Halloween

Last night was Halloween, of course. The Gs had decorated the yard with spider webs a week ago, and I hung the ghost on the door, connected our "spooky" lights (2 ghosts and two jack o'lanterns) and carved the BG's pumpkin, per her design, which was, thankfully, a simple two oval eyes and a giant, gaping maw.

I also prepared the OG's pumpkin for carving, but, by the time she got home from the football game, it was time to get into costume and go, so I didn't bring it up.

The BG wore an Internet-enabled honeybee costume, while the OG was a Rockette, resplendent in vintage-store dress and high, white go-go boots.

After the Gs went off with friends and neighbours to terrorize the nearby houses, Worldwide, Sarah and I had dinner and received a trickle of trick-or-treaters.

Katniss Everdeen, from the Hunger Games, was the most popular costume, and the most creative number was a s'more, complete with graham-cracker head. But the costume of the night, goes to a girl of about 12. When she arrived at the door,the buns on each side of her head were a dead giveaway, and I quickly identified her as Princess Leia, from the Star Wars movies.

"No!" she admonished me defiantly. "I'm Ada Lovelace. She was a Victorian mathematician. You could look it up." And indeed I have.

Turns out that she was the daughter of Lord Byron, born in 1815, and, after being identified as a math wiz, she began work with Charles Babbage, the founder of modern computing, and the source of the name for the Economist's technology blog.

Today, we celebrate her on Ada Lovelace day, which I now know is October 16th, whose goal is to "raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering and maths." She is also the inspiration (or symbol, perhaps) for the Ada Initiative, an NGO,  dedicated to increasing the participation and status of women in technology .

Not a bad person for a girl to look up to. And, I now realize, an excellent likeness.