Today is Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Marti Gras. Shrove is a word we don’t use much in English any more. It’s an old English word of Germanic origin, the past tense of shrive which was the word used (to shrive oneself) to say one had presented himself/herself to a priest for confession, penance, and absolution. Marti Gras is French for Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday needs no etymological explanation. So what did I do on Fat Tuesday? I ate... too much... at lunch with friends at La Gran Terraza, the really good restaurant at the University of San Diego.

This is the birthday cake that Patrick made for Jeremy's and Michael's birthday... an appropriate image for Fat Tuesday.