Today's
Almanac.
In Spring, by Rosie King. It's a poem to make you smile—sweet, but not maudlin. It's short, but there are several story lines (story starters?) there. My mind went hop-scotching in several directions.
Birthdays:
Poet Charles Simic (1938). "His childhood was dominated by World War II and the Nazi invasion." (His work, btw, is somewhat of a juxtaposition of his wartime experiences and his wonder at America through the eyes of an immigrant. Worth reading, if you don't already know him.) Quote attributions because I couldn't choose between two: "I write to annoy God, to make Death laugh. I write because I can’t get it right. I write because I want every woman in the world to fall in love with me.” And, "There’s no preparation for poetry. Four years of grave digging with a nice volume of poetry or a book of philosophy in one’s pocket would serve as well as any university.”
Billy Joel (1949). Quote from a recent interview: "I never wanted to be an oldies act, but I suppose I am. I never wanted to be a nostalgia act, but I suppose I am. But I listen to Beethoven, and that’s
really old stuff. Is
that nostalgia? To me, that music is as alive as it ever was.”
Notable Events:
On this day in 1994, South Africa’s newly elected parliament chose Nelson Mandela as the country’s first democratically elected president.
On this day in 1960, the Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of the world’s first commercially produced birth control pill.