Birthdays...
Mar. 9th, 2012 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatDid you know that the melody to Happy Birthday came from "Good Morning to You"?
from wiki:
Interesting that the melody comes from a song that was originally sung for any occasion. How accurate this information is - is anyone's guess.
I've always found birthdays to be odd.
I don't remember most of them. And my mother had one tradition she kept to up until her own mother died - she'd call her mother on her birthday, to thank her for giving her the gift of life. I asked her once, why she called Granny? And that's what she told me. But other than that, my mother is always a bit...ambivalent about the whole thing. She did go out of her way to celebrate ours as kids, but I think she preferred Xmas. My Granny, having been born on the 27th of December, didn't get a birthday party until she turned 90, that was her first birthday party and she died a year later. My brother and sisinlaw meanwhile rarely celebrate their own. My bro and I send each other emails on our birthdays. And we've celebrated each others in the past at various times. Now they put all their effort into celebrating their child's, birthdays like Xmas and Easter often seem to be more for children in my family.
Most of the friends I've had throughout my life have equally been somewhat ambivalent. Oh some have had the big party - often to be disappointed that certain people failed to show up. Others won't even tell me when their birthday is. At work, one co-worker hates to have her's celebrated, because her father died on her birthday. Another loves it. And my boss sees them as special occasions.
I use the day to pamper myself. Go to the spa, like I did today, eat what I want, do what I want. Try to relax and let the world amble on by...and that's sometimes easier said then done. Like any holiday, there appears to be work involved to accomplish very little. This morning for example - on my way to the spa, I had to explain to my downstairs neighbor that no, I did not leave the note complaining about the music in his apartment in the mail five months ago. I saw it - since it was in the mail. But I didn't leave it. It was most likely someone next door who got confused. Odd conversation to have on one's birthday. But there you go. Life and it's oddities.
Looked up Birthday online...and I found some interesting bits in Wiki, the admittedly not always completely reliable internet encyclopedia, but really is anything ever reliable on the internet?
I don't know how accurate this is, you'd have to tell me, but if it is...rather interesting. The idea of a name day. A bit too religious for me. I don't like authority...so religion and I have always had a difficult relationship. Although there are non-authoritian religions - they tend to be the less violent ones.
Apparently, and again according to wiki, a lot of religious faiths hate birthdays - see them as sinful or wrong for some reason from Judaism to Christianity to Islam. Weird. Not sure this is true.
I rather like this bit from wiki, which actually may explain why several religious faiths have issues with the celebration of birthdays:
Hmm...this above may be the origin of the birthday party.
There's also a mathematical problem called the The Birthday paradox" followed by The Birthday Attack. It concerns the probability of two people being born at the same time on the same day. Now why anyone would care is beyond me, let alone care enough to come up with a mathematical formula regarding it. Apparently there are some really bored and super-bright mathematicians out there with too much time on their hands. I'd try to explain it, but just reading wiki's explanation gave me a headache.
Regarding Birthday Songs?
1. A quiz meme that tells you what song was number one the day you were born. Mine? Ruby Tuesday by the Rolling Stones - cool, a song I actually like.
2. And on youtube - you can get numerous birthday songs...my favorites are linked below:
* (Penguins) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P90dKxlsUJo&feature=related
Here's the Beatles - which is actually my favorite version of the Birthday Song:
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lh525NYjzY - The White Album version.
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq-qBmHe4_c&feature=related - the old 1960s version.
[I prefer the White Album version - far cooler].
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfQtfw8U06g&feature=related(Marilyn Monro version)
* Hippo Rap version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzgr_wpdENI&feature=related)
And regarding gemstones? In the 1800s Tiffany and company published poems from an unknown author:
Who in this world of ours their eyes
In March first open shall be wise,
In days of peril firm and brave,
And wear a bloodstone to their grave.
But in modern times, the Aquaramarine symbolized March, to my considerable relief.
But according to the zodiac chart those born between Feb 22- March 21 = amethyst.
So perhaps this rhyme fits:
The February-born shall find
Sincerity and peace of mind,
Freedom from passion and from care,
If they an amethyst will wear.
According to my mother, I was born on aThursday so ...sapphire or carnelian no it was a Friday. [ETA: also apparently at 8pm not 8am. Momster: You were born at 8pm, your brother was at 8am. You were on a Friday. You came a day late, he came two weeks early... Me: I guess that explains why he's always late now, and I'm always early...we're making up for it. ]
Birthday flowers?
British:
Daffodil - which symbolizes rebirth, respect, regard and unrequited love
US:
Daffodil - Rebirth, unrequited love, vanity (don't know about you, but I prefer the British version.)
Zodiac? Ah...my moon and sun are in Piceses - which makes me double Piceses. I can't remember my rising sign.
When you read about birth signs and zodiac, you wonder - are we defined by the day, hour, time, and moment of our birth? I don't think so. But I don't know either.
Birthdays...wonderful, angsty, weird things. For myself...I'm not very good at remembering them. I remember my immediate families because everyone in my family has a birthday that has the number 9 either in it, divisible by it or is actually it. Mom? the 18, Dad - 9th of Dec, Bro - the 29th, Me, the 9th of March. Pattern recognition and all that. I don't know enough about numerology to know if it means anything - but it does make it easy to remember.
Also, I'm an insecure birthday card and gift-giver - it has to be perfect, fit the person. I'll look until it does or procrastinate and not get a thing. Insane, isn't it? And online...I'm of the opinion that you should either wish every single person that reads you happy birthday or none at all. Extremist, but I got worried one year when I tried it and kept missing people. Because absent minded. Hence the spontaneous musings title.
Anyhow...off to relax some more, it's turned into a sunny day, so my apartment is bathed in sunshine, not rainy as foretold by the increasingly unreliable weatherpeople. May do Kidinyulani yoga tonight finally. We shall see.
Have a happy, wherever you may be.
from wiki:
The melody of "Happy Birthday to You" comes from the song "Good Morning to All", which was written and composed by American siblings Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill in 1893. Patty was a kindergarten principal in Louisville, Kentucky, developing various teaching methods at what is now the Little Loomhouse;Mildred was a pianist and composer. The sisters created "Good Morning to All" as a song that would be easy to be sung by young children.
The combination of melody and lyrics in "Happy Birthday to You" first appeared in print in 1912, and probably existed even earlier.
Interesting that the melody comes from a song that was originally sung for any occasion. How accurate this information is - is anyone's guess.
I've always found birthdays to be odd.
I don't remember most of them. And my mother had one tradition she kept to up until her own mother died - she'd call her mother on her birthday, to thank her for giving her the gift of life. I asked her once, why she called Granny? And that's what she told me. But other than that, my mother is always a bit...ambivalent about the whole thing. She did go out of her way to celebrate ours as kids, but I think she preferred Xmas. My Granny, having been born on the 27th of December, didn't get a birthday party until she turned 90, that was her first birthday party and she died a year later. My brother and sisinlaw meanwhile rarely celebrate their own. My bro and I send each other emails on our birthdays. And we've celebrated each others in the past at various times. Now they put all their effort into celebrating their child's, birthdays like Xmas and Easter often seem to be more for children in my family.
Most of the friends I've had throughout my life have equally been somewhat ambivalent. Oh some have had the big party - often to be disappointed that certain people failed to show up. Others won't even tell me when their birthday is. At work, one co-worker hates to have her's celebrated, because her father died on her birthday. Another loves it. And my boss sees them as special occasions.
I use the day to pamper myself. Go to the spa, like I did today, eat what I want, do what I want. Try to relax and let the world amble on by...and that's sometimes easier said then done. Like any holiday, there appears to be work involved to accomplish very little. This morning for example - on my way to the spa, I had to explain to my downstairs neighbor that no, I did not leave the note complaining about the music in his apartment in the mail five months ago. I saw it - since it was in the mail. But I didn't leave it. It was most likely someone next door who got confused. Odd conversation to have on one's birthday. But there you go. Life and it's oddities.
Looked up Birthday online...and I found some interesting bits in Wiki, the admittedly not always completely reliable internet encyclopedia, but really is anything ever reliable on the internet?
In some historically Roman Catholic countries such as Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia and throughout South America, it is common to have a 'name day'/'Saint's day'. It is celebrated in much the same way as a birthday, but is held on the official day of a saint with the same Christian name as the birthday person; the difference being that one may look up a person's name day in a calendar, or easily remember common name days (for example, John or Mary); however in pious traditions, the two were often made to concur by giving a newborn the name of a saint celebrated on its birthday, or even the name of a feast, for example, Noel or Pascal (French for Christmas and "of Easter"); for one, Togliatti got Palmiro as first name because he was born on Palm Sunday.
I don't know how accurate this is, you'd have to tell me, but if it is...rather interesting. The idea of a name day. A bit too religious for me. I don't like authority...so religion and I have always had a difficult relationship. Although there are non-authoritian religions - they tend to be the less violent ones.
Apparently, and again according to wiki, a lot of religious faiths hate birthdays - see them as sinful or wrong for some reason from Judaism to Christianity to Islam. Weird. Not sure this is true.
I rather like this bit from wiki, which actually may explain why several religious faiths have issues with the celebration of birthdays:
Superstitious origins of celebrations
A number of possible superstitious origins for customs associated with birthday celebrations have been suggested. One source states that the tradition of birthday parties started in Europe. It was feared that evil spirits were particularly attracted to people on their birthdays and to protect them, they would be visited by friends and family, who would bring good thoughts and wishes.
Hmm...this above may be the origin of the birthday party.
There's also a mathematical problem called the The Birthday paradox" followed by The Birthday Attack. It concerns the probability of two people being born at the same time on the same day. Now why anyone would care is beyond me, let alone care enough to come up with a mathematical formula regarding it. Apparently there are some really bored and super-bright mathematicians out there with too much time on their hands. I'd try to explain it, but just reading wiki's explanation gave me a headache.
Regarding Birthday Songs?
1. A quiz meme that tells you what song was number one the day you were born. Mine? Ruby Tuesday by the Rolling Stones - cool, a song I actually like.
2. And on youtube - you can get numerous birthday songs...my favorites are linked below:
* (Penguins) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P90dKxlsUJo&feature=related
Here's the Beatles - which is actually my favorite version of the Birthday Song:
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lh525NYjzY - The White Album version.
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq-qBmHe4_c&feature=related - the old 1960s version.
[I prefer the White Album version - far cooler].
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfQtfw8U06g&feature=related(Marilyn Monro version)
* Hippo Rap version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzgr_wpdENI&feature=related)
And regarding gemstones? In the 1800s Tiffany and company published poems from an unknown author:
Who in this world of ours their eyes
In March first open shall be wise,
In days of peril firm and brave,
And wear a bloodstone to their grave.
But in modern times, the Aquaramarine symbolized March, to my considerable relief.
But according to the zodiac chart those born between Feb 22- March 21 = amethyst.
So perhaps this rhyme fits:
The February-born shall find
Sincerity and peace of mind,
Freedom from passion and from care,
If they an amethyst will wear.
According to my mother, I was born on a
Birthday flowers?
British:
Daffodil - which symbolizes rebirth, respect, regard and unrequited love
US:
Daffodil - Rebirth, unrequited love, vanity (don't know about you, but I prefer the British version.)
Zodiac? Ah...my moon and sun are in Piceses - which makes me double Piceses. I can't remember my rising sign.
When you read about birth signs and zodiac, you wonder - are we defined by the day, hour, time, and moment of our birth? I don't think so. But I don't know either.
Birthdays...wonderful, angsty, weird things. For myself...I'm not very good at remembering them. I remember my immediate families because everyone in my family has a birthday that has the number 9 either in it, divisible by it or is actually it. Mom? the 18, Dad - 9th of Dec, Bro - the 29th, Me, the 9th of March. Pattern recognition and all that. I don't know enough about numerology to know if it means anything - but it does make it easy to remember.
Also, I'm an insecure birthday card and gift-giver - it has to be perfect, fit the person. I'll look until it does or procrastinate and not get a thing. Insane, isn't it? And online...I'm of the opinion that you should either wish every single person that reads you happy birthday or none at all. Extremist, but I got worried one year when I tried it and kept missing people. Because absent minded. Hence the spontaneous musings title.
Anyhow...off to relax some more, it's turned into a sunny day, so my apartment is bathed in sunshine, not rainy as foretold by the increasingly unreliable weatherpeople. May do Kidinyulani yoga tonight finally. We shall see.
Have a happy, wherever you may be.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Happy Birthday!
Date: 2012-03-10 12:34 am (UTC)I do know that in Greece they really make a huge fuss about the name day, and no one ever even knows your birthday because that just isn't any big thing...
Have a great weekend, extending your pampering!
no subject
Date: 2012-03-10 04:13 pm (UTC)