"With"

 "Hey, mom, I just wanted to let you know that my name has changed."  #2 Son was making himself a some breakfast when he made this pronouncement.

Really? i asked.  What would you like to be called?

"From now on, my name is Plays With Squirrels, and Festus' name is Stabs With Pigeons.  Just thought you might like to know."

Well, i'm not sure that i do want to know.  How does one stab with pigeons, anyway?

"You don't want to know," he answered with a smile, as Little Girl walked in.

Wiping sleep from her eyes, she added, "Oh, and I'm Dances With Bears, by the way.  Also, you know what I've found out?"

What have you found out?

"I've found out, that as soon as you decide you really are going to go ahead and get out of the bed, all of a sudden the mattress becomes ten times more comfortable than it was just a second ago."

Ain't that the truth, i muttered.

"By the way, mom, what would your name be?" Little Girl asked.

Hmph, i thought i already had a name.

"A name like the ones we picked," she said.

Well, how about Scrubs The Toilets, i answered drily.

"No, i mean your 'With' name, like ours," she added.

"Yeah, mom, it has to have 'With' in the middle and it has to have an animal in it," #2 Son noted.

"How about Sings With Otters?" was Little Girl's suggestion.

Have you ever heard me sing?  The otters in question would be terrified out of their minds.

"Oh, yeah."

So, knowing that today is an unofficial "holiday" called Ding-a-Ling Day, how about Deals With Ding-a-Lings?

After all, what else would you call young people who hang out with friends named Stabs With Pigeons?



Today is:

Bodacious Bonza Bottler Day

Constitution Day -- Russia (constitution approved in nationwide referendum 1993)

Feast of Masa'il (Questions/Mystery) -- Baha'i

Gingerbread House Day -- because today is as good a day to start making one as any

Independence Day -- Kenya (Jamhuri)

Miracle of the Roses / Our Lady of Guadalupe -- Catholic Christian; related celebrations
     Fiesta del Virgin de Guadalupe -- Mexico
     Las Mananitas -- Puerto Rico

National Ambrosia Day

National Cocoa Day

National Ding-A-Ling Day -- an unofficial day on which to honor all the ding-a-lings you know, and even act like one yourself if you wish

Neutrality Day/National Day and Student Youth Day -- Turkmenistan

Poinsettia Day -- death anniversary of Joel Roberts Poinsett

St. Finnian of Clonard's Day (Father of Irish Monasticism; going to bed without supper tonight means you risk being carried away by the fairies)

St. Lucy's Eve -- Austria (night of the shining that some use to predict the future)

Thorn Cutting Ceremony -- Glastonbury, Somerset, England (a sprig from the tree supposedly planted by Joseph of Arimathea is cut and sent to the Queen, to decorate her table on Christmas Day)

Unmentionable Thoughts Festival -- Fairy Calendar (Imps, Goblins, and naughty Fairies)

Yuletide Lads begin arriving -- Iceland (Jolasveinar trolls, children of Gryla and Leppaludi, who come one each day to bring gifts and mischief from now until Christmas)
     Yuletide Lad of the Day, Stekkjarstaur -- Sheepfold Stick, who will try to drink the milk from the farmers' ewes


Anniversaries Today:

Pennsylvania becomes the 2nd US State, 1787


Birthdays Today:

Mayim Bialik, 1975
Rey Mysterio, Jr., 1974
Madchen Amick, 1970
Jennifer Connelly, 1970
Tracy Austin, 1962
Sheila E. 1957
Cathy Rigby, 1952
Emerson Fittipaldi, 1946
Dionne Warwick, 1941
Connie Francis, 1938
Bob Barker, 1923
Bob Dorough, 1923
Joe Williams, 1918
Frank Sinatra, 1915
Edward G. Robinson, 1893
Edvard Munch, 1863
Erasmus Darwin, 1731



Today in History:

The Battle at Ninevah: Byzantine emperor Heraclius defeats Perzen, 627
The Order of the Dragon is created by Sigismund, King of Hungary, and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje, following the battle for possession of Bosnia, 1408
Isabella crowns herself Queen of Castile and Aragon, 1474
Jews are expelled from Schlettstadt Alsace by Emperor Frederick III, 1479
In Vienna, Ludwig von Beethoven receives his first lesson in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn, 1792
Mexico is officially recognized as an independent nation by the US, 1822
The first Canadian coins are circulated (1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent and 20 cent), 1858
Rudolph Dirks' first Katzenjammer cartoon strip appears in the NY Journal, 1897
Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is founded, 1897
George F Bryant of Boston patents the wooden golf tee, 1899
Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland, 1901
Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India, 1911
Oscar Straus becomes US Secretary of Commerce, the first Jew to be a US Cabinet member, 1906
The first all metal aircraft, the Junkers J-1, is test flown in Dessau, Germany, 1915
In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys, 1917
The first prototype of a hovercraft is patented by British engineer Christopher Cockerell, 1955
Guinea joins the United Nations, 1958
The Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR, 1991
Authorities in the Cayman Islands refuse to allow a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship chartered by gay people to dock, 1997
Canada withdraws from the Kyoto Protocol to avoid penalties for treaty violations, 2011