How do i get into these things? Oh, yeah, i had kids.

"Mom, you'll never guess what happened when I was talking on the phone with Ms. Kay!"  Bigger Girl loves to chat when she helps me clean houses on Fridays.

What? i asked, continuing to sanitize the light switches and TV remotes as she swept.

"Well, I told her that Fran and I were walking through the pumpkin patch, and she said, 'Oh, how nice, is that a southern way of saying you're just having a nice day and a pleasant walk?' and I told her that no, we were literally in a pumpkin patch at the church, picking out a pumpkin to use to decorate for Halloween, and she just didn't know what to say!"

It befuddled her that we actually do have pumpkin patches around here, didn't it?

"Yes, it did!  So when Fran and I go to New York and meet up with Ms. Kay next week, I'm going to play up the whole 'redneck' thing, see how far I can go with it!"

That sounds both mean and fun.

"Well, I think it will be fun, and by the way, I have to be at the airport next Thursday by 4:30am, my flight leaves at 6:30am."

Am i to assume that you mean the one in NOLA, and that i am the one elected to take you?

"Yes, please!"

How can i resist helping her pull the wool over the eyes of a Yankee friend.



Today is:

Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival -- Banff, AB, Canada (40th annual; through next Sunday)

Candies Day -- they have to be kidding -- this close to Halloween we need another candy day?!

Coronation Day -- Cambodia (anniversary of King Norodom Sihamony, in 2004)

Cumhuriyet Bayrami -- North Cyprus; Turkey (Republic Day)(1923)

Emma Crawford Festival and Memorial Coffin Race -- Manitou Springs, CO, US (spooky fun for the whole family)

Fall Back Night -- all areas that end Daylight Saving Time tomorrow; set your clock back one hour before you go to bed and change the batteries in your smoke alarms/carbon monoxide detectors

Forgiveness Day -- a day to reconcile or forgive, for your own peace of mind; sponsored by Positive Peaceful Partners and the Center of Unconditional Love

Hermit Day / Hide From Everyone Day -- internet generated, for those who would rather have a peaceful day today than celebrate the other holidays listed; look up how to be a hermit on wikihow

Internet Day -- it's predecessor went live today, see Today in History for detail

Laugh Suddenly For No Reason A Lot Today Day (And end up either getting yourself and everyone around you in a good mood, or yourself being observed at the hospital in a padded room.)

Naming Day -- Tanzania

National Cat Day -- US (with the goal of getting 10,000 cats adopted from shelters today)

National Disgusting Little Pumpkin-Shaped Candies Day

National Oatmeal Day

Scared Silly: Halloween in Prospect Park -- Brooklyn, NY, US (hauntingly good fun all weekend)

Second Fiddle of the Month -- Fairy Calendar (a very poorly attended event -- who wants to play second fiddle?)

St. Mary of Edessa's Day (Patron against sexual temptation)

World Psoriasis Day


Birthdays Today:

Gabrielle Union, 1972
Winona Ryder, 1971
Joely Fisher, 1965
Randy Jackson, 1961
Finona Hughes, 1960
Kate Jackson, 1948
Richard Dreyfuss, 1947
Melba Moore, 1945
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, 1938
Dominick Dunne, 1925
Bill Mauldin, 1921
Fanny Brice, 1891
Charles Hercules Ebbets, 1858
Daniel Decatur Emmet, 1815
James Boswell, 1740 (wrote the biography of Samuel Johnson)
Edmund Halley, 1656 (O.S. Date) (yes, that Halley, found the comet)


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Internet, 1969 (the first connection between computers that would become the Internet someday was made on this date when bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and Stanford Research Institute; this grew into ARPANET, and is now the Internet we know and yell at.)
"Let's Face It"(Musical), 1941
"Don Giovanni"(Mozart K. 527), 1787


Today in History:

Cyrus the Great entered the city of Babylon, BC539
First trial for witchcraft in Paris, 1390
Sir Walter Raleigh, adventurer, writer, and courtier, is beheaded, 1618
A severe earthquake shakes New England, 1727
Mozart's opera Don Giovanni receives its first performance in Prague, 1787
The first Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans, 1811
Queen Victoria grants Cecil Rhodes rights to Zambezia, 1889
The first intercity trucking service, from Colorado City to Snyder, Texas, begins running, 1904
Turkey declares its independence as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, 1923
Israeli forces invade the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal, 1956
Cassius Clay wins his first professional fight, 1960
Syria exits from the United Arab Republic, 1961
Montreal's World Fair, Expo 67, closes with over 50 million visitors, 1967
The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid, 1991
In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities, 1998
Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off on STS-95 with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space, 1998
In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution, 2004
The 3G wireless transmitters at Mt. Everest make coverage available to the summit, 2010
Random House and Penguin merge to become Penguin Random House, the largest publisher in the world, 2012
Turkey opens the first underwater rail tunnel linking Europe to Asia, 2013