March 31st

Yesterday, when I woke up it looked like this outside: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
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Today, it looks like this:
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I think Punxsutawney Phil was wrong.

St. Patrick's Day, March 17th

St. Patrick's Day!!!

It's no secret that I love St. Patrick's Day. I love it because I get a little thrill every time I see my name somewhere, even if I know it's not really for me.

Nevertheless, I was shocked when I read today that St. Patrick's Day had been moved to the March 15th, because the Catholic Church didn't want to celebrate the holiday during Holy Week, which I completely understand, since St. Patrick's Day is, after all, a Catholic feast day, and as such they have every right to move the celebration, so as not to take away from Holy Week, but I was so sad that I had missed it! And I didn't know because I didn't get the memo, because I'm not Catholic!

Anyway, I still must celebrate St. Patrick's Day today, and if you would like to celebrate along with me, here are a few tests to see how "Irish" you are.

Your Irish Name Is...

Maura MacSween

What's Your Irish Name?

What Your Shamrock Says About You

You express yourself well - you are very verbal. You are good at perceiving the world and understanding people. At times you can be moody and lack direction. You have an artist's temperament. You consider yourself a lucky person. Luck always seems to be on your side. You are traditional, easy going, and appreciative of the simple things in life.

The Shamrock Personality Test

You're 50% Irish

You're probably less Irish than you think you are... But you're still more Irish than most.

How Irish Are You?

Your Leprechaun Name Is:

Freckles O'Gold

What's Your Leprechaun Name?

You Are A Fig Tree

You are very independent and strong minded. A hard worker when you want to be, you play hard too. You are honest and loyal. You hate contradiction or arguments. You love life, and you live for your friends, children, and animals. A great sense of humor, artistic talent, and intelligence are all gifts you possess.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

You Are Emerald Green

Deep and mysterious, it often seems like no one truly gets you. Inside, you are very emotional and moody - though you don't let it show. People usually have a strong reaction to you... profound love or deep hate. But you can even get those who hate you to come around. There's something naturally harmonious about you.

What Color Green Are You?

Pi Day, 3-14

Pi Day

It's another Pi Day! The day devoted to eating pie and celebrating pi! Because, really, if we didn't have pi, we wouldn't understand, well, lots of things about our natural world. And, by the way, it's also Albert Einstein's birthday today, which is kinda cool. So, you can celebrate with a birthday pie, or you can calculate the perfect slice of birthday cake by using pi.

So, if you feel like you already know enough about the history of pi, or you have already memorized pi to the millionth digit, or that you have read enough pi limericks and pi haiku on past pi days, then you can check out these posters that help you calculate the area of your pizza pie, or you can calculate your age with pi, or you can find the bianary equivilant of your name in pi, all of which are cool Pi Day activities.

National Grammar Day, March 4th

National Grammar Day

Oh, my goodness, I almost forgot! Today is National Grammar Day! And I would not have known about National Grammar Day, if Soccer Dad, had not given me the heads up about it! Now, even though I have my B.A. in English, I haven't ever formally taken a grammar class, so, I do feel a bit insecure around some people when they talk about nonrestrictive modifiers and future perfect tenses. However, I do love language, and can appreciate grammar and those whose skills are above my own, and today I will pretend that I have the best of grammar skills, and as long as Edgy doesn't tell on me, no-one will be the wiser. Just, no-one comment on the run-on sentence, please.

Anyway, I found this delightful article about the ethics of grammar, which tells me of the four situations where it is permissible to correct a person's grammar. And, I have discovered that according to SPOGG (Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar) voters, President George W. Bush is the celebrity with the worst grammar. (Sorry Soccer Dad as a Democrat, I felt morally responsible, to point that one out.) And, I have discovered that SPOGG has a blog!

I feel as if I am witnessing the development of a real-life-English-major-e-version of S.P.E.W.!

Anyway, thanks again Soccer Dad!

Sharp Days, March 1-3

The first three days of March are called "Sharp Days" in Greek tradition. When I first read about this, I thought it was in reference to perhaps the sharpness of the air, despite the fact that it seems like there is more sun, and therefore more warm... but, no. The first three days of August are also "Sharp Days." Sharp Days are considered a transitional time of year. The Sharp Days in March are the beginning of warmer weather, and the Sharp Days in August are the beginning of cooler weather.

During the first three days of March you should not wash any clothes or they will wear out too quickly, or chop wood or because it will rot before it's time, or bathe because your hair will fall out. If you must do laundry, you must put a nail in the water to take the sharpness out. I haven't found a solution for chopping wood or bathing. Maybe stick a nail in your shampoo bottle.