Many Happy Returns

Eeyore: It's my birthday, the happiest day of the year.

Pooh: Your birthday?

Eeyore: Of course. Can't you see all the presents?

Pooh: Nnno.

Eeyore: Can't you see the cake, the candles, the pink sugar?

Pooh: No.

Eeyore: Neither can I.

Pooh: Oh. Well, many happy returns of the day, Eeyore.

Eeyore: Thank you, Pooh. But we can't all, and some of us don't.

Pooh: Can't all what?

Eeyore: No gaiety, no song and dance, no "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush". But don't worry about me, Pooh. Go and enjoy yourself. I'll stay here and be miserable, with no presents, no cake, no candles.

--A.A. Milne

What does that even mean, "many happy returns of the day"? I've never really thought about it. A quick search reveals that it is intended to wish the recipient many such happy days in the future, many happy birthdays, not just this one. Makes sense.

Local luminary Mickey Gomez has a birthday today. I have a suggestion: celebrate her birthday by paying a visit to her blog, Life and How to Live It. Her latest post is about Spring and spiders. You should check it out, although it may change your feelings about venturing into your own back yard.

Happy Birthday, Mickey!

*****

A few questions for your Thursday, drawn from current events:

1. Is it or is it not legal to record candidates at an open political forum during an election season? (From Mount Hebron Community Association BOE forum)

2. What response did BOE member Ellen Giles get from the ethics panel about Ann DeLacy's use of hcpss emails to solicit campaign donations?

3. Where does Ellen Giles actually live? (From Southern Howard County BOE forum)

4. Why did two of the three incumbents refuse to be interviewed for a story which highlighted the public's frustration over lack of openness and transparency? Doesn't that kind of...prove the point?

5. What on earth does it mean to be "reliably black"?