I: Narcissus
The tragic squib of Narcissus Brown.
Good morning. Today is primidi, the 11th of Ventôse, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate le narcisse, a springtime flower family with a distinctive shape.
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The genus narcissus most prominently includes daffodils, but there's another daffodil day coming up next month, so we'll just pretend it doesn't for now. They're famously named for the man of Greek myth who fell in love with his own reflection ... or so we assume, even though there's no direct evidence and it may have had more to do with the flower's intoxicating perfume than its "face" tending to bow down and "look" at its own roots as the season comes to a close.
Before television shows and radio programs, the most common form of daily junk entertainment was to be found in print, of course, and especially newspapers. The lack of competition from more sensorial media meant that all sorts of schlocky, formulaic, sensational, and frivolous items found their way into newsprint that would seem downright random and puzzling today.
