| Looking back over the month of March, I'm having a hard time picking my favorite Banter Bites. | |
| You were a straight-A student, maybe you should just grade them. |
I love holidays and not just the major ones. That's probably because once I had children, we tended to celebrate and commemorate almost all of them, even if it was just fun greeting cards or some house decorations (ok, sometimes I went overboard). So, although my girls are no longer little, I still found enjoyment as Black and I honored March holidays.
- March 15: Any Idea What The Ides Of March Is? – Most people probably don't give it a passing thought, so who would have thought George Clooney and Julius Caesar have something in common?
- March 17: You Don't Have To Be Irish – Ever since I can remember, people have thought that my red hair meant I was Irish. But even though I'm not, that doesn't stop me from loving St. Patrick's Day, probably because it's always been a great excuse to cook one of my favorite meals.
- March 20: Spring Has Sprung. Spring Has Science? – A day when science (it's the Spring Equinox, after all) provides the perfect opportunity to have a fresh restart. And although Black tried to rain on my parade, it didn't work (this time).
Curious about Black's favorites this month?
Labor Day celebrates the American worker. However you may celebrate, we wish you a Happy Labor Day!
Quick! If someone says "Julius Caesar," what comes to mind?
Almost everyone has heard of Julius Caesar, but how many of us really know much about him, or at least that's what Red starts to wonder when she receives the usual flippant, but still accurate, reply from her sister, after feeling very proud that she knew that July was named after the famous Roman.
Which is what got Red to realize, much to her surprise (shock, if truth be told), that even as a straight-A student with a love of history, that when it came to Julius Caesar, a famous historical figure and possibly one of the greatest generals and statesmen of all time, she couldn't tell you dates or battles or anything "historical" associated with him.
Even as a theater major in college, she never read Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," although she knew just enough about the play to know that it was where the fortune teller warned Caesar to "Beware the Ides of March." Instead, her knowledge of Caesar came from her love of movies.
My first, and probably my most enduring, memory is of a brilliant general who not only commanded armies as he conquered lands far from home but was a great statesman who was also involved with one of the world's most beautiful women. And while he was Julius Caesar and the woman was Cleopatra, to me, they'll always be Rex Harrison and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, a movie almost as controversial as the general himself.
And Black? Besides knowing that Caesar Salad was invented by a different Caesar, she appreciates Julius Caesar's leadership skills and way with words,
There is much we can learn about leadership from Julius Caesar, whether on the battlefield, in politics, or in business (start small, take risks, communicate well), including what ultimately led to his death (always consider worst-case scenarios, never get complacent or arrogant). Many of his quotes speak (pun intended) to his powerful way with words, and the ability to not only deliver a message but to inspire (and story tell), with my favorite being, "I came, I saw, I conquered."


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