Last

The last full day of vacation is often the best, because i insist that i will not go anywhere!

No, i'm not running anyone to the store, or to the gift shop, or anywhere else.  That's the day i treat myself to getting my nails done at the salon that's in our resort.

Being a janitor/housekeeper/babysitter/chief cook and bottle washer, getting my nails done is not high on my list because it doesn't last.  On vacation, i take the time, because it's fun.

Sparkly fingers and toes, in my favorite color!

And because i've just had them done, no, i'm not doing the dishes that night, either!

Everyone who hasn't gone home already by that time is on their own to eat leftovers so we don't have as much to take back.  Please wash your clothes here, i don't want everyone fighting over the washer once we get home, either.

Go fall in the pool one last time, build one last sandcastle, and spend one last evening at dusk catching ghost crabs.  (Catch and release, of course.)

Friday may be the last day, but it's the slowest paced and most relaxing.  Don't talk to me about what time we will leave tomorrow, just let me saunter through this last day, thank you.

Friday night's sunset.

Today is

Belmont Stakes -- Belmont, NY, US (147th Annual, the third jewel of the Triple Crown)

Birthday of SPB Yang di-Pertuan Agong -- Malaysia (in this elective monarchy, the current king's birthday is celebrated on the first Saturday in June, regardless of his actual birth date)

Bonza Bottler Day™

Capitol Hill People's Fair -- Denver, CO, US (arts, entertainment, and fun; through tomorrow)

Children's Day -- North Korea

D-Day -- 71st Anniversary

Dare Day -- Manteo, NC, US (a fun festival and unofficial kick-off for summer)

Derby Day -- Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey, England

Do-Dah Parade -- Kalamazoo, MI, US (a "Salute to Silliness" that is worth seeing)

Drawing Day/Pencil Day -- used to be sponsored on the first Saturday with the motto "Drop Everything and Draw", but even though no longer promoted by any specific group, you can still enjoy some time drawing today

Drive-In Movie Day*

Eel Festival -- Jyllinge, Denmark (through tomorrow; every restaurant and pub in town serves fried eel, and there's lots more fun around town)

Elfreth's Alley Day (Fete Day) -- Philadelphia, PA, US (one of the oldest continuously inhabited streets in the country)

Helicopter Day -- the first one was tested in Berlin on this day in 1936

Hyun Choong Il -- South Korea (Memorial Day)

Judgement Day -- Fairy Calendar (Petal Hats)

Kidspree -- Aurora, CO, US (free outdoor festival for kids; through tomorrow)

Kuramae Jinja Matsuri -- Kuramae Jinja Shrine, Tokyo, Japan (a big two-day celebration held every other year at one of the shrines where Sumo originated)

Maritime Gig Festival -- Gig Harbor, WA, US (parades, entertainment, and fun with the view of Mount Rainier to grace it all; through tomorrow)

National Applesauce Cake Day

Nationaldagen -- Sweden (National Day)

National Family Recreation Day -- US (seems to have been started by the community Arvada, CO, US, wanting families to enjoy the great outdoors together)

National Gardening Exercise Day -- because gardening is good for the body and soul

National Huntington's Disease Awareness Day -- US

National Trails Day -- US (be safe out there, if you want help becoming a hiker there's info here)

National Yo-Yo Day -- Donald F. Duncan, Sr.'s, birth anniversary; go get out your old Duncan and see if you still remember how to go around the world (but not near Great Aunt Mabel's antique lamp she left you, please)

Peddler's Village Fine Art and Contemporary Craft Show and Festival -- Lahaska, PA, US (juried competitions, crafts, art activities for children, and more; through tomorrow)

Russian Language Day -- UN

Sjómannadagurinn -- Iceland (traditional Seamen's Day was alternately celebrated June 6 or the first Sunday of June, depending on which authority you ask, but is now a weekend long Festival of the Sea)

St. Norbert of Xanten's Day (Patron of peace; Bohemia; Madgeburg, Germany; against birth complications)

Strawberry Festival -- Independence, MO, US (one of many such festivals all over as strawberries come into season -- look for one near where you live some time this month, and go have a good time)

Teachers' Day -- Bolivia

Toppenish Mural Society's "Mural-In-A-Day" -- Toppenish, WA, US (professional artists work to paint a complete and historically accurate mural in one day, accompanied by an arts and crafts show and food fair)


Birthdays Today:

Staci Keanan, 1975
Max Casella, 1967
Paul Giamatti, 1967
Ena, 1966
Amanda Pays, 1959
Bjorn Borg, 1956
Kenny G, 1956
Sandra Bernhard, 1955
Harvey Fierstein, 1954
Harvey Fierstein, 1952
Robert Englund, 1947
Gary U.S. Bonds, 1939
Marian Wright Edelman, 1939
Billy Whitelaw, 1932
Thomas Mann, 1875
Robert Falcon Scott, 1868
Alexander Pushkin, 1799
Nathan Hale, 1755


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"20/20"(TV), 1978
"Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust"(Album release), 1972
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"(Song release), 1965


Today in History:

Twenty-four wagonloads of Talmudic books are burned in Paris, 1242
The Qing Dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor capture Beijing during the collapse of the Ming Dynasty; the Manchus would rule China until 1912 when the Republic of China is established, 1644
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university  museum, 1683
A devastating fire destroys one-third of Moscow, including 18,000 homes, 1752
Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte is crowned King of Spain, 1808
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London, 1844
More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay are killed as a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushes huge waves into the harbour, 1882
The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins, the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, 1912
The Chrysler Corporation  is founded by Walter Percy Chrysler, 1925
*The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey, United States, 1933
A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy, 1974
Mongolia  holds its first direct presidential elections, 1993
A near-Earth asteroid estimated at 10 meters diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya with an estimated force slightly greater than the Nagasaki nuclear bomb, 2002
Tamil is established as a Classical Language in India, 2004
In east London, archeologists find remains of the Curtain Theatre, which opened in 1577 and was where some of Shakespeare's plays were performed, 2012
A solar plane, called The Solar Impulse, lands in Morocco after completing the world's first intercontinental flight powered by the Sun, 2012