The Ides of March

Today is the day. March 15th. The Ides of March.

The Ides of March is the first day of the Roman New Year.It also marks the first day of spring in the Roman calendar.

On this day in history, Julius Caesar was warned by soothsayers to "beware of the Ides of March". Apparently, he did not heed the warning strongly enough as he was stabbed by Marcus Brutus on the Ides of March in 44 BC.

It is definitely not a lucky day for some.

As the Chicago Trib notes, Beware the Ides of March, when superstition reigns:

A word of warning to those who believe in lucky numbers, auspicious colors and star-crossed dates: beware. The Ides of March are upon us.

Only those familiar with history or William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” readily may recognize the reference to March 15, the day of JuliusCaesar’s assassination in 44 B.C. The Roman calendar designated monthly Ides, or midpoint, days that fell either on the 13th or 15th day, depending on the month.

After Caesar’s untimely exit, superstitious Romans well may have avoided launching a business, marriage or other important venture on a date so cloaked in doom it eventually entered the lexicon as a metaphor for impending catastrophe.

More importantly for me, it's also the last day for determining the winner of the LLSL wager: wither Sarah.

Perhaps the answer is best found in Sarah Palin's day. As People Magazine reports, she spent the day selling Girl Scout cookies at a supermarket in Juneau. Sarah Palin Says Daughter Bristol 'Doing Just Great'.

I'd say that's hardly the kind of celebrity that was predicted by my wager buddy. She should have heeded the advice: Beware the Ides of March!

Of course, rather than face her likely loss, my colleague left town for a week, supposedly to go on vacation. I think she needs to make a detour through Scranton on her way home to pick up the pizza.