Your correspondent wasn’t born yesterday. He was born today.

by Steve

Woman icing cake as other woman with great glasses looks onToday is my birthday. I already feel a whole year older, if not a whole year wiser. Amongst the many generous gifts I have received, the people of the United Kingdom and Ireland have decided to hold their World Book Day today1, rather than on 23 April, which is when the rest of the world will celebrate its love of books.

While I fully appreciate the gesture, I am a little confused as to how a “World” event can occur on different dates according to the country you live in. I’m guessing that the rest of the book world does not want to mark their day in my honour. Shame on them! Hopefully they are baking me a cake instead.

Special commemorative footnote

1 I can only assume that the sheer thought of me one day writing a book was enough for the Powers That Be to decide that my birthday is an ideal occasion to celebrate all books. I can hardly imagine the pageantry that would follow should I ever actually put pen to paper.

Image from the US National Archives, via Flickr