On This Day

Mother and me

My mother was born today in 1927. She quit this good green earth on October 31, (Halloween — how dramatic of her!), 2012.

What else happened on July 17th?

In 1402 Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor, assumed the throne over China’s Ming Dynasty.

On July 17, 1429 Charles VII (AKA Charles Le Bien-servi, AKA Charles le Victorieux) was crowned King of France. Turns out the old boy was more than a bit of a shit:

He owed Joan of Arc a great debt for her aid in breaking the siege of Orleans and getting a significantly symbolic coronation, but he stood by and did nothing when she was captured by the enemy.

 How very Republican/Tea Party of him to leave a soldier to suffer the tender mercies of the capturing enemy.

In 1717 (wow, eerie, 7/17/1717!) King George I of Great Britain sailed down the Thames with a full up barge of 50 musicians (PAR-TAY!). Supposedly this is where Handel’s Water Music got it’s first play.

The Spanish Civil War began on this date in 1936.

More recently, on July 17th in 1983 I began working for a Boston printing and copying company. It was there that I eventually met The Amazing Bob, Jen and Oni — mia famiglia. On that very first day though, I was introduced to Hillel — we were fast friends/big buds/cookin’-with-gas comrades from the get go. That was 31 (*gasp*) years ago.

Tonight we’ll, likely, meet at The Field, spend too much time and dosh at Rodney’s Bookstore and then on to Mary Chung’s and her spectacular Dun Dun Noodles (YUM!). You know, the ushe.