July 27, 2003

Happy Birthday to the Marquis Déjà Dû

Today happens to be the Marquis Déjà Dû's birthday. Earlier today, I started to compose him a simple email happy birthday message and decided to compile him a quick little list of interesting calendar trivia that had happened on his birthday. But as I looked through the usual historical trivia reference materials I regularly use to find interesting calendar trivia, I collapsed into peals of laughter as I could hardly believe what I saw: even the Marquis' birthday, like the cur himself, would end up being ever so "terminally french."

Let me explain about "terminally french" (intentional lowercase "f'). It's something I called the Marquis some years ago when I was asked to come up with a short description for him. It does not refer to nationality nor ancestry nor lineage, but more to a state a mind. The Marquis liked the description quite a bit and even once wrote about in his old Intimate Diary.

Certainly, he will like his birthday calendar trivia very much as well. Because -- well -- it is just so him.

Thus, with tiny fanfare and in honor of the Marquis' birthday, I do now present the best highlights for July 27th, the Day of the Terminally French:

Terminally French Notable Birthdays (besides the Marquis')

Alexandre Dumas fils, born July 27, 1824. His most famous work "Camille" is most definitely terminally french. Cough, cough, cough.

Charlotte Corday, born July 27, 1768. Famous French Revolutionary figure who acquired her fame for terminating Marat. And for allegedly blushing after her head was cut off. Now, that's terminally french.

(See Décolleté ~ The Terror & The Guillotine for more about Corday and Marat. It's the best gallery of beheadings ever, but of course I'm biased as the gallery is by my other Sepulchritude co-editor, Kallisti.)

Terminally French Deaths for July 27th.

July 27, 1844
Guilbert de Pixérécourt dies. Pixérécourt was famous for writing dozens of melodramas for the théatres des boulevards, which if you think about it could kinda be seen as the dive clubs of his day. Okay, so I'm stretching this one a bit. But it's still terminally french.

July 27-29, 1890
Vincent Van Gogh commited suicide (in France) by shooting himself in the chest on July 27th. He died from the infected wound two days later. Tardy and terminal, n'est-ce pas?

July 27, 1946
Gertrude Stein died (in France) with Alice B. Toklas by her side. Their reputed final conversation was Stein apparently inquiring of Toklas about the meaning of life by saying "What is the answer?" When Toklas couldn't or wouldn't reply, Stein then asked "In that case, what was the question?"

____

Ah, what indeed is the question? Je ne sais pas.

But this I do know:
Violà, this entry is for you, my dear Marquis! Je t'embrace and Merry Merry!

Posted by m bat on July 27, 2003 11:25 PM | TrackBack
categories: calendar trivia | friends + cohorts

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