July 4, 2008 - Americans are celebrating Independence Day today. The 4th of July means fireworks, potato salad and Presidential Addresses. The air waves will be commandeered, and we will be forced to listen to George tell us how wonderful it is to be American in the good ol' US of A.... the red, white and blue of world wide envy. But if there is no other reason to celebrate a day off in the peak of summer - it will be his last Independence Day Address. Praise the lord, and pass the Michelob.
Though July 4th conjures up ideas of good times, it was also the day in 1827 that New York abolished slavery, Walt Whitman's 1st book of poems was published in 1855, the first broadcast of Radio Free Europe hit the airwaves in 1950, and the first two known victims of the Zodiac Killer were found. Like any forced family time holiday, July 4th brings out the best and worst in so many. But sometimes it brings out creativity.
In 1862, the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson told a bedtime tale to the Liddell sisters. It was about a girl named Alice and her underground adventures. Three years later on July 4th, and under the pen name Lewis Carroll, the story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published. Thus, today is Alice in Wonderland Day. I don't advocate wearing a blue dress and petticoat, or drinking tea with a large rat, or playing poker with a deck of cards that sings. But if you want to stroll through the forest, and add wild mushrooms to your picnic menu, be careful which mushrooms you eat. One might make you really really big, and another may make you really really small.
Of course the other traditional way to spend Independence Day is at the mall. I hear there is a big Boom Box Day sale.
Though July 4th conjures up ideas of good times, it was also the day in 1827 that New York abolished slavery, Walt Whitman's 1st book of poems was published in 1855, the first broadcast of Radio Free Europe hit the airwaves in 1950, and the first two known victims of the Zodiac Killer were found. Like any forced family time holiday, July 4th brings out the best and worst in so many. But sometimes it brings out creativity.
In 1862, the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson told a bedtime tale to the Liddell sisters. It was about a girl named Alice and her underground adventures. Three years later on July 4th, and under the pen name Lewis Carroll, the story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published. Thus, today is Alice in Wonderland Day. I don't advocate wearing a blue dress and petticoat, or drinking tea with a large rat, or playing poker with a deck of cards that sings. But if you want to stroll through the forest, and add wild mushrooms to your picnic menu, be careful which mushrooms you eat. One might make you really really big, and another may make you really really small.
Of course the other traditional way to spend Independence Day is at the mall. I hear there is a big Boom Box Day sale.
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