Tempting

Where are you heading today? i asked Bigger Girl.

"I'm going with Vera to Plato's Closet for jeans.  Every pair of jeans I own has a hole in them, except these, and these are guy jeans!" she answered.

Sounds like time to shop, i said.

"Yes, but I may buy more guy jeans.  You know what the best thing is about them?  Pockets!"  She turned a pocked inside out.  "Look at this!  A real pocket, that you can really use!"

For those kinds of pockets, i might have to switch to guy jeans, i said, laughing.

"Oh, mom, here's my knife kit!" #2 Son said as he came in.  The culinary school provides a kit for each student, and they are responsible for keeping them clean and bringing them each day.

Nice! i said, and Sweetie walked in and said, "Cool knives!  German made, those are good quality!"

"Don't I know it!" #2 Son said.  "When they gave us the knives, I sat through the first lecture on knife use, taking notes with one hand and flipping this paring knife in the other.  The whole class, I was flipping this knife, and I caught it every time, and when the lecture was over, I went to put it back in the case and cut myself on one of the other knives!"

As we laughed, he said, "Yeah, I tested out how sharp they are.  I've used each one to shave some of the hair off of my arms!"

Remind me not to let you cook for me using those, i said drily.

"I cleaned them!" he protested as we all laughed more.

"Well, on that note, it's Five Dollar Friday, I'm heading out," Sweetie said.

"Smoothies!" #2 Son called out.

"Yes," Sweetie answered.  "I'm kind of tired today, I need the energy."

"Power Punch Plus, extra turbinado!" #2 Son said.

"Yes, that's what I get every time," Sweetie said.

"Yes!  The man knows!  Oh, and did you know you can get it with a quad shot of turbinado?" #2 Son asked.

"You don't want me having a quad shot," Sweetie said.  "I'd pass out from the sugar rush."

Don't tempt your father, i said.

"Well, I'm going to make some tempting chocolate donuts," #2 Son said.  And he did, and they must have been good, because this is all that's left.

Empty donut plate, nothing left but some powdered sugar!

Today is:

Afrma Fancy Rat and Mouse Annual Show -- Riverside, CA (don't laugh, rats and mice make great pets!)
 
Arizona Musicfest -- North Scottsdale, AZ, US (a winter classical music festival; through Mar. 5)

Backward Day -- no info on the origin, but if you want to do something backward, go ahead
    
Brookfield Ice Harvest and Winter Carnival -- Brookfield, VT, US (demonstrating traditional ice harvesting using original equipment near the Brookfield Floating Bridge, one of only two such bridges still extant; through tomorrow)

Cultural Caravan for Peace -- various cities in Mali and on the Niger River; this is the "Festival au Desert", the most remote music festival in the world, with tonight's Great Night for Peace in Bamako, and the remaining concerts to be held as they travel into Niger through Feb. 15

Eat Brussels Sprouts Day --  saute in olive oil with some garlic, they are worth it!

Eve of Brigantia -- Ireland (St. Bridget's Eve, the night when she crosses the countryside and bestows blessings)

Feast of Great Typos -- another that no one will claim inventing, but since we've all made them, we may as well celebrate them

Feast of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Gasparilla Pirate Fest -- Tampa, FL (reenactment of the invasion of Tampa by pirates)

H&ll is Freezing Over Day -- internet generated day to review the list of things you said you would do when h*ll freezes over

Independence Day -- Nauru(1968)

Inspire Your Heart With the Arts Day -- begun by Rev Jayne Howard Feldman as a day to use art to feed your soul

Ka Moloka'I Makahiki -- Molokai, Hawaii (traditional ceremonial end of the harvest festival, a time of peace; still celebrated with ceremonies and sporting events)

Kumquat Festival -- Dade City, FL, US (because kumquats are not just funny, they are delicious!)
 
National Brandy Alexander Day

National Bug Busting Day -- UK (this is one idea that needs export to the whole world! the aim is to have every child checked for head lice on the same day, and thus get rid of them in one fell swoop, so they don't circulate endlesslyhttp://www.national-awareness-days.com/national-bug-busting-day.html)

National Gorilla Suit Day -- Mad Magazine's Maddest Artist, Don Martin, says this is the day to pull that gorilla suit out of the closet and step out in style.

National Seed Swap Day -- find or set one up in your area, so you can expand your garden, and help others expand theirs

National Storytelling Week -- UK (the Society for Storytellinghttp://www.sfs.org.uk/ encourages you to celebrat one of the most ancient art forms)

Orchid Festival -- Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, US (through Mar. 22)

Phlegm-Green, Moldy-Grey, and Gazzard Day -- Fairy Calendar (don't ask what color Gazzard is, it doesn't exist in the human world, and you don't want it to)

Play An Old Game You Haven’t Played in Years Night -- internet generated, and a great idea

Scotch Tape Day -- it hit the market this day in 1928

St. John Bosco's Day (Patron of apprentices, boys, editors, laborers, schoolchildren, students, young people-especially youth of Mexican descent)


Birthdays Today:

Justin Timberlake, 1981
Kerry Washington, 1977
Portia de Rossi, 1973
Minnie Driver, 1971
Kelly Lynch, 1959
Jhn Lydon, 1956
Nolan Ryan, 1947
Charlie Musselwhite, 1944
Richard Gephardt, 1941
Jessica Walter, 1941
Stuart Margolin, 1940
Queen Beatrix, 1938
suzanne Pleshette, 1937
Philip Glass, 1937
James Franciscus, 1934
Ernie Banks, 1931
Jean Simmons, 1929
Carol Channing, 1923
Norman Mailer, 1923
Mario Lanza, 1921
Jackie Robinson, 1919
Thomas Merton, 1915
Garry Moore, 1915
Tallulah Bankhead, 1903
Eddie Cantor, 1892
Zane Grey, 1872
Franz Schubert, 1797
Robert Morris, 1734
Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan, 1543


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"These Are My Children"(TV), 1949 (first daytime TV Soap Opera)
"The Green Hornet"(Radio), 1936
"The Lone Ranger"(Radio), 1933
"Three Sisters"(Chekhov Play), 1901
"Hedda Gabler"(Ibsen Play), 1891


Today in History:

Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England, 1606
The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital, 1747
The Corn Laws (tariffs on imported grains) are abolished in Britain, paving the way for  more free trade, 1849
The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations, 1876
The Bulletin of Sydney is founded, publishes for 128 years, 1880
An automobile exceeds 100 mph (161 kph) for the first time, at Daytona Beach, driven by A. G. MacDonald, 1905
The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky, 1929
Scotch tape is first marketed by the 3M Company, 1930
Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, US receives the first US Social Security monthly payment check, for $22.54, 1940
President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb, 1950
A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands, 1953
Explorer 1 – The first successful launch of an American satellite into orbit, 1958
James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt, 1958
Mercury-Redstone 2 – Ham the Chimp travels into outer space, 1961
The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program, 1966
Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon, 1971
The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, 1990
Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake, 1996
NASA reveals the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR), a lunar mining robot which could be used to produce fuel and water directly on the Moon, 2013