it's (almost) pi day, i'm in love

Mark your calendars and make your dinner reservations: March 14 is Pi Day. I seriously thought it was something FTO made up (kind of like how a bunch of confectioners came up with "Sweetest Day") but apparently PD is something a bunch of geeks, not retailers, concocted. MIT mails out acceptance letters on Pi Day. I wonder if they mail out waitlist acceptances on July 22, Pi Approximation Day? Check out the Cherry Pisicle t-shirts while you're at it. Speaking of Cherry Pi, maybe if I jump on it I can go down in history as the creator of Pie Day. I'm sure a lot more people would be excited about Pie Day than Pi Day. "Donut Day" has nice alliteration but not quite the same ring to it. Do you think people would expect the creator of Pie Day to be able to bake proficiently? Or would skill in eating pies of all varieties suffice?

(I don't know. Do I have too much time on my hands this morning?)

The Butter Tower and St. Thomas Aquinas on ... seminal matter? This link is for Dan, because the broth does count. But apparently if you donated generously enough in the Middle Ages, you could get a dispensation for just about anything. And according to Wiki, we're abstaining from ungulates (anything pawed or hooved), but according to American Catholic, we can't eat chicken either.

So is this the Lent post? I guess. Aside from true personal sacrifices (which we're urged by Scripture to keep secret) I usually use Lent as a period of health-building challenges, picking something major to focus on - past successful endeavors include vegetarianism, soda-free lifestyle, and one memorable year in college, not eating french fries - but always reverted once Lent was over. Now that I've kicked soda (as a result of a trip to Long Beach, of all things) and am going into my seventh soda-free month (on the calendar it's been eight months but I subtracted one for the whole Wedding-Season Downfall - sip sip here, glug glug there), there's not a whole lot else I am enthusiastic about weeding out. So far I've written "stay out of the drive-thru," which these days is a hefty challenge in itself. Suggestions? (No vegetarianism - unless I want to be preparing two separate meals for us, because with his new job, S can't join me in the Big Veg-Out this year.)

Anyway, gotta get ready to go - I spontaneously decided to plan a mini-party for this afternoon, because one of my Unshushables is leaving us (third quarter - grrr) - and I have to pick up the yum-yums. Maybe I'll make today Donut Day. If I can get them from the bakery to the school fridge without eating them all myself.