Happy Birthday, Mark Twain!

Photo courtesy of  Famouspeople.com



Today is Samuel Clemens' 176th birthday - and he still looks fabulous, by the way!
In honor of this momentous day, I want to take a minute to reflect upon his complete and total awesomeness.  Let me preface this with the fact that I attended Mark Twain Primary School in Alvin, Texas, so he has pretty much been in my vernacular since Kindergarten.
Mark Twain revolutionized literature as we know it.  He could create a work of art with humor, satire, and social criticism all combined into a piece of literary perfection.  He is perhaps best known for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel that embodies all of these qualities.  It tells the tale of Huck, a trouble-maker who runs away from a terrible home life and helps a slave attempt escape from his mistress.  It is full of adventure, mystery, deceit, betrayal, and moral questions.  It was written after the Civil War, when the United States was coming to grips with the impact of the war.  It illustrates that the measure of a man is not based on the color of his skin but on the merit of his actions. 
Besides being an accomplished writer, Mark Twain was also a highly sought-after speaker. His lectures and speaking engagements were full of humor and wit.  He became an honorary member of numerous clubs and societies throughout his tenure just by bringing intellectual candy to the masses.
So, today I honor Samuel Clemens, a.k.a., Mark Twain! 

“There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy.”
- "The Refuge of the Derelicts" - 1905