"Yes, this time," Little Girl answered back, her grin still wide.

"Okay, then," Little Girl continued, "how about this?"

"Earthworm!  No!"

"This one?"

"Black pepper, ugh, no!"

"What about this?"

"I think that one is sausage, and I'm not going to eat it!" Bigger Girl answered.

"Darn!"  Little Girl was still smiling, though.  "This one?"

"Why are you still offering me those things?  I know you only have the yucky flavors left, and that one is soap."

"Because that's the point of Bertie Bott's Beans.  You eat all the good flavors, and you trick your friends into eating all the others."

"That's not very nice," Bigger Girl was smiling, too.

"I prefer to think of it as being practical," Little Girl responded.

And mama prefers to think of it as being clever and impish, which is quite a good thing to be sometimes.


Today is:

Amitabha Buddha Day -- Tibetan and Mahayana Buddhists

Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha -- Baha'i

Birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Sahib -- Sikh

Christmas on the River -- Demopolis, AL, US (celebrations Southern style, including a Barbecue Cook-off; through Saturday)

Decorate Your Dog Day -- supposedly to get him/her into the holiday spirit; but please, don't

Feast of the Holy Sovereigns -- Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii (in honor of King Kamehama IV and Queen Emma, the founders of the Anglican Church of Hawaii

Full Beaver Moon / Full Frosty Moon
     Il Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka
     Tazaugmone Full Moon -- Myanmar (Festival of Lights begins)
     That Luang Festival -- Laos (Ventiane's most important Theravada Buddhist festival)

Holiday Ale Festival -- Portland, OR, US (beer, outdoors, in the cold, in December, but it is seriously good beer and worth it; through Sunday)
 
Independence Day -- Albania(1912); East Timor(1975); Mauritania(1960)

Loy Krathong -- Thailand (Floating of the Lamps festival; to appease the water spirits, dedicated to Mae Kongkha, Goddess of Rivers)

Make Your Own Head Day -- meaning an art project model or drawing, in any medium; have fun with this one!

National French Toast Day

Palden Lhamo Festival -- Tibet (protectress of Tibet, celebrated mostly by women)

Pha That Luang/That Inhang Festival -- Laos (one of the most sacred ritual ceremonial dates in Laos)

Red Planet Day -- on the anniversary of the 1964 liftoff of Mariner 4, the first successful mission to Mars

Republic Day -- Chad; Republic of the Congo

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting -- NY, NY, US

Royal Society Day -- one of the world's oldest scientific academies, established this day in 1660

Runic Half Month of Is begins (stasis)

Saint Catherine Laboure's Day -- promulgator of the Miraculous Medal

St. Stephen the Younger's Day` (Patron of coin collectors, numismatists, smelters)

Thanksgiving Day -- Norfolk Island



Birthdays Today:

Jon Stewart, 1962
Judd Nelson, 1959
Ed Harris, 1950
Alexander Godunov, 1949
Paul Shaffer, 1949
Joe Dante, 1946
Randy Newman, 1943
Berry Gordy, Jr., 1929
Brooks Atkinson, 1894
William Blake, 1757
John Bunyan, 1628



Today in History:

Skanderbeg and his forces liberate Kruja in Middle Albania and raise the Albanian flag, 1443
Ferdinand Magellan and his men become the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean, 1520
The Times in London is for the first time printed by automatic, steam powered presses built by the German inventors Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, signaling the beginning of the availability of newspapers to a mass audience, 1814
Ka Lahui: Hawaiian Independence Day - The Kingdom of Hawaii is officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation, 1843
Women vote in a national election for the first time in the New Zealand general election, 1893
US-born Lady Astor becomes the first female member of British Parliament, 1919
Capt Cyril Turner of the RAF gives 1st skywriting exhibition in NYC; Turner spelled out "Hello USA. Call Vanderbilt 7200." 47,000 called, 1922
"Hopalong Cassidy" premieres on TV, 1948
The first Polaroid Camera is sold, 1948
Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community, 1958
The first pulsar star is discovered by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish, 1968
Norway votes against joining the European Union, 1994