Showing posts with label Tony Blair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tony Blair. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Why is this day important?


It's an historic day. Today is the day Tony Blair hands his resignation letter to the Queen. Perhaps more importantly, this day also marks the occasion of my birth. I'm happy to be putting 35 behind me, and I plan to squeeze every drop out of 36.

While still in the thick of the recovery phase, I got so bored one day that I did a search to find out what other occurances coincide with my birthday. I found some ironic twists. Apparently Hellen Keller and I share the same birthday. Anyone who knows me is aware of how blind I am without my contact lenses (I once toured the Acuvue factory in Jacksonville, FL and they informed me my scrip is extremely rare. They hardly ever run it), and now I'm half deaf. Terry is thinking, if only I would occasionally adopt the mute thing, his life would be so much more serene. Ideally he could have a "mute button" for me which he would use for those times when I go into hyper organization mode.

Anyway, taking the coincidence further, I recently had occasion to look back at my high school senior yearbook and was reminded that I used a Helen Keller quote as my parting mantra. "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart." What a naive sap! I now know: forget the heart, the most important things can only be seen by an MRI with contrast.

Below are the other occasions this day marks. An odd collection. I plan to fully partake in Special Recreation for Disabled Day, aka, Joan Voltz Day. Upon hearing news of my surgery a friend offered to buy me a beer drinking helmut (thanks, WW). I may wear it all day.


  • Helen Keller's Birthday
  • Captain Kangaroo's Birthday
  • Sunglasses Day
  • Special Recreation for Disabled Day
  • National Orange Blossom Day
  • National Columnists Day
  • Decide to Be Married Day (are they kidding me with this one!?)
  • "Happy Birthday To You" Day
  • National HIV Testing Day
  • Thursday, May 10, 2007

    The long goodbye


    Tony Blair has finally announced he will be leaving office, and he's chosen June 27th as the day to hand his resignation to the Queen. Of course, she'll be a little preoccupied that day celebrating my birthday. (Tony, Liz and I will call you on the cell between bars. Or meet us in the wig department at Harrods.)

    For anyone who doubts America's reputation in the world, consider this critique in which "American" and "schmaltzy" are analogous.

    He ended the speech with an assertion that Britain is “a blessed nation…the greatest country on earth”. Most Oxford-trained lawyers with an interest in international politics would find that too schmaltzy, too American. -- The Economist, May 10th, 2007

    Full article: http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9142360&top_story=1