Ringing in the Next Step

Little Girl, who is a junior in high school and not so little as she was when i nicknamed her, had her Senior Ring Ceremony yesterday.

When i was in school, we got our junior pins in junior year, and our senior rings in senior year.

The times change.  They get it in junior year now.

She left me a note, asking me to wake her at 5am.  When i went to get her, she was already up and i asked why she wanted to be up so early.

She said, "I have to leave time to goof off!"

Don't goof off, i said with a grin.

"Oh, but goofing off time is going to happen!" she said, laughing.  "By the way, do you have a nice blouse I can wear?"

Yes, i gave her a blouse.  My girls are not girlie girls, and don't much like dressing up, so Little Girl usually raids my closet on such occasions.

Her class has over 200 students, but only 19 bought rings, and only 15 came for the ceremony (the flu is rampant here, and those four are currently home recovering).  It was sobering and inspiring at the same time, but that is the nature of public schools here.

The principal addressed the students, reminding them that in receiving this ring, they are promising to graduate, no matter what.  These are the kids who will, too, the ones whose parents care enough about their education to order a ring and come for the ceremony.

Back home after school, wearing her ring.

The ring in its box, which s shaped like a graduation cap.

Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Liberia

Be Electrific Day -- Edison's birth anniversary

Carnival de Ponce -- Ponce, Puerto Rico (through Mardi Gras)

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day -- no history on the origin, but remember we all mess up once in a while, don't take small mess ups too seriously

Evelio Javier Memorial Day -- Panay Island, Philippines

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes/World Day of the Sick -- Roman Catholic Church (anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady of Lourdes to Bernadette)

Grandmother Achievement Day -- internet generated; call your grandmother, or someone's grandmother you admire, and tell her what she is doing right

Independence Day -- Vatican City (Holy See) (a/k/a Lateranensi Pact Day, for the pact that established it as an independent state)

Kenkoku Kenen-no-hi -- Japan (also called National Foundation Day or Empire Day)

Meringue Memorial Day -- don't know who came up with it, but it's the day to see if you remember how to make meringue

National Inventors' Day -- US (Edison's birth anniversary)

National Peppermint Patty Day

National Shut-In Visitation Day -- some sites have it here, some in October; either way, go visit someone who can't get out of the house today, or make plans to see them this weekend

Nelson Mandela Day -- South Africa (celebrates his release from prison)

Pro Sports Wives Day -- the annual recognition of those who truly are sports widows, wives of professional athletes, coaches, and support personnel; prosportswives.com

Satisfied Staying Single Day -- for those who aren't desperate to have someone by the 14th; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays
 
St. Caedmon's Day (Oldest English poet known by name.)

White Shirt Day -- a recognition of the dignity of the working class

Youth Day -- Cameroon


Anniversaries Today:

Napoleon weds Marie-Louise of Austria, 1810
The founding of London University, 1826


Birthdays Today:

Taylor Lautner, 1992
Natalie Dormer, 1982
Kelly Rowland, 1981
Matt Lawrence, 1980
Brandy, 1979
Mike Shinoda, 1977
Jennifer Aniston, 1969
Sarah Palin, 1964
Sheryl Crow, 1963
Carey Lowell, 1961
Sergio Mendes, 1941
Bobby "Boris" Pickett, 1938
Burt Reynolds, 1936
Tina Louise, 1934
Leslie Nielsen, 1926
Paul Bocuse, 1926
Eva Gabor, 1921
Sidney Sheldon, 1917
Max Baer, 1909
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1909
Philip Dunne, 1908
Thomas Alva Edison, 1847
Lydia Marie Child, 1802


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The French Chef"(TV, with Julia Child), 1963
"Dynamo"(O'Neill play), 1929
"Salome"(Wilde Play), 1896
"La Fille du Regiment"(Donizetti Opera Comique), 1840


Today in History:

Traditional date for the founding of the Japanese empire under Emperor Jimmu, BC660
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman Emperorship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome, which clears the way for Nero to become Emperor, 55
Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England, 1531
The Pennsylvania Hospital opens, the first in the US, 1752
Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery, 1790
Anthracite coal is burned experimentally as fuel for heating a home for the first time, by Jesse Fell in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1808
Robert Fulton files a patent for improvements to steamboat navigation, 1809
Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signs a redistricting bill that leads to the first use of the term "gerrymander," 1812
The first public toilet facilities for women opens in London, on Bedford Street, 1852
The Meiji constitution of Japan is adopted, 1889
Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control, 1916
BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term "robot", 1938
Glenn Miller is awarded the first ever gold disc for selling one million copies of "Chattanooga Choo Choo," 1941
Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters, 1971
The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens, 1978
Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa, 1990
The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, 2011