Why the Smile?

"Mom, haven't you seen the Mona Lisa?"  Bigger Girl asked.

Yes, years ago, in high school, i did a couple of summer trips to Europe.  The Louvre was one of our stops during one trip, i said.

"Well, mom, you know how people are always talking about her smile?  Well, what if it's not really so much that she's smiling, but that she's looking at something so tragic, so very, utterly tragic, that that's the only semblance of a normal face she can make at the time she's being painted?" she asked.

That's an interesting idea, i noted.

She went on, "In my history book, it says that women gathering food were probably the ones who invented agriculture, making society possible.  I like that idea.  Also that 40% of the preserved bodies they find in Mesopotamia that are female were buried with weapons.  They died a noble death, fighting, so were buried with weapons.  When I have to go, I hope I die a noble death."

Let's hope all of us do, i answered.

"Maybe I need to learn Judo or something," she said.

When i was a kid, i took Judo, i told her.  It's a good thing to learn.

"Well, someday, I need to learn a martial art.  Oh, and I finally got a dress for the big event for Grandpa.  It was funny.  I went in the store and started looking at nice dresses, and one of the ladies came up to me and said, 'Let me guess.  You are going to a formal event and have no clue what to do?' and I answered, Do I really look like that much of a lost puppy in a dress store? and she said, 'Yes,' and handed me three dresses to try.  The first one was the best, I liked it, so I got it."

Good, i'm glad you have that, i told her.  And i'll bet they are glad you are so easy to find a dress for, some women go to 10 stores and still can't decide.

"That's not me," she said with a laugh.  "Oh, and by the way, why do they tell you now that it's a bad idea, if you get bitten by a snake, to have someone suck out the poison?"

Probably because it doesn't help much, and endangers the person doing the sucking, i said, but you might want to go look that up.

"Okay, I will."  With that, she left to look it up.

Later, i found out she never did, she got too busy with doing homework.  That's okay, though, i'm just glad we can have these little chats, even if they are often a bit unusual.



Today is

Al-Yaom Al-Watany -- Saudi Arabia (National Day/Founding of the Kingdom)

Augustalia -- Roman Empire (birthday of Caesar Augustus, still the traditional New Year's Day in Constantinople and in the Eastern Orthodox Church)

Bunster Winding -- Fairy Calendar

Canterbury South Provincial Anniversary Day -- Canterbury South, New Zealand

Checkers Day/Dogs in Politics Day -- thanks to Mr. Nixon; and i'm tempted to further comment, but this one is too easy

Citua -- Ancient Inca Empire (feast to the Moon, and to banish disease, in the month of Coyaraimi, date approximate)

Dominion Day -- New Zealand (obs.)

El Grito de Lares -- Lares, Puerto Rico (anniversary of the first uprising against Spanish rule in 1868)

Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children(TM) -- sponsored by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, encouraging everyone to have a meal with the family, because all the studies show it's good for you!

Innergize Day -- the day to take time for yourself! always on the day after the equinox

International Women's Ecommerce Days -- supporting women's online business endeavors and buying power; through Friday

Metropolitan Opera in NYC Opening Night

National White Chocolate Day

Neptune Day -- planet discovered this day in 1846 by Johann Galle of Germany

St. Adamnan's Day (Patron of Donegal, Ireland; Raphoe, Ireland)

St. Padre Pio's Day


Anniversaries Today:

The University of Alberta in Alberta, Canada, is founded, 1908


Birthdays Today:

Jason Alexander, 1959
Bruce Springsteen, 1949
Mary Kay Place, 1947
Paul Petersen, 1945
Julio Iglesias, 1943
Tom Lester, 1938
Ray Charles, 1930
John Coltrane, 1926
Mickey Rooney, 1920
Walter Pigeon, 1897
William H. McGuffey, 1800
Kublai Khan, 1215
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, BC63
Euripides, BC480


Today in History:

Concord of Worms, 1122
The first major battle of the Wars of the Roses, at Blore Heath in Staffordshire, 1459
First commencement exercises of Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., 1642
Liechtenstein declares its independence from the German Empire, 1719
John Paul Jones' "Bon Homme Richard" defeats the HMS Serepis, 1779
Lewis and Clark arrive back in St. Louis from their explorations, 1806
The Knickerbockers Baseball Club, the first baseball team to play under the modern rules, is founded in New York, 1845
Neptune is discovered by French astronomer Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier and British astronomer John Couch Adams, 1846
Nintendo Koppai, later known as Nintendo Company, Limited, is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi; it produces and markets the playing card game Hanafuda, 1889
The Phantom of the Opera (original title: Le Fantome de l'Opera), a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux, was first published, 1909
The MS Princess of Tasmania, Australia’s first passenger roll-on/roll-off diesel ferry, makes her maiden voyage across Bass Strait, 1959
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos announces over television and radio the implementation of martial law, 1972
Juan Perón returns to power in Argentina, 1973
Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the United Nations, 1983
Qantas Flight 1 overruns the runway in Bangkok during a storm; some passengers only receive minor injuries, it is still the worst crash in Qantas's history, 1991
The first public version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox ("Phoenix 0.1") is released, 2002
Hurricane Jeanne strikes Haiti and leaves at least 1,070 dead, 2004