A few weeks ago, in the midst of end of the semester madness, I was tagged by a couple sensational bloggers to fill out a “Wiki B-Day” survey as well as a book list. Although I was swamped at the time with various essays and/or daily Hebrew homework, I did promise Scott and Elizabeth that I would eventually complete my taggee (tagee?) obligations. So, without further ado …
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June 23 -
1. Events: (with commentary, of course!)
· 1860 - The US Congress establishes the Government Printing Office. Can I get some government nerd love here? It’s like they knew I was coming… in another 127 years.
· 1956 - Gamal Abdel Nasser elected president of Egypt. Oh, silly little Arab nationalist who thought you were big and bad enough to take on Israel. I bet you probably regretted that whole “Six Days War” deal where Israel whooped you.
· 1990 - Moldavia declares independence. And I have to admit, I may or may not have actually been aware of this country’s existence before 10 minutes ago.
2. Birthdays:
· 1948 - Clarence Thomas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Oh, I knew I loved that man and his brilliance. Sharing a birthday with Clarence Thomas? Dreams do come true.
· 1977 - Jason Mraz, American singer and songwriter. I’m not an obsessive fan of his, but I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t get caught up in “la la la la la la la life is wonderful…” you know?
· Honorable Mentions: Randy Jackson (American Idol judge, dawg!) and Gordon B. Hinckley (Mormon superstar extraordinaire).
3. Death: skipping this, because it’s my blog and I can.
4. Holiday: almost forgot! Midsummer’s Eve, Christianized the eve of the feast of Saint John the Baptist, is celebrated in much of Northern Europe and the British Island. “A Midsummer Night’s Eve” is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, so I’ve always loved this bit of trivia. 
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Booklist - admittedly a bit more challenging than the wiki b-day. I mean, only five? Impossible.
- I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris - An interesting read, to say the least. I don’t feel like this is the place to get into my dating philosophy, but I love the way Harris approaches singleness as purposeful and a time to be savored.
- Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001 by Benny Morris - I’m admittedly an Israelophile, but if you enjoy any sort of history, this book is amazing! A remarkably objective account of the entire conflict, a whopping 694 pages. It was the main text for my Israeli-Palestinian Conflict course this semester, and I still have a couple hundred pages to go before finishing it. It is definitely not in my sell back pile.
- Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster - 1912 classic. I have loved this book since elementary school when I found it on our library shelves… I probably shouldn’t admit this to the entire blogosphere, but my copy of Daddy Long-Legs may still have the library call number on the spine. Oh dear. It’s just that good. Intelligent. Romantic. So far beyond my 5th grade comprehension, which makes it even more wonderful that I keep reading it year after year. And I still cry tears of happiness at the end. Every. Stinking. Time.
- The Party of Death by Ramesh Ponnuru - Confession: I am only halfway through Chapter 1. But it really is that good. And because I have it on loan from my house library, I need to finish it before Tuesday.
- Godless: The Church of Liberalism by Ann Coulter - If you have not read this yet, ignore everything you have heard, because most of it is probably wrong… unless what you have heard is that it is a brilliant analysis about the religion of secular liberalism. Say what you will about Ann’s style of political commentary (I happen to love it), but I always learn so much from her books. She has a knowledge of political history and the consequences thereof that is simply incomparable.
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And that is that. As far as tagging other bloggers go, I’m going to say this is a free for all. If you think you share a birthday with someone as awesome as Clarence Thomas, (which I’m sure you are mistaken because there is no one as awesome as Clarence Thomas), tell me in the comments. And books, oh how I love books. Share those suggestions as well, please!
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I have to admit that I am officially jealous that Justice Thomas gets to share his birthday with you. The only contemporary famous person (famous as in “I know that name…”) I could find that I share my birthday with was singer Kelly Clarkson, if I remember right, an American Idol winner.
I have read 1. and 5.
The others sound interesting though. I have never heard of daddy long legs!!! 5. was a crack up. And 1. i do think is exactly what you said… using time of singleness properly. It’s a very special time in life. I also like his concept of not dating or seeking when you aren’t in a place that you feel you are ready to seriously think through marriage! If ONLY I would have practiced that more in H.S.!
Scott,
As for Harris’ concept - thankfully I did practice it in high school, even if I wasn’t necessarily a huge fan at the time of my parents’ insistence that I maintain singleness throughout high school, haha. There are certain chapters that I still re-read every so often just for encouragement. Rebecca St. James wrote a book that is worth an honorable mention as far as my book list goes. Her “Wait for Me” is incredibly inspiring in the romantic way she approaches waiting.
Kelly Clarkson is no Clarence Thomas, you’re right. But, she is much better than Randy Jackson… namely, she actually has talent and doesn’t overuse the word “dawg!”.
MZ,
Daddy Long-Legs was a miraculous find, as far as I’m concerned. It’s like my soulmate in book form, if that’s possible.
Wow, you must have had some pretty cool parents
Welcome back!