If you learn nothing else about tomorrow’s celebrations, remember this: always save. You would be reading a charmingly sarcastic write-up about my tv habits and the new stephen colbert show (chock full of links) but I forgot to save. Then I closed the window, and didn’t save. So now you get to read a short little blurb about cinco de mayo instead. Don’t you wish I had saved?

Succintly, Cinco de Mayo, as near as I can interperet it, is really a American holiday. It was popularized by students in California in the 1960’s as a way to celebrate Mexican heritage. The hero of the battle of Puebla is Ignacio Zaragoza, who was actually from Goliad, Texas (okay, it was a Mexican province then). It celebrates a battle won, but a war that would ultimately be lost to the French and result in occupation for several years. That is, until the United States finished our own Civil War and began providing the needed arms to overturn the French government. Oh, and most people in America think that the 5th is Mexican Independence Day, which actually doesn’t fall on the calendar until September 16th. To top it all off, the day is observed in Mexico but doesn’t warrant business closure or school release.

So as you dip your chips and take your shot of Jose tomorrow, you now know the full story (well, if you linked to the wikipedia entry you do, otherwised it’s a mildly sardonic viewpoint) of Cinco de Mayo. Ol