A to Z Challenge: N is for Not Natural

Conversation overheard between Bigger Girl and a guy friend the other day:

Friend:  So, what were you up to today?

Bigger Girl:  I went to the Palm Sunday service this morning.  Amos the Donkey was there, as usual, and I brought him an apple to eat.  And the assistant pastor, whom I now call "Man Who Shouldn't Have Shaved That Morning If He Was Going to Play Jesus," couldn't find his costume so we were a few minutes late starting.  Also, no one told him that Amos always stops at the same corner to try to nibble the grass.  It was funny.  The service was great, too.

Friend:  That does sound fun.  I just got back from my mon's birthday dinner with my family.  We went to the Cheesecake Bistro and I had the chicken pasta.  It was good.

Bigger Girl:  It sounds good.  After church, Grandpa picked us up and took us to a baseball game.  He gets seats in a suite.  It's not natural to watch baseball in a suite with men in suits and eat shrimp salad, you know?  That's just not natural to watch a baseball game that way.

Friend:  But I'll bet it tastes good!

Bigger Girl:  Yes.  Oh, and by the way, remember how we were talking about the upcoming superhero movies being made, and I was so excited they might be thinking of having one starring one of their female characters?

Friend:  Yeah.

Bigger Girl:  Well, it wasn't true.  They've decided they don't think it will make enough money if it stars a female superhero.  It's always guys who run things making those decisions, too!  Always thinking the girls are lesser or can't draw enough interest.

Friend:  Unfortunately, that's only too natural.


Today is

Day of Mushroom Encouragement -- Fairy Calendar

Dronningens fodselsdag -- Denmark (Birthday of Queen Margrethe II)

Emancipation Day -- Washington, D.C., US

Holiday of Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Jim Thorpe Day -- US (by Presidential Proclamation in 1973)

National CPA's Goof Off Day -- US, the day after tax day because they deserve it!

National Bookmobile Day -- US, on the Wednesday of National Library Week

National Eggs Benedict Day

National Healthcare Decision Day -- US (to inspire, educate & empower the public & providers about the importance of advance care planning)

National Stress Awareness Day -- sponsored by the Health Resource Network (always on the first workday after paying taxes)

Offering to Demeter Khloe -- Ancient Greek Calendar (honoring Demeter as goddess of green shoots; date approximate)

St. Bernadette of Lourdes' Day (Patron of people ridiculed for their piety, poor people, shepherdesses, shepherds, sick people; Lourdes, France; against bodily ills, poverty, sickness)

St. Padarn's Day (Celtic peoples traditionally begin weeding crops on this saint's day)

Thank Your School Librarian Day --US, the Wednesday of National Library Week

Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day -- US (the day after you pay your taxes, bring the comforts of home to the office; sponsored by PajamaGram)

World Entrepreneurship Day

World Voice Day -- if you've ever had laryngitis, you know how important it is to protect your voice

Anniversaries Today:

Harry Connick, Jr. marries Jill Goodare, 1994
Founding of the University of Queensland, 1910


Birthdays Today:

Lilliana Mumy, 1994
Lucas Haas, 1976
Selena Quintanilla, 1971
Martin Lawrence, 1965
Jon Cryer, 1965
Ellen Barkin, 1955
Jay O. Sanders, 1953
Kareem Adbud-Jabbar, 1947
Dusty Springfield, 1939
Bobby Vinton, 1935
Herbie Mann, 1930
Edie Adams, 1929
Pope Benedict XVI, 1927
Henry Mancini, 1924
Kingsley Amis, 1922
Peter Ustinov, 1921
Barry Nelson, 1920
Merce Cunningham, 1919
Charlie Chaplin, 1889
John Millington Synge, 1871
Wilbur Wright, 1867
Jose De Diego, 1866
Anatole France, 1844
John Franklin, 1786
Hans Sloane, 1660


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Fibber McGee and Molly"(Radio), 1935
"Mazeppa"(Symphonic poem, Liszt' S 100), 1854
"The Contrast"(Comedy), 1787 (First play by an American author, Royall Tyler, to be professionally produced on stage)


Today in History:

Calculated date of the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War, BC1178
The Jewish fortress of Masada falls to the Roman Army, ending the Jewish revolt, 73
Martin Luther is called before the Diet of Worms, 1521
Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina, 1582
The United States Senate ratified the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada, 1880
The first passenger rail opens in India, 1853
Ebenezer Bassett, the first African-American diplomat, begins his service in Haiti, 1869
US Marshal Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle, in Dodge City, 1881
Harriet Quimby becomes the first female pilot to cross the English Channel, 1912
Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Amritsar Massacre by the British, 1919
Annie Oakley shoots a record 100 clay targets in a row, 1922
Dr. Albert Hofmann first ingests LSD, thus discovering its effects, 1943
Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, 1947
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation, 1963
The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean, 1992
The Queen Mary II embarks on her first transatlantic voyage, 2004
President of Côte d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo declares the First Ivorian Civil War to be over, 2007