Okay, G.K. Chesterton's 136th birthday is tomorrow (Saturday, May 29th), so I've been brainstorming some appropriate ways to mark the day. Please add your own in the combox;
1) Declare your house and surrounding property a sovereign nation. Work on a suitable name and make a flag. Muster an army. Get the kids involved.
2) Carve yourself a walking stick. Take it for a walk.
3) Have a picnic supper on the roof. Some wine, cheese and good bread, at least. Rum and a wheel of cheese would be a great idea, if you have the taste for it.
4) Procure a sword-cane. Slash the air with it.
5) Write someone a letter by hand, on actual paper. Mail it.
6) Write an article about sports, and another about religion. Send the sports article to a religious magazine. Send the religion article to a sports magazine.
7) Sleep late and read one of Chesterton's essays before getting out of bed.
8) Buy or borrow a book by one of the Four Patrons of The League. Start reading it. Extra points for reading in a bus or train station.
9) Visit a farmer's market, a used bookstore, or otherwise give some local business your patronage.
10) Arrange to meet your wife in a pub, and then pretend you are strangers just bumping into one another for the first time. Make a passionate scene. Cause a scandal.
11) Go to Adoration. Ask GKC to pray for your intentions. Pray for the cause of his beatification.
Truly, this list only scratches the surface. I know others can best my efforts. Why a list of eleven? well, everyone does a Top Ten. Ours goes to eleven...
Excellent ideas, Tim! I plan on doing as many as I can, plus I'm going to smoke a cigar.
Posted by: John Kasaian | 05/28/2010 at 10:31 AM
"There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless—boys and women—and I am neither one." - Greek Saying
Posted by: The Crescat | 05/28/2010 at 10:56 AM
Speaking of Chesterton, I've been meaning to ask you for a while, Tim, whether you are familiar with the author Neil Gaiman. Gaiman cites Chesterton as a huge, early influence on his literary life, and in his most prominent work, the comic book series The Sandman, he made Chesterton into a wonderful character called Fiddler's Green. The 75 issues are collected in trade paperbacks, and you can probably get them through your library. I highly recommend them (and not just for Fiddler's Green).
Posted by: Beadgirl | 05/28/2010 at 11:35 AM
Improv Everywhere did a bit of a variation on number 10: http://improveverywhere.com/2002/06/09/will-you-marry-me/
Enjoy
Posted by: Pierce O. | 05/28/2010 at 12:26 PM
"I've been meaning to ask you for a while, Tim, whether you are familiar with the author Neil Gaiman."
Well, yes and no. I know some of his titles and have heard quite a bit about him. My son has read a few of his books and has encouraged me to read them, but I haven't yet. Got to remedy that! He (my son) was pretty excited about Gaiman's reference to Chesterton.
I really must read "Anansi Boys" or "Smoke and Mirrors" very soon.
Posted by: Tim J. | 05/28/2010 at 12:48 PM
Thank you for the heads up, bro Tim.
http://chronatlantis.blogspot.com/2010/05/happy-birthday-gkc.html
Posted by: Jeff Hendrix | 05/29/2010 at 04:22 AM