Right out of Alice.

"Mom, do we have a copy of Alice in Wonderland?" Bigger Girl suddenly popped into the house and asked.

Should be at least one, maybe more -- rummaging -- ah, here you go.

"Thanks.  I tried to check it out of the library at school, they had five copies, and every copy had page 32 ripped out of it!  I want to find out what's so important on page 32 that someone didn't want anyone else to read it!"

It sounds to me like someone was just into damaging books more than hiding information, i said.  Besides, the pages won't be the same, it's a different edition.

"I know, but I figure I can at least find out what was missing."

Probably, i answered.

About an hour later, she came back.

"I am now rereading the entire book Alice in Wonderland, and I blame you because you are the one who raised me to love reading and love excellent literature!" she said.

Guilty! i responded with a smile.

"But I need to stop for now, I am meeting up with friends.  Yes, I will watch out for flying pineapples this time."

Please do.

"How was I to know the flying pineapple surprise was an alcoholic beverage?  By the way, doesn't flying pineapple surprise sound like something they would have served in Wonderland?  But anyway, I didn't get drunk, just a bit loopy, and all I did was dance the Time Warp.  Besides, I wasn't driving!"

Glad to hear it.  Be careful!

"I will.  Love you!"

Love you, too.

Today is:

Audacity to Hope Day -- to encourage all to have the audacity to keep hope

Bartering for a Continent:  How Anglo-Indian Trade Shaped America --  Jamestown Settlement, Williamsburg, VA, and Yorktown Victory Center, Yorktown, VA, US (special events and exhibits through December 10)

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)

California Artichoke Festival -- Castroville, CA, US (lots of fun in the Artichoke Capital of the World; through tomorrow)

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

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

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)

Emancipation Day -- Tonga (trad.)

Enshu Hamakita Hiryu Matsuri -- Hamamatsu City, Japan (honors the river god Ryujin; through tomorrow)

Festival for Hercules Custos -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Hercules the Custodian)

Flag Day -- Estonia

Flag Day -- Finland (Armed Forces observe the birth anniversary of Carl Gustaf Mannerheim)

Hug Your Cat Day -- yet another date for this noted on many sites; if you celebrate all of them, your cat will be well hugged!

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression -- UN

Jarila's Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (Festival of Jarila, god of the sun and fertility)

Lassie Day -- the first dog to play the role of Lassie, in the movie Lassie, Come Home, was born this day in 1940

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

National Cheese Day -- not to be confused with Cheese Lover's Day earlier in the year

National Cognac Day

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

National Frozen Yogurt Day -- not to be confused with the Frozen Yogurt Day celebrated on Feb. 6 in Los Angeles, where the temperatures make such a thing possible

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

National Unity Day -- Hungary

Old Maid's Day -- supposedly established after WWII, when there were so many eligible young ladies who weren't getting any younger

Plynteria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival in Athens in honor of Athena; date approximate)

Sjómannadagurinn -- Iceland (traditional Seaman'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. Petroc's Day (Patron of Cornwall and Wales, as well as many locations in Cornwall, Wales, and England, and Saint-Meen, France)

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)

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)

Wicket World of Croquet® Day 2016 -- The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, Indianapolis, IN, US (croquet tournament fundraiser, includes an Alice and Friends game for the little ones)

Yom Yerushalayim -- Israel (Jerusalem Day; begins at sunset)


Birthdays Today:

Evan Lysacek, 1985
Russell Brand, 1975
Angelina Jolie, 1975
Noah Wyle, 1971
James Callis, 1971
Scott Wolf, 1968
Cecilia Bartoli, 1966
Sam Harris, 1961
Eldra DeBarge, 1961
Keith David, 1956
Parker Stevenson, 1953
George Noory, 1950
Bettina Gregory, 1946
Michelle Phillips, 1944
Joyce Meyer, 1943
Freddy Fender, 1937
Bruce Dern, 1936
John Drew Barrymore, 1932
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 1928
Dennis Weaver, 1924
Robert Merrill, 1919
Rosalind Russell, 1907
George III, 1738
Aesop, BCE620 (not certain, but close enough)


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Born in the USA"(Album release), 1984
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan(Film), 1982
"Cavalcade of Stars"(TV), 1949


Today in History:

Chinese astronomers make the first recording of a solar eclipse, BC781
Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the first English colony on Roanoke Island, old Virginia (now North Carolina), 1584
Forces under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan, 1615
New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians, 1760
A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in history, 1769
The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon), 1783
Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain, 1792
The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title, 1878
Henry Ford test drives his first prototype automobile, the Ford Quadricycle, 1896
Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage, 1912
A patent for the ATM is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain, 1973
The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army, 1989
Solidarity's victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, 1989
Falcon 9 Flight 1 was the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket,2010