August 9, 1483 – Sistine Chapel Opens
August 9, 1854 – Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden
August 9, 1922 – Philip Larkin born
August 9, 1936 – Jesse Owen becomes the 1st American to win 4 gold medals
August 9, 1945 – United Stated drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki
August 9, 1960 – Elizabeth Susan Lerner born
August 9, 1969 – Charles Manson and “family” murder Sharon Tate and four others
August 9, 1974 – Richard Nixon becomes first American President to resign from office
August 9, 1995 – Jerry Garcia dies
Filed under: You Go Girl |
Sorry to have missed last week’s fun and games. Thankfully, I’m back in time to help Betsy celebrate Nixon’s resignation.
Hope 50 is filled with a rendezvous with Jon Hamm and a kick-ass screenplay deal.
Happy Birthday! Fifty rocks!
For you and Jerry:
I was wondering how August imbedded his and one of mine ended up that way. I would rather you saw “I will survive” first!
I tried to claim the first comment (damn you, Sherry!) with huge embedded video. The message there is, ‘it may be your birthday, but it’s -still- all about me.’
Happy Birthday 🙂
I knew it was coming one of these days and glad to know it’s today. Happy Birthday, Betsy – you’re such an important part of our lives, and we love you!
Have a great day,
Kyler
Happy Birthday, B.
Happy Birthday, and thanks for having the best blog, ever.
You share a birthday with Larkin? … jealous. Please have an awesome day. Run. Streak. Throw things. Stand by the side of the road and lob objects at passing cars. I’ll likewise celebrate … the felicitous occasion of your nascence!
Happy Birthday, Betsy! I’ll be 50 with you for 10 days, then it’s on to being older than you again.
I gave away 2 copies of Forest during a speech I gave last week at the RWA National Conference. Also pimped your blog to 400 writers, because I enjoy your daily dose of angsty wit that much.
I hope you have a lovely birthday!
Happy Birthday from all the lurkers too!
hear hear!!
Betsy, you really are a dream come true.
I love reading your blog.
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday, Betsy.
Happy Birthday! May this be the best year of your life!
Happy birthday..all the best kids were born in August.
Oh *IN* August. I thought you said August.
happy birthday!
angels indeed! my daughter turns 15 today.
And, it’s 8-9-10, surely a sign of something lining up just right.
Your birthday may be the anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca murders, but I get to share a birthday with Charles Manson.
HB, BL!
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Your blog is a strange, well-lighted place. Happy Birthday.
Happy Bday!
Jasmine
When they cried freedom, when the sweet
mingling of woodsmoke and jasmine
with dust – grass, granite, antelope
bone – gathered into wrists which turned
light the colour of blood, darkness
a memory of the colour
of blood – when their voices lifted
that song and sent it echoing
across Africa, I knew it.
Sibanda had taught it to me,
polishing the family’s shoes,
squatting outside the scullery
door. We both wore khaki trousers
many sizes too big; no shirt,
no shoes. I spat on the toecaps
while he brushed: and while he brushed
we sang: ‘Nkosi sikelel’
iAfrika…’ over and over
till the birds joined in. August birds.
‘… Maluphakanisw’ udumo lwayo …’ *
It comes back to me, this August,
now that the jasmine is blooming
and the air is stilled by woodsmoke;
how they cried freedom, and how I
knew their song. A lingering chill
pinches Zimbabwean sunsets
into the cheeks of my children
squatting beside me as I write.
It is their song too. I teach it
to them, over and over, till
my tired eyes are pricked with tears
held back, sweet smoke, dust and jasmine.
*(Zulu) “God bless Africa … Raise up her spirit.”
by John Eppel
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday, sparkle. You light up our lives. And it’s taking every ounce of self control I possess to not embed that Debby Boone song. Because you’re 50, so I KNOW you remember that shit.
Don’t see it here anymore, but Betsy used to have a link to a video of Patti Smith singing a great version of You Light Up My Life.
Happy Birthday, Betsy! Enjoy!
Best birthday ever to a formidable funny force
happy birthday!
funny, i’ve got this image of (hypothetical) you painted on the sistine chapel, reaching for ?
Happy Birthday, Betsy. It’s my mother’s birthday, too. All the women I know born on this day kick my ass.
Happy Birthday, Betsy. I hope all your wishes come true.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
*throws confetti*
what an elegant way to mention a special date.
happy birthday! so far my fifties are great…really…not just saying that.
I highly recommend 50 and beyond. It is so much better than the alternative. I’ll raise a glass of a nice Syrah to you tonight. Now I have to go look up what happened on my birthday–doubtful I could live up to the Jerry Garcia thing.
You get Larkin, I get Tina Turner.
Happy birthday, Betsy, indulge yourself. See you in the near future!
Oh, I’m sorry I missed your birthday. I’ve been staying (mostly) unplugged and off the blogs…and I missed your big 5-0.
Happy belated birthday! I’m glad you had a day of friends and fun.
How does it feel…fifty?
I just hit 40 (in April) and I hate it. Getting old and losing my looks is evil. I still feel young. *sigh* I’m working on the graceful part of growing older. Sort of.
May this be your best decade yet.