Things we're excited about: March edition
The madness and our Barack-ets
Bill Simmons can argue all he wants about professional sports’ supremacy, but there’s no better competitive curfuffle than March Madness. And while the men at Treebird follow college basketball (I know, annoyingly typical) closely enough to make reasonable bracket predictions (Florida looks awfully good, which is quite an odd statement if taken out of context), others rely on our commander-in-chief. We also have two MSU grads, which, you know, could happen.
To the delight of some—and the consternation of others—Jaci has entered a carbon copy of President Obama’s brackets since the year he began releasing them. Has she ever won the family competition? Not quite. But she at least always comes close. Extend that metaphor as you will. But once again, the Barack-ets will be in full force this March.
The Ides
Why? Because Roman history is fascinating--and increasingly relevant?--because Julius Caesar stands as one of Shakespeare’s best historical plays, and because et tu is frequently used as a crossword answer.
And as a bonus, we just learned this:
The Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the first through the last day. Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (5th or 7th, depending on the length of the month), the Ides (13th or 15th), and the Kalends (1st) of the following month. The Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar. (from Wikipedia).
This seems much more complicated than sequential numbering, but at least the moon gets involved.
Patio season, the beltline, farmer’s markets, and popsicles
With apologies to our northern friends, March = full-fledged spring in Atlanta. This means dogwood, azalea, and peach blooms, patio time across the city, the rebirth of neighborhood farmer’s markets, weather warm enough to merit the purchase of artisanal popsicles, and an explosion of activity on Atlanta’s new beltline (next to which Treebird will be moving in only a couple weeks…stay tuned). It’s springtime, for Treebird, and Georgia-y.
An excuse to cook Irish
The Irish aren’t quite known for their culinary achievements, but at least on St. Patrick’s Day it can be fun to go Gaelic. If you’re not a fan of the traditional corned beef and cabbage, we’d recommend whipping up some bangers and mash, which, in addition to being more fun to say, is quite tasty. And the Guinness gravy is a requirement.