No, the other national day of commemoration in September

Last night, under threat of rain, along a thankfully less repungent than usual Adyar River, the Consulate held an official event commemorating U.S. Constitution Day here. The speaker was right when he said that most Americans would be stumped to name the significance of September 17th, but that almost every American could describe easily the meaning of the U.S. Constitution and their rights that it protects.

I had the privilege of exercising my freedom of speech, having volunteered to sing the national anthem. Alone. A cappella. In front of strangers eating mini hamburgers on cocktail napkins. When you volunteer for something like this, people assume you're extremely qualified, an exhibitionist, or overdue on your monthly mental evaluation. So, I did a lot of explaining about having a choir director for a mother, performing every week at church and for every little event and nursing home during school, and how performing in a small town you know that even if you play some little Johnny-One-Note solo in front of 30 people at church, every one of them will walk up afterwards full of praise and genuine awe at your virtuosic potential for stardom ("Just like that man on Lawrence Welk") and make you feel like you're about to become the next Liberace.