As made famous by some hack of a writer named Billy Shakespeare (I don’t think he even had his own blog), Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of disgruntled Senators on this day in 44 B.C. (I don’t think their calendars actually had that year on them, though)… and March 15th is commonly known as the Ides of March. “Ides” was just a fancy way for ancient Romans to incorrectly approximate the middle of each month… and the ides only fell on the 15th in four months… March, May, July and October. In every other month, including the other three 31 day months, the ides was considered to be the 13th.
I’m not making this post to try and educate anyone with my useless and very outdated knowledge, though. For one thing, I like any excuse I can find to re-post that squirrel backstabbing photo. It’s my own photo and my own Photoshop (and all I had to do was add the dagger to the squirrel’s hand!), and I’m damn proud of it!

You could even own it on a shirt if you really wanted to scare your friends…
Other than that, though, I also wanted to use this post as an excuse to gush about the great response I’ve already gotten to my call for Prompt the Squirrel II submissions last Friday. PTS2 has it’s own page in my header now, and as you can see, in just the first few days I already have ideas from 10 people! That’s a great start to break last year’s total of 18, and hopefully extend that number well into the 20’s and even 30’s! I’d love to have PTS2 continue on for the rest of the year…. but the only way that can happen is for you to hit me with an idea for what you want me to post! If your name isn’t on that PTS waiting list yet, it needs to be there! The contact form at the bottom of this post is the place to make that happen!
I am totally impressed by some of the ideas I’ve gotten so far. Some are more unique and interesting than what you dealt me last year… and a few even scare me. But that’s good, because my best work came out of posts I dreaded having to do. Keep up the great work, and let’s make that list longer than my arm so I can continue to have you torture me for many Fridays to come!
To motivate you, here’s your timely earworm of the day!
You mean that squirrel didn’t really have his own little dagger? How disappointing. Curse you, Photoshop!
That would be the very definition of a rough neighborhood… where even the squirrels are all carrying knives!
we all wayz new squirrel waz vizshuz…..look at em…..yo….dood on de ground…watch out ~~~~~~ !!!!!!!!! 🙂
I think that’s a classic case of a good squirrel gone bad. A few years locked up in the nuthouse will set him straight again…
I’m still thinking and taking squirrel pictures for possible photo prompts. There seems to be a lot going on in the squirrel world right now but they move so dang fast I haven’t been able to capture any of the interesting moments.
I was always curious about the ides, so thank you for shedding light on that! I didn’t realize that other months had ides too. Why is it ides if it’s only one day though. Why not ide? 🙂 So far, the ides of March seem to be a day of extreme clumsiness for me.
That’s one of the few pre-internet things I looked up back when my class had to read Julius Caesar in 1990, the Ides. I was tickled to find out that the ides of other months were the 13th until I saw July was one of the exceptions, so I couldn’t say I was born on the Ides of July. Ides just doesn’t sound right with any other month other than March anyway…
No, Ides of July sounds really weird!
Ides, shmides, I’m wearing a toga today and I think I look FABULOUS…….! I did forget to stick a dagger in my pocket though – could have come in handy at the Roman Feast I’m headed to tonight………………
Hugs, Saminus Maximus
As long as there is nobody named Brutus at that toga party, I think you’ll be OK. And I’d pass on the gladiating…
I believe mine was the first you used last year so that raises the bar a bit. I need to come up with something good, but sadly I can barely come up with something good for me to write let alone others. still, I’ll try to think of something
Actually, it was the second one. Plus, it was a pretty general prompt, which you’d think would be easier to come up with that something more specific, but that isn’t always the case. I’m sure something will come to you…
Oh, I was only SECOND???
Had I done yours first, I’d have wound up with a whole different set of TV stills, and maybe…. just maybe, it wouldn’t have been as good.
And there I was, thinking the Ides was a synonym for 15. I have to completely rethink my Ide(a)s of everything. But why would 30-day months have day 13 as the Ides? That’s not the middle … is it? Maybe Romans had length months. Or a different number of fingers per hand?
I think the Romans were drunk most of the time. It also makes sense in that there were many famous Greek mathematicians, but no Romans math geeks of note. They probably celebrated Pi Day in June…
OMP! I read blah-blah-blah because I couldn’t get pass the squirrel with a dagger in his little paw. OMP – that is hilarious one one hoof while slightly disturbing on another hoof. I ❤ it my evil friend! XOXO – Bacon
See what dangers lie outside the Hotel Thompson!
I know! I may have to check the perimeter before exploring my magical backyard today. You never know when that Journalist Rocky the Squirrel might go rouge on me. Snorts. XOXO – Bacon
I forgot what I prompted you. Way too much weed lately….