Pope Leo IX (the Pope) JCF Bach (German composer) Jane Russell (of Gentlemen Prefer Blonds fame) Daniel Carter Beard (founder of the Boy Scouts of America) Jean-Paul Sartre (French philosopher) Maureen Stapleton (Academy Award winning actress) Mariette Hartley (who?) Prince William of Wales (the prince) but most importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 45 years ago today, I was born in Alabama in a small town on the banks of the Tennessee River. Yesterday, someone asked me if my family has any birthday traditions. The answer is no. My family never cared very much, but I do remember a few birthday highlights. I was given a birthday party in the back yard when I was ten years old. Two years later, my sister got married on my birthday, so I was just a bit overlooked, although I did get a stuffed animal--it was a white Yorkshire terrier with an AM radio in its stomach. When I turned 20, a different sister took me to an outdoor performance of Dvorak's New World Sympho...

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I can just picture him strolling between Daniel's bank and the coffee shop in Stillman, or down to the grill in Lake Wobegon.
Hey, the Prairie Home Companion movie opens here soon. I take it everyone over there has seen it already (usually the case). If so, what's it like?
Prairie Home Companion wasn't a big hit here, but I don't think it was intended to be one. It has a limited audience, and surprisingly, a lot of people have never even heard of Garrison Keillor. I just had this discussion with a friend yesterday--I loved the movie because I love the show, and all the characters are there. It has a slim plot and moves very slowly, like Keillor, but that's exactly what I liked about it.
The cowboys are lovely.
I've been a big fan ever since Lake Wobegon Days first came out and we could buy "best of" cassettes of the show over here.
Now of course, it's available online. Whoopee for the internet!
I also subscribe to their "Writer's Almanac" which sends me a daily poem and some literary anniversaries (I suspect you get that one, too) …