Misanthropy

Since today is traditionally celebrated as Shakespeare's birthday (if you believe that Shakespeare was in fact Shakespeare (or Shakspere, Shake-speare, Shakspeare, Shakespere but apparently maybe not Shakspear), I thought this bit from The NY Times Magazine was amusing:

European starlings have a way of appearing in unexpected places — the United States, for example, where they are not native but owe their origin to a brief reference in Shakespeare’s “Henry IV, Part 1.” In 1890, a drug manufacturer who wanted every bird found in Shakespeare to live in America released 60 starlings in Central Park. After spending a few years nesting modestly under the eaves of the American Museum of Natural History, they went from a poetic fancy to a menacing majority; there are now upward of 200 million birds across North America, where they thrive at the expense of other cavity nesters like bluebirds and woodpeckers, eat an abundance of grain — as well as harmful insects — and occasionally bring down airplanes.

So, perhaps the pen is mightier than, etc.--or it at least can influence weirdos into geeky actions with far reaching consequences. So next time you see a starling in the U.S. be sure to thank Mr. Howeveryouspellhisname. And there is my birthday gift. ;)

If you're curious, the full article is located here and is also pasted below the ( cut. )

ETA: I forgot to add that as fun as it is to assign the Bard a birthday, and despite the tradition of April 23 (and it's also the day he died, by the way), if anything, he was more likely born around April 20. But, oh well.

Hope you are having a wonderful, fantastic day!

Once more I am a loser at the birthday thing, and while you deserve awesome, hot fic, I provide neither. Sorry, my brain isn’t processing the idea of happy (does it ever?), and this is what came out. It’s rather random and, er, unpolished. (It’s the thought that counts, right?ˆˆ;)

( King Arthur fic: Totem )