Sharp Observation

The driving lessons for Little Girl are preceding apace.  She's very good, as her instructor told me she would be.  She's very cautious, and very observant.

The other day, we were coming home from an errand when we ended up stopped behind another vehicle.  She was talking to me about a piece of music on the radio when she suddenly realized what vehicle was in front of her, and gave a little scream.  It happened to be a police car, but that's not why she was reacting that way.

"No!" she yelled.  "Is that an Impala?  That's awful!"

Really, i said.  You must remember that i can't tell an impala from a gazelle when they are running.

"Very funny!" she snorted.  "No, I mean the car!  I loved the old Impalas, they were wonderful.  They were classics, sharp and sleek!  And look what they've done to it!  It looks like a bubble on wheels!"

Looking at it, all i could see was a car.  In my world, it's sedan, small truck, big truck, SUV, van, minivan.  Any further distinctions get blurred out very quickly, unless it's a convertible or a VW Beetle.  Being a lumper in a world full of splitters has its advantages and disadvantages.  One advantage is that i don't much care, or associate status with, what car you drive.

She, however, continued to bemoan the state of auto design in this day and time.  She concluded with, "They don't make sharply designed cars any more.  The Impala is a bubble, and police drive them!  What has the world come to?"

Bubbles on wheels, apparently.  At least, according to a sharp-eyed girl i know.


Today is:

Chief Red Cloud Day -- marking the Sioux leader's death in 1909; defender of Native rights, son of Lone Man and Walks As She Thinks

Constitution Day -- Thailand

Do Something Wild and Crazy with Velveeta Day -- guess they mean besides turn it into Hillbilly Hor d'oeuvres (melted with Rotel and served with chips)

International Animal Rights Day

International Human Rights Day -- anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948

Lux Mundi -- Ancient Roman Calendar (honoring Libertas as the bringer of light into the world)

National Lager Day

Nobeldagen -- Sweden (Alfred Nobel Day, presentations of the Nobel Prizes at the Stockholm Concert Hall)
     Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony -- Oslo City Hall, Oslo, Norway

Sister-Friend Day -- internet generated, but if you have a sister who is a good friend to you, it's worth celebrating

St. Eulalia of Merida's Day (Patron of runaways, torture victims, widows; Merida, Spain; Oviedo, Spain)

Whirling Dervishes Festival -- Konya, Turkey (through the 17th)


Anniversaries Today:

Mississippi becomes the 20th US State, 1817



Birthdays Today:

Raven-Symone, 1985
Bobby Flay, 1964
Kenneth Branagh, 1960
Susan Dey, 1952
Gloria Loring, 1946
Dan Blocker, 1928
Harold Gould, 1923
Dorothy Lamour, 1914
Chet Huntley, 1911
Hermes "Pan" Panagiotopolous, 1909
Mary Norton, 1903
Melvil Dewey, 1851
Emily Dickinson, 1830
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, 1787


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Mighty Mouse Playhouse" (TV), 1955
Grand Ole Opry (first radio broadcast), 1927


Today in History:

Martin Luther publicly burns the papal edict demanding that he recant, 1520
Isaac Newton's paper De Motu Corporum in Gyrum, containing the derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley, 1684
The Massachusetts Bay Colony becomes the first American Colonial government to borrow money, 1690
The metric system is formally established in France, 1799
The first traffic lights are installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London, 1868
Women's suffrage is granted in Wyoming Territory, the first in the US, 1869
Women are granted suffrage in Tasmania, 1902
The 10,000,000th Model T Ford is assembled, 1915
The Grand Ole Opry makes its radio debut, in Nashville, Tn, 1927
UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
Ralph J Bunche becomes the first black to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, 1950
The United Nations General Assembly approves Pakistan's proposal for establishing nuclear free-zone in South Asia, 1981
The last shift leaves Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland; the closure of the 156-year-old pit marks the end of the old County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the Middle Ages, 1993
An archive documenting the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda is revealed in the capital city of Kigali, 2010