TWC: Birthday Stories

Pia’s Birthday:

My Best Birthday EVER: Most certainly.... Plaid and Poka dot! you guys all know the story and I've never been so SURPRISED in my life.
From the best friends ever ;-)








Jenn’s Birthday Woe:

One day, a girl arrives in France, following 24 hours of no sleep. Foreign country, no friends....its a bad set up. Oh, and it rained. AND she realized that on sundays nothing is open. not that it would have mattered because she has no friends to hang with. so, what does she decide? she goes to the local boulangerie, gets herself a cake, and a small bottle of wine. then she eats and drinks. sure, she starts to feel better...so she goes to the cinéma and watches little miss sunshine, in french, twice.

One redeeming event of this birthday- the new unknown english friends in france decide to take me out to dinner, to a weird café full of creepers where we ate warmed up pizza. quite gross.

that, my dears, is the saddest birthday ever.

the best birthday was a surprise one from Dana. but you didn't ask for two stories, so you only get one.


Dana’s Birthday Story:

My story dates back to about 1992 or 1993, it was Lauren Norman’s birthday party. The rad thing about Lauren’s parties was that her Dad baked money into the cake (wrapped in wax paper of course). This was very exciting for an 8 year old, if you never experienced it I’m so sorry.

Anyways, at that age kids have boundless energy and need to be distracted (plus we had been sugared-up with money infused cake). Lauren’s parents- being wise- had many games lined up for us; however, there is only one that I specifically remember: Memory. We were presented with a large tray full of “things”, given a time limit, and were told to try to memorize as many as we could. It was then taken away and we had to jot down as many answers as we could.

A fellow party guest and friend, Meghan Dunn, decided that rules were not her style.
While the rest of us were furiously scribbling down answers she told us she was going to the bathroom, instead, she snuck into the kitchen, peeked under the dish towel, and ran back and added to her list. My memory is faded but I believe she tried this brash manoeuvre several times and on the last assault was caught by Lauren's Mom, who scolded young Megan for cheating and disqualified her from the game.

Megan Dunn’s course in life was set; she went on to become a notorious cheater in the realm of games; both the board variety as well as the more physical. I can personally attest to the validity of this statement as I know for a fact that she cheated in Laundry room Hide-and-Go-Seek by peeking in a crack in the wall as well as tricking the opposing team into blurting out the answer in Cranium by telling them their time was up (then fighting vehemently that it was within the heckling parameters established at the games commencement).

I have every confidence that Meghan Dunn's cheating continues today, and I am hanging onto a childish hope that Lauren and Julia still find quarters and loonies in their birthday cakes.


Ellisa’s Birthday Facts:

My birthday fall on the 20th of April. This day has, throughout my life, brought about many interesting quelms, revelations and conversations. And upon researching this challenge, a few more. So here's what's rad about 4/20

570 - Birth of Prophet Muhammed, founder of Islam (d. 632) (date disputed)
1534 - Jacques Cartier begins his voyage, in which he will discover Canada and Labrador.
1808 - Birth of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (d. 1873) First of only two men ever bent on taking over the world
1889 - Birth of Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany (d. 1945) Second of only two men ever bent on taking over the world
1961 - The Bay of Pigs Invasion of US troops against Cuba.
1968 - Jean-Luc Bombardier, the nephew of snowmobile inventor Joseph Armand Bombardier, is the first Canadian to reach the North Pole.
1968 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister of Canada.
1972 - Birth of Carmen Electra, American actress. Former wife of my secret lover Dave Navarro
1976 - Birth of Joey Lawrence, American actor. This one is for Ben: "WHOA!"
1999 - The Columbine High School massacre leaves 15 people (including the two gunmen) dead and 24 wounded in Jefferson County, Colorado.

Last, but certianly not least, Salute to Marijuana!

Four-twenty - Although many diverse theories exist to explain the origin of the term, it is widely accepted that in 1971, a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California used to meet after school at 4:20 p.m. to smoke cannabis at the Louis Pasteur statue. The term became part of their group's salute, "420 Louis!", and became popularized in the late 1980s by fans of The Grateful Dead.

All in all April 20th shapes up to be a decent day. Whether you worship Islam, Canada, Neo-Nazism, marijuana or (by extension) Dave Navarro, 4/20's your day!


Gerry's Birthday Disaster!

This story - although now very comical - vividly details how tragic a birthday party can be. It all begins at my neighbours house for the celebration of his, lets say, 7th birthday. As far as birthday parties go, this one was a HIT! The turn-out was great, probably around 20 kids and the house was tastefully decorated with balloons, noise makers, and most importantly an enormous birthday cake in the shape of a ninja turtle. Traditionally, the birthday cake, adorned with candles, is presented to the birthday boy or girl followed by a clumsy, off key rendition of happy birthday. However, this party followed a more 'unconventional' plan. The beginning ran rather smoothly. The ninja turtle cake - I believe it was Raphael - was lit up by 8 candles (1 for good luck) and placed on the table. At this point the singing of happy birthday was fully underway but at the part around "happy birthday dear...." the song was interrupted with one of the children yelling FIRE!!

So it turns out that as the cake was being carried up the stairs from the basement where it was lit, one of those tacky 80's door curtains brushed on one of the candles and caught on fire. As with most 80's fabric, this curtain was made out of some synthetic material that quickly burst into flames. Once the rest of the children noticed the flames and the smoke, all hell broke loose. The mother immediately dialled 911 and began to round up the screaming children for evacuation while the father attempted to put out the fire himself. Long story short, the dad was taken to the hospital - and later treated for 2nd degree burns - the fire was put out and the children returned to their respective families. It was truly a celebration that I will never forget.