Here is a transcription of the message my father just left on my answering machine:
“Hi, Faustus, it’s Dad. I’m calling at about 1:00 on Saturday, March 9. Gee, today is Felix Mendelssohn’s birthday. Or is it Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s? Well, one of those. Give me a call, and I’ll talk to you soon. Thanks.”
I haven’t called him back, mostly because I don’t want to break his heart by telling him that it is neither Felix Mendelssohn’s birthday (February 3) nor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s birthday (February 24).
But wait! I can totally forestall any potential heartbreak by telling him that it’s Carmen Miranda’s birthday!
Whew. That’s a relief. I mean, he’s old. So God only knows how much disappointment he can take.
But how will you explain to him that it is February, not March?
The man survived your childhood and adolescence: nothing short of a direct nuclear hit is likely to shake him.
TED, that’s fresh.
The 10th is Leontyne Price’s 81st – that’s a classy substitute for Mendelssohn/Longfellow
Faustus, I thought you would have keyed in on Gypsy Rose Lee’s birthday before Carmen Miranda’s.
But Rkkggg has a point. Unfortunately, if you’re forced to pretend it was March 9, your choices are pretty much narrowed down to Vita Sackville-West and Joyce Van Patten.
That is one of the sweetest post ever… Which I didn’t expect. =P
That’s odd, I get a kick out of pointing out to my parents factual errors they have made.
If it is March 9, it may not be Carmen Miranda’s birthday, but it is Ernesto Miranda’s (of the “Miranda Rights”).