Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Happy birthday


It has been a big month for birthdays: not only a couple of presidents who are worth a holiday, but scientists as well. We have Mendelev (2/7), Bernouilli (2/8), Edison (2/11), Darwin (2/12), Volta (2/18), Copernicus (2/19), Hertz (2/22), and other textbook names.

For such a miniature (sorry!) month, there were some big births.

Sunday, 2/15, was the birthday of one of my protagonists, Gloria Lamerino. I gave it to her deliberately since it's also Galileo's birthday. I gave her boyfriend 9/28, the same as Fermi's birthday.

I've been very particular about the birthdays I give my characters, since mine is so boring: 6/3. It doesn't seem fair since I'm such a big fan of birthdays.

When I taught physics to undergraduates, I'd have parties on the big birthdays of the school year: Einstein (3/14), Marie Curie (11/7), JR Oppenheimer (4/22), and Newton (12/25).

I share 6/3 with Tony Curtis and an outfielder for the New York Mets. No offense, but—big deal. I come right between Johnny Weissmuller, 6/2, and Angelina Jolie, 6/4. So close …

I was excited recently to learn that 6/3 is also Anderson Cooper's birthday. That's a little better.

I have friends who were born on New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and the Fourth of July. Everyone in the country celebrates with them. I'm envious. I wouldn't even mind if some minor holiday like Memorial Day or Labor Day would fall on my birthday occasionally, but nothing ever happens on June 3.

Do you like your birthday?

{NOTE: I'm guest blogging today with Betty Webb, author of the great Lena Jones series. Stop and visit: http://bloggingwebb.blogspot.com/ }

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know a guy who was born on April 1. Sometimes karma works - the SOB deserves it.

Camille Minichino said...

You're right, Ellen, it could be worse!

Anonymous said...

Yes and no. I'm July 5, just two hours too late to be July 4, but I have had every imaginable variation on a red white and blue birthday cake. My favorite was one with white icing and blueberries and raspberries forming the flag. Yummy!

Linda O. Johnston said...

I do like my birthday, Camille, because I can share in the celebration for 3 days! My older son was my birthday present 2 days in advance of mine, and my brother's birthday is in between. And this year my son and I both have milestone birthdays.
--Linda

Camille Minichino said...

Very nice, Linda! You must be approaching the 30 milestone!

Betty Hechtman said...

Okay, I'm like the guy Ellen knows. My birthday is April 1. My parties never had an April Fools theme, though. Since it's usually around Easter, I always had cakes with chickens and bunnies on top.

Anonymous said...

I was birn in 1/25 wjich is Robbie Burns b-day. It's bad enough he doesn't write poetry in English but they eat Haggis, Tatties and Neeps, and Cock-a-Leekie soup on my B-Day. Yuck. I'm never going to Scotland for my birthday. Also everybody is rather tired of parties by then so it's always been low key. At least I don't have to share my Sunday with the Superbowl since they moved it later in the Year.

Camille Minichino said...

A super bowl birthday Karen? -- that would be awful! You're making me feel lucky I'm in June.

Terri Thayer said...

I share a birthday with INgrid Bergman which I always thought was cool, until she died on her birthday.

Camille Minichino said...

Ingrid Bergman huh? Well since they're not sure what year she was born, maybe they also have her date of death wrong too!