This is my code:

import datetime
today = datetime.date.today()
print today

Print: 2008-11-22 that's exactly what I want.

However, I have a list to attach to, and all of a sudden everything becomes "abnormal.". This is the code:

import datetime
mylist = []
today = datetime.date.today()
mylist.append(today)
print mylist

Print the following:

[datetime.date(2008, 11, 22)]

How can I get a simple date like November 22, 2008?

#1 building

import datetime
print datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")

Editor:

After Cees suggested, I also started using time:

import time
print time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")

#2 building

The date, date time, and time objects support the strftime (format) method to create a string representing time under the control of an explicitly formatted string.

This is a list of format codes and their instructions and meanings.

    %a  Locale's abbreviated weekday name.
    %A  Locale's full weekday name.      
    %b  Locale's abbreviated month name.     
    %B  Locale's full month name.
    %c  Locale's appropriate date and time representation.   
    %d  Day of the month as a decimal number [01,31].    
    %f  Microsecond as a decimal number [0,999999], zero-padded on the left
    %H  Hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number [00,23].    
    %I  Hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number [01,12].    
    %j  Day of the year as a decimal number [001,366].   
    %m  Month as a decimal number [01,12].   
    %M  Minute as a decimal number [00,59].      
    %p  Locale's equivalent of either AM or PM.
    %S  Second as a decimal number [00,61].
    %U  Week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week)
    %w  Weekday as a decimal number [0(Sunday),6].   
    %W  Week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week)
    %x  Locale's appropriate date representation.    
    %X  Locale's appropriate time representation.    
    %y  Year without century as a decimal number [00,99].    
    %Y  Year with century as a decimal number.   
    %z  UTC offset in the form +HHMM or -HHMM.
    %Z  Time zone name (empty string if the object is naive).    
    %%  A literal '%' character.

This is what we can do with the datetime and time modules in Python

    import time
    import datetime

    print "Time in seconds since the epoch: %s" %time.time()
    print "Current date and time: " , datetime.datetime.now()
    print "Or like this: " ,datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%y-%m-%d-%H-%M")


    print "Current year: ", datetime.date.today().strftime("%Y")
    print "Month of year: ", datetime.date.today().strftime("%B")
    print "Week number of the year: ", datetime.date.today().strftime("%W")
    print "Weekday of the week: ", datetime.date.today().strftime("%w")
    print "Day of year: ", datetime.date.today().strftime("%j")
    print "Day of the month : ", datetime.date.today().strftime("%d")
    print "Day of week: ", datetime.date.today().strftime("%A")

This will print out the following:

    Time in seconds since the epoch:    1349271346.46
    Current date and time:              2012-10-03 15:35:46.461491
    Or like this:                       12-10-03-15-35
    Current year:                       2012
    Month of year:                      October
    Week number of the year:            40
    Weekday of the week:                3
    Day of year:                        277
    Day of the month :                  03
    Day of week:                        Wednesday

#3 building

This is shorter:

>>> import time
>>> time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")
'2013-11-19 09:38'

#4 building

Even to the extent that

from datetime import datetime, date

"{:%d.%m.%Y}".format(datetime.now())

Out: '25.12.2013

Or

"{} - {:%d.%m.%Y}".format("Today", datetime.now())

Leaving: "today - December 25, 2013"

"{:%A}".format(date.today())

Out: "Wednesday"

'{}__{:%Y.%m.%d__%H-%M}.log'.format(__name__, datetime.now())

Output: '[main] 2014.06.09 [16-56. Log'

#5 building

Because print today's print today returns what you want, this means that the \\\\\\\\\\\.

As a result, you can also execute mylist. Append (today. \\\\\\\\).