One man's attempt to celebrate at least one holiday for every day of the year. Join him on his journey.
About This Blog
This blog is a chronicle of my insane personal challenge to celebrate at least one holiday or special day for every single day of 2009. Check back daily for new posts and days to add to next year's calendar!
Sorry folks, due to internet issues, financial issues, and the fact that my life is just really disorganized right now, I am not able to continue this project.
I knew from the start that it'd be hard, but the last straw came when my blog got hacked twice this month, or should that be final TWO straws?
Anyway, I am not cancelling the Holiday-a-Day project, but I am instead putting it on hold and starting over when my life is in better order. Maybe next year, maybe two years from now, I don't know.
My apologies to anyone who was enjoying this only to have it fall apart so soon.
I'm still wagging my finger at Mr. Stephen Colbert for missing Bald Eagle Day. Like I have said in all of these posts on the subject, I really expect better of him than this. All I can do is keep track of whether he makes mention of it or not, and so far, he has not. I've got my eye on you, Colbert. Stephen, Jr. deserves better.
This computer here at my mom's is taking to long to do the regular sort of posting on, so I'm gonna have to wait until tomorrow to do more of these, sorry.
'z'
EDIT: Pushed back again to Tuesday due to unexpected difficulties.
I think segregating the important black people throughout American and world history to be specifically taught about during one specific month, the SHORTEST month mind you, is just wrong. By giving them this "honour" they are being treated less respectfully in my mind than other historical figures. History should not care what race you are unless it's important to your specific act, and even then, it should not affect how you are taught about to future generations.
All history should be taught equally and together, unless you choose to be a racist or bigot that is...
I see no reason that when teaching a unit on the American Civil War that Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglass, etc. should be skimmed over and left for February, they should be taught right in there with Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, etc. not segregated. Unfortunately most schools don't seem to see my point and will instead go through and say, "oh, they had dark skin, teach 'em in February, divorced from their period and what effects they had." That is wrong.
ALL HISTORY SHOULD BE TAUGT TOGETHER AND NOT SEGREGATED!!!
Hello all, being that Friday (Jan. 30) was my birthday, I'm taking a brief three-day weekend break from posting, though not from celebrations. The posts for Friday-Sunday will be typed and posted tomorrow (Sunday) night, and will be backdated into their proper spots. I just felt like taking a brief break in honour of my personal 20th Anniversary.
January is officially over and I am approximately 1/12 of the way through my project, and I feel... okay about what I have accomplished so far. I feel I could have done better on some of the holidays, as well as some of the posts but all I can do is strive to improve my average quality throughout the rest of the year. I also feel that odd formatting like that of Opposite Day and Binary Day should be avoided at all costs for the rest of the year.
The biggest disappointment was that I had to miss celebrating the Japanese Festival of Seven Herbs, and my greatest joy was seeing that I could actually celebrate Jackie Robinson's Birthday instead of having to don a gorilla costume for Gorilla Suit Day.
Overall, I think I'm off to a decent start on all this, and I'll be checking back in on my progress monthly, and possibly quarterly. Any opinions you'd like to share on my progress thus far will be welcomed in the comments section.
These went accidentally unmentioned in the blog so I think I'll start this as a monthly thing for the blog, though for February onward, I'll have the roundup set at the START of the month's celebrations, not the end. I'll admit it, I dropped the ball on this at first, but better late than never, eh? On to the list!
Not being a sports nut, there really wasn't much I could do. This was only exacerbated by the fact that that afternoon and evening were spent at Great Lakes Crossing as part of my extended Birthday celebrations, but I managed to find time anyway. The History Channel had some documentary about him on in the morning (forgot to write down the title) and I watched that. Not much of a celebration, admittedly, but it's something at least.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
With the Internet Archive up and many sports history books out there, I think that it'd be a breeze for someone more interested in sports than I to dig up recordings of his games or to read about him, or do whatever else they would like to in celebration of his memory.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African-American baseball player to be drafted into the Major League. This is a landmark event not only in Baseball history, but also a major event in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. He had a nine-year professional career from 1947-1956 all with the Brooklyn Dodgers during which he played in the World Series six times, winning once in 1955. In 1962 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
I'm uncertain of whether or not the Dodgers have an official number for their seventh-inning stretch or not, so I'm going to go with "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer as it is indelibly linked in the minds of most Americans to the sport of baseball.
FOOTNOTES
-Up until the 29th I labored to find a gorilla costume until I decided that I was just going to celebrate this instead.
-Due to slow internet connection at my mom's house, this was back-dated and posted later.
Other holidays and observances on this date include: -Gorilla Suit Day -Catholic Feast Days for St. John Bosco, St. Marcella, St. Pedro Nolasco, St. Geminianus, and Blessed Ludovica
Today is my twentieth anniversary. On January 30th, 1989, at about 3:00 a.m. I was born. It was the 20th anniversary that day of the Beatles famous 'Rooftop Concert' recording session for the album "Let it Be". Interesting that they would become my favourite band of all time, eh? Anyway, I took the weekend off posting in order to give myself a break from things for this, my 20th anniversary, and am post-dating this back to the date/time you see there at the bottom of the post.
I had a few croissants today to eat, one with breakfast, one in sandwich form at lunch and one in the evening at the coffee shop.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
It's a food-related holiday, the rest should be self-evident.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Croissants come from France. These food ones are as arbitrary as the other made-up holidays.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Check back on a day that it actually matters.
FOOTNOTES
-Today is also my birthday!
Other holidays and observances on this date include: -Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Birthday -40th Anniversary of the Beatles' 'Rooftop Concert' -Feast of the Three holy Heirarchs (Eastern Catholicism) -Caholic Feast Days for St. Mutien-Marie Wiaux, St. Hippolytus, St. Bathild, St. Martina, St. Savina, St. Anthony the Great, King Charles the Martyr, St. Hyacinth Mariscotti, and St. Aldegonde
Ok, I'm kinda sick of having to do these food-related holidays due to the crappy quality of the posts relating to them. It's not likeI can give you much better, though. Naturally, I had some corn chips with lunch.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
This has just gotten so damn obvious that I don't even feel like typing it. If you have half a brain, you know what to do.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
None, it's another of those random ones.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Are you kidding me?
FOOTNOTES
-Were I at my mom's I'd have celebrated Natl. Puzzle Day instead as there's a Young Indiana Jones 200 piece one that I'm attempting to do face down. I'm barely past the border, though.
Other holidays and observances on this date include: -Natl. Kazoo Day (last Thursday of January) -Natl. Puzzle Day -Carnation Day -Kansas Admission Day -Constitution Day in Gibraltar -Catholic Feast Days for St. Juniper and Valerius of Trèves
I made some blueberry pancakes and ate them for breakfast. Used the basic Jiffy mix with some store-bought blueberries (pressed first to spread the juice around more), and a little extra sugar. I tend to have them with butter, but not syrup (I have syrup with regular pancakes, but not blueberry ones). This added info isn't really necessary, but I wanted to make this post significantly longer than the Natl. Strawberry Ice Cream Day one...
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Preparing and consuming some blueberry pancakes seems to be the only logical option. Seriously, these food ones are being avoided where possible as they don't make for interesting blogging from either end.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
If it wasn't already obvious enough to everyone, this is one that is just there to be there, I found it on a list, and I found nothing else good, so I didn't ask questions.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
I didn't find anything good, sorry.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Ernie's Birthday (Sesame Street character) -Catholic Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas
...yet Stephen Colbert persists in ignoring this one blogger's call for him to acknowledge his oversight. I'm not laying off him, though. I'll go all year on this if I have to.
It feels wholly inappropriate to use words like "celebrate" when talking about such a horrid piece of history, but it's important to keep the memory alive so that such a travesty will hopefully be avoided in the future. The History Channel fortunately had an appropriate documentary on today about the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps and the progression of the Holocaust as a whole. I watched that with a grim appreciation of what was knowingly inflicted upon the people forced to intern there. If I had it, or if it had been OnDemand, I would also have watched "Twelve Angry Men" which is a fantastic dramatic representation of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT OBSERVE THE DAY
Reading through The Diary of Anne Frank or watching a dramatic adaptation of it would be a strong option, as would watching the aforementioned "Twelve Angry Men", or Spielberg's opus "Schindler's List." Another more recent film example that I have read nothing but praise for (though I cannot personally recommend it as I have not seen it myself) is "The Boy in Striped Pajamas" which is about an unlikely friendship between a kid in a concentration camp and the son of the camp's overseer. The History Channel has also aired many documentaries on the subject (as well as the rest of WWII) over the years, and there were probably more of them on today than the one I viewed. If you are a parent or a teacher, talk to your kids about what happened and why it should be kept from happening again at all costs. Simply put, no matter what you do, don't let people forget it, it happened and it is something we as a planet should keep from ever even starting to happen again. Shame that we're letting it happen in Tibet right now... and we let Pol. Pott do it for so long, and Apartheid took twenty years to take down...
People disgust me sometimes with what they'll look the other way on. I'm not going to fucking censor myself, what's going on in Tibet should not fucking be happening! There are literally women being hung up by their wrists and having cattle prods shoved up their vaginas! Fuck you China!
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Go educate yourself on this one, read as much as you can on the subject and realize why it should never happen again. I'm not going to do your job today, that's the whole point of the day, really, to educate or re-educate yourself on the subject.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
"Red Sector A" by Rush. It was written to simulate some of the horror of Concentration Camps and much of the lyrical content was inspired by Geddy Lee's own mother's experiences living in one as a child. It is haunting and is the song that best helps keep the somber mood of the day in my opinion. Even if you don't like Geddy Lee's voice, go look up the lyrics.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holocaust related memorials today include: -Holocaust Remembrance Day in the U.K. -Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (Commemoration Day for the Victims of National Socialism) in Germany -Giorno della Memoria (Memorial Day) in Italy -Auschwitzdag (Auschwitz Day) in Denmark
I wore my shirt backwards for Backwards Day. Despite it being an official holiday in the Discordian faith, with yesterday's nearly migraine-inducing bout of Opposite Day, I'd had enough with reversing things, so I went simple.
Chinese New Year was a bit of a let down for me. I intended to go and find a restaurant in the area properly celebrating the Year of the Ox, but ended up just coming home with some take-out General Tso's Chicken.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Backwards Day is simple enough, but I bet it comes as a surprise to most people that it actually has an official date like this. Do something backwards, wear your shirt backwards, walk backwards, read a book from end to beginning, something like that.
Chinese New Year has so much going on, and is actually a week-long celebration, though I'm only celebrating the start of multi-day celebrations with this blog. Make some paper lanterns, have a Dragon Dance, visit friends and relatives, blow off some fireworks (if it's legal in your area, I'm not going to put myself at legal risk by telling you to do something illegal), do SOMETHING for it. It's a huge cultural tradition, and can be a lot of fun if you take the time to get into it.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
As with all Discordian holidays, I'm at a loss as to the actual significance of Backwards Day to their faith, but I've decided to just not question that sort of thing and go with the flow.
The traditional twelve year cycle of animal-themed years comes from an ancient Buddhist legend stating that those twelve animals (Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar, and Rat in order from this year through the cycle) that have been granted years recieved that honour as they were the only ones that came when the Buddha called a meeting of all the animals of the world. Or, at least that's what I've read, and I may be wrong.
OFFICIAL THEME SONG
There is in all probability an official tune for this day, though my research hasn't shown its identity. I'm erring on the side of caution in not looking up another one.
FOOTNOTES
-Some Discordians apparently celebrate Backwards Day on January 10th in their reforemd calendar, but in the traditional calendar that was Binary Day, so I went with their traditional dates.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Australia Day -Liberation Day in Uganda -Republic Day in India (one of only three National holidays there) -National Peanut Brittle Day -Catholic Feast Days for St. Paula, Timothy & Titus, St. Alberic, and St. Margaret of Hungary
The week of the 25th through the 31st is the holiday Winter-Een-Mas which is a specific week set aside for playing video games. It was created by Tim Buckley (not the famous musician) in his comic Ctrl+Alt+Del. I can't believe I almost forgot to post about it, especially since I'm sorta a gamer!
I certainly didn't just choose select words and phrases to include or cut from my sentences in conversation in order to reverse the meaning. Doing so was very easy. It also failed to confuse anyone, and did not result in a massive headache. This post is also not in this form, nor was my filler when I was having computer problems. Now that I am unable to post this or edit the proper post in, you'll have to settle for a stupid filler rather than this post.
HOW NO ONE WOULD CELEBRATE
If anyone wishes to go through the mind-numbing bliss of celebrating this holiday, it's really pretty easy. You have to do everything the opposite of how you normally woult. It's not enough to just reverse the meanings of your sentences.
FUTURISTIC\UNCOUTH INSIGNIFICANCE
This is the absolute most significant thing ever. It is completely serious and not random in the least. Every society practices it religiously and it was very specifically given this date for indelible reasons.
SILENCE FOR THIS DAY
I actually made an effort and found tons of songs that could apply amazingly.
HEADNOVELS
-I wrote this entire post (except the footnotes themselves) in as opposite of a way as possible, and yes, I realize that some of the reversals don't make much sense, like 'Headnovels' instead of 'Footnotes' but I was just having fun with it.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Burns Night -Criminon Day -Tatiana Day aka. Day of Russian Students -Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul -St. Dwynwen's Day in Wales -Catholic Feast Day for Gregory the Theologian
EDIT: Computer problems fixed, editing post in right now. (All these edits are occurring 1/27)
HOW I CELEBRATED
I attempted to be very complimentary to people on this day, even going so far as to write a note to the cast and crew involved with the Hilberry Theater's production of Hamlet. The compliments were all completely earned, especially those in the note (they put on what is simply the best Hamlet I've seen, and I've seen 11). To stay as true to the spirit of the holiday as possible, I only complimented sincerely.
For Peanut Butter Day, I simply had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Unless you actually are able to make your own peanut butter (a skill I currently lack, despite multiple attempts over the years), I'd say the things that I did are the easiest and purest celebrations for everyone's sake.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Yet another pair of made-up holidays thrown onto the calendar willy-nilly by someone.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Unless something specifically comes to mind, I'm not going to search for stuff for holidays of this sort, sorry.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -The First Day of Sementivae in Ancient Rome -Catholic Feast Days for St. Francis de Sales, St. Cadoc, and Our Lady of Peace
My internet is working for this again, so the posts are getting edited into their rightful spots.
HOW I CELEBRATED
Bounty Day is a local custom on Pitcairn Island, so I wasn't able to get the whole festival-like atmosphere and group burning of a replica of the vessel or anything, and in fact my mom put the kibash on my burning a printed image of the boat on the driveway (my way of burning it in effigy). What I was left with then, was the book itself. William Bligh's classic firsthand account of the ship being wrested from his command is a pretty great read. I learned from the error of my ways with Winnie the Pooh, though, so I only read part of it.
Pie Day (not to be confused with Pi Day) was easy, I simply ate a piece of Apple Pie.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
I'm not going to insult you by explaining how to celebrate Pie Day, I assume anyone reading this blog is smart enough that they didn't even need the first food-related holiday to be explained to them, much less be so unobservant as to completely fail to catch the pattern of their celebrations.
Bounty Day is much more interesting. You really can't celebrate it completely properly without being on Pitcairn Island as, like I said before, it is a purely local custom. You can do a pretty decent job of observing it anyway, though. Rather than just rewording Wikipedia's entry on the holiday, however, I will just link it and let your curiosity do the rest. Also, I had a well-thought out entry for this on the 23rd, but the screwy internet connection that night made it impossible to post it and I don't feel like thinking it all out again at the moment.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Pie Day is another of those made up holidays with no seeming rhyme or reason to their placement on the calendar.
Bounty Day is a national holiday on Pitcairn Island in honour of the mutiny aboard the H.M.S. Bounty and the island's founding as a Westernized culture by said mutineers. It is also the National Holiday (on June 8th) for Norfolk Island which was granted by Queen Victoria as a home to the Pitcairners who traveled there in 1858.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Though I have never seen the movie, I'd assume that the main theme to the classic 1935 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" would be appropriate. Herbert Stothart composed the music. Charles Laughton and Clark Gable starred, for those who are curious.
FOOTNOTES
-Most movie adaptations of the events of the mutiny are based off the novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall rather than Lt. Bligh's own account and are thus dramatized and somewhat historically inaccurate. The movie whose theme I've co-opted for this day's theme is no exception.
-As noted above, Norfolk Island's observance of Bounty Day is on June 8th, not January 23rd.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -National Handwriting Day -Measure Your Feet Day -Catholic Feast Days for St. Abakuh, St. Emerentiana, and Blessed Marianne of Molokai
I took a batch of pre-packaged chocolate chip cookie mix and instead of making cookies with it, I cooked it in a pan to make some blonde brownies, then I ate one.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
The same way, probably. I mean, this is like Strawberry Ice Cream Day, not a heck of a lot needs to be done for it!
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Nope, there's none of that for today, it's just another made-up one.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Nada. There is no song that I know of for today.
FOOTNOTES
-The only other things today are the Catholic Feast Days for St. Vincent, and Anastisus of Persia.
I've said all I need to say. I'm posting one of these reminders daily until I get some sort of response, though. He is better than what he let slide for that day and we all know it. It would be a disservice to him to let him get lazy and thereby decline in quality.
I saw only one clear way of celebrating Hug Day: go out in public with a 'Free Hug' sign. At first I went around at the nursing home that my Great Grandma is living in, but since that didn't amount to enough hugs for my liking as a celebration of this holiday, I walked over to the Barnes and Noble at the 7 mile location of St. John's hospital and was able to get a good dozen more hugs there, so I feel I celebrated pretty damn well.
Squirrel Appreciation Day wasn't as easy to celebrate as it would've been were it in a warmer month, but I left out some food for them today. I consider it a real shame that some genius stuck it here in the middle of winter since squirrels are one of my favourite animals, but that's out of my hands. After I post this, I think I'll try to look up a couple Squirrel Girl comic stories online. I'll probably edit links in if I'm able to find any.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Hug everyone who will let you for Hug Day, that's the best way I can think of. Squirrel Appreciation Day is harder here in places where, like around here, it's the middle-of-freakin'-WINTER (as in freeze-your-butt-off winter), but anything to appreciate or recognize squirrels in some small way works.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Hug Day is an official holiday in Discordianism, beyond that, I'm not sure. Squirrel Appreciation Day is one of those made-up holidays.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
I was not able to find or think of a good theme song for either holiday.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances today include:
-Flag Day in Quebec
-Wellington Anniversary in New Zealand
-Lady of Altagracia Day in the Dominican Republic
-Granola Bar Day
-Stonewall Jackson's Birthday
-Catholic Feast Days for St. Agnes, Fructuosus, and Meinrad of Einsiedeln
As those of you who have read my blog these past couple days now know, I'm finally able to upload photos to my computer here at home. This had been impossible for a while do to computer/printer synching problems, but now I've got that fixed and will be able to edit photos back into the blog posts that I promised would have them. From here on out there will be photos uploaded semi-regularly to the blog. I will not include them in every post, but the majority will probably have at least one.
Since the innauguration of Obama is a historic event, I figured I'd seperate it from the other holiday I celebrated today, Penguin Recognition Day.
HOW I CELEBRATED
After leaving the public viewing of the inauguration at that church, my grandma and I then drove over to the Detroit Zoo where I attempted to interview the zookeeper in charge of the Penguin House. While waiting for her to come out, I hung around and watched the penguins for a bit, something I would've done anyway. When she finally did answer one of my knocks at the Employees Only door, I was informed that unfortunately unless the zoo's PR director approves an interview, it is a breach of the employee agreement to give one. I attempted then to contact the public relations supervisor, but to no avail. I watched March of the Penguins later on OnDemand.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
While it will most likely be too cold for a zoo visit for most, if you can manage to stand the weather to go see Penguins at your local zoo, doing so would be recommended as a possibility. Watching a documentary like, for example, March of the Penguins, would not be a bad choice either. Simply put, doing some sort of educational activity involving penguins is what the day is for.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
While I cannot find clear record of exactly how today originated, a search on it shows that today is the third annual Penguin Recognition Day. I also found that this is an unofficial holiday, but no further information, unfortunately. If anyone knows more, please let me know in the comments section.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG "Birth of a Penguin" from Danny Elfman's original score to the movie "Batman Returns".... is the only thing that I could think of. I'm sure there are more appropriate songs, but I could not turn up any useful results when searching "penguin songs" on Google.
FOOTNOTES
-This holiday is also known as Spheniscid Awareness Day, Penguin Day, and Natl. Penguin Day
-I typed this up on the 20th, and it was post-dated to have the publishing data say that that is when it was posted, but due to a mistake on my part (I forgot to click the 'publish' icon before leaving to hang out at a local coffee house), it was not actually published until the 21st.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Cheese Day -Basketball Day -Catholic Feast Days for Abadios, St. Sebastian, St. Fabian, and Euthymius the Great
I know it's really early in the day for you folks to be getting a new actual blog post from me, but I'm freshly home from celebrating both Obama's inauguration and a second holiday which will get its own post (of the regular sort) later today.
Today is a historic date as none of the news outlets will let anyone forget. Today we end the eight-year horror that was former-President George W. Bush's run of the White House, and have someone competent finally in the Oval Office.
HOW I CELEBRATED
My initial plans for today were simply to watch the inauguration here at home and then blog about it. That plan pleasantly changed this morning as I was asked by my grandma if I would like to join her in heading up to a church she attends services at to watch the inauguration there with a whole crowd of others, and I simply could not pass up that opportunity to share in the joy of welcoming our new President to his post.
We got up there at about 11:15 with a lunch we'd picked up at KFC, and after eating in the dining room area, I moved into the main hall to watch the ceremony as projected on two large screens.
As the cameras followed Obama walking down the hall of the Capital Bulding on his way to the crowds and the ceremony itself, the room burst into spontaneous applause which I shared in. The excitement in the room was almost tangible as various performances and speeches took place with more cheers and applause popping up occasionally, but for the most part, up until Obama finally took the Oath of Office, the main feelings in the room were anticipation and the aforementioned excitement bubbled just beneath the surface.
Joe Biden then took the Vice Presidential Oath of Office, officially succeeding Dick Cheney at exactly 11:58 a.m. Eastern Time. At noon, the official White House website changed over from George W. Bush as president to Barack H. Obama, preceding our new president's official swearing-in by five minutes.
Following that, a new John Williams piece, composed specifically for this event entitled "Air and Simple Gifts" based around the "Shaker Hymn" melody was premiered by Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, and Anthony McGill.
The tension and excitement broke at 12:05 exactly as Barack Hussein Obama was officially sworn-in as the 44th President of the United States of America immediately following his taking the Oath of Office. The entire room immediately burst into a standing ovation, cheers erupting across the room and many tears shed in pure joy. It was a moment I don't think I'll ever forget.
No one was able to maintain their composure throughout the Inaugural Address with cheers and applause bursting up and dying down spontaneously throughout. A third standing ovation, this one lasting a good five minutes followed (the first took place after Biden). Shortly after that I left, but mostly because the room was heated to an uncomfortable level for me.
HOW OTHERS CELEBRATED
All across the country, and even numerous places around the world as evidenced by periodic shots of folks gathered in various places including London, Kenya, and even a classroom filled with young children in Jakarta, Indonesia where it was almost midnight, people gathered in groups to watch today's historic ceremony. I do not feel any more needs to be said about the impact that the change-of-power had on people's spirits worldwide.
If, by odd chance, you happened to miss the procedings due to work, sleep, or whathaveyou, I have found videos on YouTube of much of the ceremony which I will share with you embedded here in approximate chronological order for your viewing pleasure.
I could not find videos of the announcement and seating of the various attendees of today's ceremonies, so we'll start with Senator Dianne Feinstein's opening remarks:
Following that came the Inaugural Prayer led by controversial pastor Rick Warren:
Next was Aretha Franklin's performance of "My Country 'tis of Thee":
Joe Biden then took the Vice Presidential Oath of Office:
The performance of "Air and Simple Gifts":
Brack Obama then finally took the Oath of Office and was sworn-in as President:
Following that was the Inaugural Address. This was split into two videos, both of which follow:
Poet Elizabeth Alexander then read her poem "Song for the Day":
The ceremony ended with a Benediction from Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowry following which the Presidential party departed from the platform:
After a break for lunch, Obama had his official signing-in at the Oval Office. I apologize for the video's sound being basically inaudible, but it's the only video I could find of it:
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
I do not feel that I need to explain to you the fact that the ceremony itself WAS a historic event.
OFFICIAL THEME SONGS
"Hail to the Chief" composed by Sir Walter Scott is the official theme music for the inauguration of the President of the United States and "Hail, Columbia" by Philip Phile is for the VP.
Today's ceremony also had its own specific official theme in the aforementioned John Williams piece.
As an additional fourth piece, and an UNofficial theme for today, I offer up our friend, Jonathan Coulton's song "The Presidents" as updated this past Saturday at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California.
FOOTNOTES
-"Hail, Columbia" was the unofficial National Anthem of the U.S. until 1831 saw "The Star Spangled Banner" become our official one.
-I consider Obama to be the 43rd President not the 44th as the 22nd and 24th in the official count were both Grover Cleveland. Technically, in my opinion, rather than being two seperate presidents, I count Cleveland simply as the 22nd, with two non-consecutive terms.
As those of you out there who read this thing have undoubtably noticed, I am being pretty hard on Stephen Colbert for having not celebrated Bald Eagle Day on the 14th. The reason for this is, as a fan of Mr. Colbert, I know that he is better than that. His persona on the show is at once brilliant and hilarious and a lot of research goes into the many random jokes and references that appear on his show throughout the week. It is the fact of the level of quality that he invariably shows that will not let me conscionably allow this oversight on his part to slide. The fact that his character is built to be overly and overtly patriotic as well as the honor of having a bald eagle "son" named Stephen, Jr. in his honour that it seems out of the question that one should allow him to miss the (admittedly obscure) holiday of Bald Eagle Day.
Colbert, I'm watching you (nightly, on Comedy Central). I'm watching you like an eagle. Like a bald eagle. You'd better take note and admit the oversight, or I'll hound you on my blog until you do.
I'm glad I'm out of high school, though if I was, it would have been an easier way to celebrate today to simply have been given the day off. That was not the case, however, so instead I watched a special on the History Channel as well as a video on YouTube of the famous "I Have a Dream" speech from August 28, 1963. That video will be embedded in the H/CS section of the blog, by the way. Also, while it would've been easier to celebrate simply as a school/bank holiday, it would not have been the better way.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
While it is a school/bank holidays in many areas across the United States (though not everywhere), I would hope that one would celebrate the life of MLK in at least some small way on this holiday. President-Elect Barack Obama also said that the day should in King's honour be recognised as a Day of Service to help improve our great nation, and I fully agree.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
I feel that the video speaks for itself and the greatness of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. better than I ever could. Including a transcript of the speech directly in the article would make it too long in my opinion (I learned my lesson from both Binary Day and Natl. Sci-Fi Day on what not to do with formatting and quotations), I think it deserves a link. Though Stephen Colbert still has yet to acknowledge his shameful snubbing of Bald Eagle Day (I'm not going to let him off the hook for that in the near future), I would feel remiss if I were not to also include a link to his loving parody/tribute of King's famous speech with his own "I Have a Dreamsicle".
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
While U2's music is really hit-or-miss with me, their song "MLK" off Rattle and Hum is a tasteful tribute to the late Reverend King with lyrics that are at once both mournful and filled with hope. As much as Bono can be a pompously arrogant prick, he can write a fantastic song from time to time.
FOOTNOTES
-This holiday was originally recognized on King's birthday (January 15th) but was moved at some point to the third monday of the month for reasons that are unknown to me.
-I briefly considered celebrating Popcorn Day as well, but felt that it would be disrespectful to the memory of Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. to do so.
-Likewise I would have loved to have been able to celebrate Archery Day but a combination of respect for Dr. King and the complete lack of an archery range (that I'm aware of) in the area prevented this.
Other holidays and observances on this date include:
-Edgar Allen Poe's Birthday
-Confederate Heroes Day in Texas
-Feast of Sultán in the Bahá'í Faith
-Kappa Alpha Order Convivium (Founders Day)
-Epiphany in Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Catholicism
-Popcorn Day (or Natl. Popcorn Day, sources vary on which the title is)
-Archery Day
-Catholic Feast Days for Henry of Uppsala, St. Mark of Ephesus, Wolfstan (Bishop of Worcester), and Maris, Martha, Abachum & Audifax
For Winnie the Pooh Day, which is technically incorrectly titled, as though the first book was called "Winnie the Pooh", the text has Christopher Robin correcting the narrator and saying it's not Winnie THE Pooh, it's Winnie THER Pooh. No explanation is given on what 'ther' means, though. Anyway, for Winnie the Pooh Day, I celebrated in what was probably the most exhausting way for any of the holidays so far, I actually read an omnibus hardcover edition of the original Pooh stories by A.A. Milne cover to cover. That's about 344 pages of Pooh, for those who don't know. Great stories, mind you, but I really shouldn't have decided to read the whole damn thing in one day. My baby sister also watched a few Winnie the Pooh movies this morning as I started my reading in the same room. I wish that I could also say that I did something related to the production of Winnie the Pooh that local theater group the Eastpointe Players is putting on, but sadly I didn't make cast when I auditioned for it.
For much of the time spent reading, and much of the day in general whether reading or not, I celebrated Jazz Day as well. As is probably self-evident, that means that I have had various types of jazz music on all day, from ragtime, to fusion, to bebop, to other sub-genres I'm not sure of the name of. A slight selection of some of the bands/artists included in this musical binge include Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Steely Dan, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Frank Sinatra (though Ol' Blue Eyes tended to bounce between pop and jazz, a lot of his stuff still counts in my opinion).
Today's third holiday was the Discordian celebration Pat Pineapple Day. This had a much simpler expression on my part than the others, I just had some pineapple pieces with breakfast.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Hopefully for Winnie the Pooh Day, no one reading this blog will go as far overboard as I did. Simply sharing one or two of the stories as a family or reading them on your own should suffice. Watching one of the Disney features (preferrably an old one, but that's your choice, not mine) would be a good option as well.
Jazz Day is a pretty simple one as well. In fact, all three of today's are. Any celebration of jazz music, be it performance or listening (or a mix of the two) is perfect.
Pat Pineapple Day's celebrations as far as I was informed when I discovered it are simply to consume or do something made from, or based off, pineapples.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
After first being published in 1926, the children's book "Winnie-the-Pooh" by A.A. Milne and along with its sequel "The House at Pooh Corner" from 1928, it has spawned a multi-billion dollar line of animated movies, cartoon series', etc. after the rights were purchased by the Walt Disney corporation (first in 1966 for the short "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" and countless times afterward), as well as the original stories charming parents and children alike worldwide. At some unknown point, Milne's birthday became officially recognized as Winnie the Pooh Day in honour of his most famous creation.
I have found no background on why today is Jazz Day, so I am under the assumption that it's just another one of those made up holidays.
Pat Pineapple Day is a Discordian holiday. Not being in on the texts of whatever the Discordian holy book is called, and thus unable to find it online, I am unaware of this day's significance. I do know, however, that a person(?) in their belief system was called Pat Pineapple and that's who this day is named for.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
For Winnie the Pooh Day I'm torn between the song "Winnie the Pooh" written by the Sherman Brothers and at least excerpted in some form in every single animated feature I've seen about him and "House at Pooh Corner" by Loggins and Messina. Jazz Day, being named for a style of music is obviously unable to have a single theme as it is beyond subjective as to what the ultimate piece of music in said style is, though the most performed would be "In the Mood" popularized by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, though my personal tastes are pressuring me to say the entirety of "A Love Supreme" by John Coltrane. This is basically a "pick your own" day, so whatever jazz piece you like best is your pick.
FOOTNOTES
-There are twenty official Winnie the Pooh stories at this date, though the third official book is slated to be published this October 6th. These are not lost stories written by A.A. Milne, but rather a completely new collection.
-I'm kicking myself for skipping Daniel Webster's Birthday. I could easily have celebrated by telling the story usually referred to as 'The Devil and Daniel Webster' at Trixie's Poetry Night... oh well.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -First day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity -Thesaurus Day -Paryaya Day at Udupi (falls on even-numbered years, as such it did not occur today) -Royal Thai Armed Forces Day -Feast of the Cross (Eastern Orthodox Catholicism) -Feast of the Confession of St. Peter (Eastern Orthodox, Angelican, and Lutheran) -Daniel Webster's Birthday -Catholic Feast Days for St. Athanasius (Eastern Orthodox), St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Margaret of Hungary, St. Prisca, and St. Volusianus
I would like to take a quick opportunity to apologize to whatever small, but hopefully loyal, readership I have amassed thus far. The thing I would like to say that I’m sorry for is the inconsistency in the quality of my posts. I’d like to think I have a standard for them, but thinking back on some recent entries, I see that I’m sadly mistaken. As much as I would like to say that some day when I’m feeling particularly inclined that I will edit the offending posts to improve their quality, but if I’m going to be completely honest with myself… it’s probably not going to happen. I’d also like to say that from here on out I’ll keep the standard of posts to a high point, but I’m likely to falter on that, too. Indeed it will most likely happen frequently and on many a post. Quite frankly, it’ll probably happen on the easier holidays. I mean, how much more can one really put for Strawberry Ice Cream Day than “I ate some strawberry ice cream”. It’s a shame, but it’s the truth. I’ll try to keep better blogging habits up for you folks out there, but… please keep in mind that I will more than likely falter more than once in the future, and I hope you’ll forgive me for that.
Yes, Colbert, I'm talking about you. It's un-American the way you ignore the fact that I called you out on ignoring Bald Eagle Day on the fourteenth. Even if you didn't have the responsibility to your adopted bald eagle SON to acknowledge the day, your commentary on your own patriotism comes into question because of this. While I am fine with the fact that most citizens, patriotic or not, are unaware of the fact that the national bird has its own holiday, a television host like you who will go far enough as to have shelves of honour on your set (which, by the way, you refer to as "the EAGLE's nest"...) that you should overlook such a ripe opportunity to show your love for America. For shame, Stephen, for shame... I wag my finger at you, and your patriotism is, as of now, officially On Notice.
Pig Day's celebrations seemed obvious to me when I looked ahead at the beginning of the week to see what holidays I would soon be facing. A screening of the 1973 classic animated adaptation of E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web" and for a bit of twisted irony, a pork dinner. Though I have not yet supped on the pork chops, they are set out to thaw and their consumption is imminent. Only moments ago did my mom, baby sister (who fell asleep around the third song) and I finish watching the Hanna Barbera feature, and now seemed like the time right time to blog, so here you go.
Along with the aforementioned movie, this morning brought a minor epiphany of sorts on a further pig day celebration, and I also watched (via my DVD box set of the first three series) the episode "The Happy Event" of the 1970s BBC sitcom 'The Good Life' (retitled to 'Good Neighbors' for its U.S. airing to avoid confusion with a similarly titled series over here). This episode, like the film I watched, deals with the struggle to keep a runt pig alive, albiet under highly different circumstances, and in a vastly different manner.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
If it were Spring, or if one has access to a farm so that they can visit an actual pig, that would be a good option. Same with reading a book or story with at least one pig as a central character (or if it's more convenient, watching an adaptation thereof). Play with stuffed animal pigs, wear a pig mask, whatever strikes your fancy that is swine related is fine. If you choose to honour a police officer, however, make sure they have a good sense of humour first as I don't want any of my readers being jailed on account of me.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
This is a redundant holiday since March 1st is actually an official pig related holiday (National Pig Day), and seems to be a made up one. However, I wasn't able to find any other well-celebratable holidays on this date, and I don't wish to make up too many, so I'll just have to attempt to actually visit a farm and/or read 'Animal Farm' in March.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
I briefly considered "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" by Pink Floyd for the spot, but being that I avoided Orwell's 'Animal Farm' for today's celebrations as explained above, it seems more appropriate to pick a song from the animated 'Charlotte's Web' for the song du jour. With that said, I have selected "Zuckerman's Famous Pig" from the Sherman Bros' score to the film as a proper celebratory number for today.
FOOTNOTES
-This is the first potentially redundant holiday I have chosen to celebrate along with the more properly ordained version on my calendar.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Zirgu Diena in Ancient Latvia -Benjamin Franklin's Birthday -Shari Lewis's Birthday -Catholic Feast Days for St. Anthony, Bl. Amelbert, Sulpitius the Pious, Mildgytha, and the Venerable Anthony the Great (Byzantine Catholicism)
We haven't come to any of them yet, but there are going to be a handfull of days throughout the year that I had to invent new holidays for since I was unable to find pre-existing holidays for those dates. Since my plan isn't "celebrate at least one holiday for whatever days actually have them throughout the year" but rather "celebrate at least one holiday for every day of the year," I decided that if it became necessary to invent a new holiday just for the sake of this blog, I would do it. At the time I was under the assumption that I would actually be able to find a holiday or at the very least a saint observance for each of this year's 364 1/4 days, but, as is apparent to anyone reading this, that is not the case. When we come to these days (and I may add a few as we go since for some days the only holidays I'm able to celebrate are also redundant to other holidays on the list, but we'll cross that bridge when it stands before us) I will inform you of the fact in the 'historical/cultural significance' and 'footnotes' sections of those days' blog posts.
As yesterday was "Nothing Day" I found it inappropriate to create a full post at the time, but I said that I would probably add the footnotes list of other holidays and observances to this blog at some point, so here it is:
-Teacher's Day (Thailand) -Natl. Religious Freedom Day (United States) -Hat Day (arguably, I've seen it listed on other dates as well and may celebrate it on one of them) -Natl. Fig Newton Day -Catholic Feast Days for Beard of Carbio, St. Fursey, and Honoratus of Arles
As a further footnote, I'm uncertain as whether it was supposed to be "National Nothing Day" or just "Nothing Day" as the sources vary on what its' proper title is.
To my probably small number of readers so far, you need not be so silent in the comments section. I know some of you are probably put off from commenting since you assume that you'd have to register for blogger to comment, but let me inform you: that is not the case. I left the comments section public just to make feedback easier. Even if your posts are just something along the lines of "First comment! lulz" or something as uncultured as that, I'd still appreciate the feedback. Please note that I would prefer intelligent, cultured commentary and feedback, but really, anything would be fine.
Hey folks, early post today. Although there were multiple options for what to do with today's post and holiday, I decided that the Nothing Day option was the easiest and therefore the one I most wanted to take advantage of. In celebration of it, I'm breaking with the blog post form slightly and doing... basically nothing! That's right, to properly celebrate this holiday, I'm gonna take the day off from regular posting. Might do a couple 'The Blog Itself' posts later to clear up a few things if I feel like it, but that's to be determined. I promise you a footnotes only post later to list what else people around the world may be celebrating today, but none of that here right now. I'm gonna enjoy my effective day off from this thing (without breaking from my promise) and I hope any of you who check it before too late in the day do too.
Ignoring me, eh Colbert? You can't hold off on it forever. I'm calling you out daily until you respond.
HOW I CELEBRATED
Naturally, I had a bowl of strawberry ice cream. Eating something so cold when it's so cold out felt weird, but... it was easy.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Eating and/or making some strawberry ice cream is a simple enough answer. I plan to edit in a recepie for it in the near future.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
It seems to be another made up holiday. Hm... it's boring just saying that for stuff. I'm gonna edit in historical significance of the stuff that the days are made for at some point. It'll stand for now, though.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Even though I know the song is actually a sexual euphenism, "Ice Cream Man" by Tom Waits feels like a good fit for me.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -John Chilembwe Day in Malawi -Korean Alphabet Day in North Korea -Kerala in India, Makaravilakku or Makara Sankranthy at Sabarimala -Jallikattu in South India -Catholic Feast Days for St. Abeluzius (Ethiopian Orthodox), St. Ita (Roman Catholic), St. Paul the Hermit, and St. Macarius of Egypt
Colbert Nation, I already told you that Stephen Colbert should be held responsible to pay attention to when Bald Eagle Day is since he's got an adopted bald eagle son, Stephen Jr. But, lo and behold: no mention of either Bald Eagle Day OR Stephen Jr. on his show tonight! Shocking! The bald eagle is the United States of America's NATIONAL BIRD and he didn't even pay attention to THAT?!? For shame. I'm calling him out. He'd better have me on his show and explain to me face-to-face why he let that pass by his attention on his January 14, 2009 show, or else he is a coward.
Finally caught up to the regular scheduling today after the server problems happening at Blogger HQ.
HOW I CELEBRATED
My original plans had me going over to the Detroit Zoo to see the bald eagles there, but unfortunately the extreme cold weather made that out of the question, so I just watched a program about them on Animal Planet instead.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
If you're Stephen Colbert, you should've visited Stephen Jr. If you didn't... I'm calling you out on it. Yeah, you read that right, I'm calling Stephen Colbert out if he didn't make an effort to visit his adopted bald eagle son for this! Any members of the Colbert Nation who may read this, let him know. I don't blame others for not knowing, but if you're like him and have a bald eagle in your family, you REALLY SHOULD keep track of such things. For everyone else who can, birdwatching for the species would probably be good, and for those who can't, Animal Planet seems like a good option.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
It's just another random one I found online.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Today doesn't get one.
FOOTNOTES
-Stephen Colbert had better read this!
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Tamil New Year -Pongal in South India -New Year's Day and the Day of St. Basil the Great in Eastern Orthodox -Makar Sankranti in India -Feast of Divina Pastora in Barquisimito, Venezuela -Feast of the Ass -National Dress Up Your Pet Day -National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day -Catholic Feast Days for Barba'shmin, Felix of Nola, Macrina the Elder, and St. Sava
Finally almost caught up! I'll have today's actual post (the 14th's) up by midnight and will be back on track for tomorrow, w007!
HOW I CELEBRATED
I simply took a break to read poetry for a bit today.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Simply doing the same as I did should suffice.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
It's another of the made-up ones that I found online.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
"Poets" by the Tragically Hip seems to fit.
FOOTNOTES
-This is probably the single shortest post that I'll make in this blog.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -St. Knut's Day, a Swedish day ending their Christmas season with the disposal of their Christmas Trees -Old New Year in various Russophone countries is celebrated on this night -Make Your Dreams Come True Day -Rubber Duckie's Birthday (yes... Ernie's toy on Sesame Street...) -Catholic Feast Day for Hilary of Poitiers
I simply walked down the street to the Walgreens on the corner of 8 Mile and Kelly Roads and wished the person working the pharmacy counter there a happy National Pharmacist Day.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
If you have to go to a pharmacy, leaving a tip, giving a card, or simply wishing the employees there a happy holiday would work. If you're a doctor, you might buy your pharmacy technicians a cake, same if you manage a store with a pharmacy. If you actually work at a pharmacy, bringing in cards for your co-workers seems like a good idea.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
This is another one that seems to be just randomly made up. I checked briefly to see if there were a Saint with connection to medecine, apothecaries, or modern-day pharmacies observed on this day, but there isn't.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
"I Feel Fantastic" by Jonathan Coulton is a song about the over-abundance of prescription drugs in our culture, so it seems like a nice ironic fit.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Zanzibar Revolution Day in Tanzania -National Youth Day and Swami Vivekananda's Birthday in India -Coming-of-Age Day in Japan (2nd Monday) -Work Harder Day -Natl. Marzipan Day -Catholic Feast Days for Benedict Biscop and St. Tatiana
International Thank You Day seems like one where I should pay extra mind to thanking people for stuff. This is not outside the bounds of my normal behavior. Basically this is antoher one, like Trivia Day, which I just acted normally for and decided to call it celebration.
Milk Day, however, is a different story. I normally don't drink milk that much. Maybe once a day with a meal, or a couple times if I have coffee. For this day, however, I decided to drink some milk with, or use milk in the preparation of every meal.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
If you are a teacher (and it hadn't happened to have fallen on Sunday this year), Intl. Thank You Day seems like a perfect one to stress proper manners to your students. If that doesn't apply to you, simply being courteous, and actively saying 'thank you' to people when they do something nice for you and being mindful to keep it up all day seems like a good option.
Had Milk Day not been placed in the middle of January, or were I living in a different state, it would seem like a good option for a day to visit a farm and perhaps learn how to milk a cow. For those freezing their asses off like me, however, what I did is probably your best option.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Both days were probably just randomly made up by people.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
The first choice to spring to mind would be the Led Zeppelin classic "Thank You".
FOOTNOTES
-Despite falling in the middle of my server problems with Blogger, this one didn't have a filler post, so I had to attempt to back-date it. (Which worked!)
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Unity Day in Nepal -Republic Day in Albania -Independence Resistance Day in Morocco -Eugenio Maria de Hostos Day in Puerto Rico -First Day of Carmentalia in Ancient Rome -Secret Pal Day -John Hancock's Birthday -Natl. Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day -Catholic Feast Days for Paulinius of Aquileia and Theodosius the Cenobiarch
So here's the deal, Blogger was having server problems apparently and that meant I couldn't put a full post in to be saved for a few days in a row, but now I think that problem's been fixed and I'm editing in these proper posts for the days I was forced to miss. I'm really sorry about what happened, but it was out of my control.
HOW I CELEBRATED
For National Apricot Day, I got a can of apricots, tried a bite, discovered I hated their taste and dumped the rest in a blender with some fruit juices (orange, cranberry-raspberry, strawberry-kiwi, and white grape) and made a mix that wasn't too offensive to the taste.
National Static Electricity day was also simple. Though I wasn't able to get the static shock trick to work, the old balloon-to-hair one worked like a charm.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
I've decided that from now on, (and eventually retroactively) I'm going to try to find a good recepie online for food-related holidays like this one. It will be edited in later, however, due to my unfortunate problems before, and mega-rush to get back on track.
National Static Electricity Day seems better suited for a museum visit or a grade-school classroom than for regular holiday celebration, but if you want to follow in my footsteps about this next year, the basic static electricity tricks seem simple enough. Another one that I didn't actually try is getting static cling on a sweatshirt.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
A theory I postulated when talking with some family recently says that most of these holidays were made up either by people who wanted some random excuse to celebrate and/or grade school teachers for the same reason. These then somehow got posted up on various sites online. Today's holidays fall under that sort of suspicion for me, but no matter, at least they give me a reasonable chance to go through with my challenge. There are actually a handful of days throughout the year that had absolutely NOTHING for them, however, which required me, for the sake of the self-imposed challenge, to make stuff up. I will inform you folks of those days when we come to them.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
I was not able to find one for either holiday, sorry.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Martyr's Day in Panama -Black Nazarene feast in the Quiapo district in Manila, Philippines -Republic Day in Bosnia and Herzevogina -Catholic feast days for Adrian of Canterbury, Metropolitan Philip II of Moscow, and Theophan the Recluse
For Bubble Bath Day, I obviously had a bubble bath. To celebrate Elvis Presley's Birthday I watched a film on his 1973 U.S. tour on TCM. World Literacy Day was acknowledged by me encouraging people to read.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Listen to Elvis, read about Elvis, get married or have your vows renewed by an Elvis impersonator, sing "Happy Birthday" in an Elvis-like voice, eat a fried peanut-butter and banana sandwich. Just simply do something Elvis-related for his birthday.
Either encourage reading or help someone learn to read for World Literacy Day and don't forget to read something yourself.
Bubble Bath Day seems to only have one way to be celebrated: by having a bubble bath.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
There is also an International Literacy Day in September, so this holiday seems redundant since the other one was actually approved by the U.N. No idea why this one exists, and the internet doesn't offer any help.
No idea about Bubble Bath Day either. Honestly, I'm beginning to think that many of these were just made up by others for this sort of purpose. I had to make up four, myself, just to fill out the year. I'll let you folks know when they pop up.
I'd be amazed if someone out there reading this had no idea about why Elvis is culturally significant, but just in case... Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the architects of rock n roll as well as it's first superstar. He remained insanely popular through his death in the 1970s, and is still one of the most popular musical performers to this day.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Today has two, actually. Pick your own favourite Elvis song for his birthday. The other theme song is for Bubble Bath Day and is "Splish Splash" by Bobby Darrin.
FOOTNOTES
-I much prefer showers to baths.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Commonwealth Day in the North Mariana Islands -Postal Day -National English Toffee Day -National Clean-Off-Your-Desk Day -Catholic Feast Days for St. Abo of Tiflis, St. Apollinaris, St. Gudula, St. Lucian of Beauvais, St. Pega, St. Severinus, and St. Thorfinn
Folks, before I get into the regular format of the blog tonight, I have to share some rather significant disappointment with you. I originally planned to celebrate the traditional Japanese tradition of Nanakusa-no-sekku (Festival of Seven Herbs) by making and eating their Seven Herb Rice Porridge as well as following whatever other traditions are in connection with the day for my first significant spreading of foreign cultural tradition via this blog, but I was unable to find a market or restaurant that had the ingredients or dish. I spent about an hour yesterday checking around to try to find a place, but to no avail, so I had to switch to another holiday instead. I really hope that I don't have to go through this sort of disappointment many more times this year. I hope you readers out there will accept my heartfelt apology.
HOW I CELEBRATED
Because I couldn't find information online to clarify whether the 'rock' in Old Rock Day referred to geological rocks or rock music, I did my best to celebrate both. For the geological definition, I went to the Cranbrook Science Museum and looked through their hall of minerals there. For the musical definition, I listened to some old 1950s rock n' roll.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Unless you're a geologist or a science teacher, a museum exhibit and/or old school rock n' roll in the same manner of my celebration is about the best I can think of.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
To be honest, I'm feeling really unenthused about this whole thing right now, so I'll edit this into something better later. Sorry.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Going with the assumption that the holiday is in reference to music, I'd have to say that Chuck Berry's "Maybelline", considered by many to be the first true rock n' roll song, would have to be it. If it's actually geological, I'd actually probably just skip today for the theme song thing.
FOOTNOTES
This is the first holiday that I've celebrated that I kinda hate. I like old rock n' roll, but the lack of clarity on what the holiday is actually about and the disappointment regarding the Festival of Seven Herbs made me far from enthused about today. Quite the opposite in fact.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Distaff Day -Tricolour Day (Italy's Flag Day) -Christmas in Eastern Orthodox Catholicism and in the Julian Calendar -Catholic feast days for St. Canute Lavard, St. Charles of Sezze, St. Lucian of Antioch, St. Raymond of Penafort, Bl. Windukind (Duke of Saxony) -Feast Day of St. John the Baptist in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his Synaxis in Copic Christianity
Since I am not religious, and as such not a part of the Christian faith, Epiphany was a hard one for me to find a way to celebrate. No local Churches appeared to have services today, so I couldn't attend one as a guest, nor do I have a Nativity set to place the kingly figures into. The only thing I could ultimately think of to do that would be fitting was to read in the Bible about the kings/wise men's journey to the baby Jesus's manger-crib, and listen to the song "We Three Kings" which chronicles their journey.
Sherlock Holmes' Birthday was significantly easier, especially considering the fact that I have an omnibus hardcover called "The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes" containing 38 short stories and the complete "Hound of the Baskervilles". I simply read a few short stories out of the book and figured that was good.
National Shortbread Day was easiest of all the ones I've managed to celebrate so far today, I ate a couple shortbread cookies.
Cuddle-Up Day may or may not be celebrated by me, depending on whether I can find a willing person to cuddle up with when I head up to this local coffee shop I frequent. It's called Trixie's and it's on Gratiot just south of Hayes in Roseville Michigan, it's on the southbound side of the road. If you live in the area or come through, stop in and buy something. EDIT: At about 10:30 P.M. I was able to celebrate with a friendly cuddle from a girl I know.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
If you're a practicing Christian, or live in a country where Epiphany (known by other names including 'Little Christmas', 'Theophany' and 'Three Kings Day') is nationally celebrated, following your regular traditions should be easy enough, but if you're not a practicing Christian, it's not one that really needs to be observed, so I feel an explanation is unnecessary for this one.
Sherlock Holmes' Birthday was already pretty much explained above, but reading any of the stories, watching any of the movies, any television series based on him, any old radio serial, any video game... basically any way you can celebrate the character works. Many of the original stories have lapsed into public domain, and have been collected here.
National Shortbread Day can be as easy as eating a couple shortbread cookies like I did, but it'd probably fit in with the spirit of the day better to actually bake some shortbread or shortbread cookies before eating them.
Cuddle-Up Day is self-explanitory: if you have a significant other go cuddle up with them and enjoy yourselves.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Epiphany is simply the day that the kings/wise men arrived at the manger where the baby Jesus was being cared for. Whether it would actually fall on this date or not in proper historical records is a matter of debate as many historians argue that Jesus's birth should be celebrated in the Spring to more properly coincide with the Bethlehem Census that Joseph and Mary were travelling to be counted for, but the Church disagrees, claiming that it was December 25th that he was born, and that the wise men appeared on the 12th day afterward.
Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular and well-known literary characters in existence. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's own writings may have only appeared from 1890-1927 (covering a period of 1878-1907 with a definitive final case occurring in 1914) but has had countless fan-stories from novice and professional authors alike as well as hundreds of movies, radio serials, video games, television episodes, etc. adapted from and/or inspired by the original adventures. January 6th was chosen as it is canonically the character's birth date.
I do not know the significance or reason for Cuddle-Up Day or National Shortbread day being this date.
OFFICIAL THEME SONG
While I usually select an unofficial song to act as a theme for one of the holidays ocurring on a particular date, Epiphany has an official theme song of sorts in "We Three Kings".
FOOTNOTES
-There are no Catholic feast observances for saints on this date due to Epiphany.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Phi Day -Befana Day in Italy -Zvaigznes Day was celebrated in Ancient Latvia -Armenian Christmas -Haile Selassie's Birthday celebrated by Rastafarians -Bean Day -New Mexico Admission Day -Apple Tree Day
For National Bird Day I originally planned to visit my aunt's house and her bird Naya, but that didn't end up happening, so instead I just hung a bird feeder outside and listened to some Charlie 'Bird' Parker. In fact, I'm listening to some of his stuff as I type this.
For the Discordian holiday Mungday you're supposed to do some navel-gazing, which I did. I spent a while today wondering about whether pushing for riches and glory in life is really worth it. Everything is left either twisted or forgotten by history, after all. I ended up focusing on myself and this very blog with that line of thought, but ended up deciding that the experiences are their own reward.
I would have loved for the History Channel or Discovery Channel or something to show some sort of program on George Washington Carver or something today. Did they? Nope, of course not. Instead of dropping Gerorge Washington Carver Recognition Day from my schedule of holidays, though, instead I'll just use the Historical/Cultural Significance section of the blog to celebrate his achievements. I also had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch today.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
National Bird Day is an easy one. Feed the birds, adopt a bird, if you own a bird go spend some time with it, go birdwatching, listen to some Charlie Parker, read about birds, just do something relating to birds or someone nicknamed 'Bird'.
Mungday is also pretty easy, just do some navel-gazing. For anyone who's not familiar with the term, 'navel-gazing' doesn't refer to literally gazing at your navel or the navel of another person, it actually means to pseudo-philosophically focus and think about a subject.
George Washington Carver Recognition Day would be an easier one if it were recognized by the History Channel and Discovery Channel, but as it is, it's still pretty interesting. If you're a teacher or parent you can teach your kids about him. Reading a book on him would be good, too, or even just eating some peanut butter while thinking about him.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
I really don't know why January 5th is National Bird Day, and the official site really doesn't offer any help either, but I guess it doesn't matter that much since there actually is an official site you can go explore.
I did my best to try to understand why Mungday exists, seriously. I tried reading the Discordian stories on the subject, but they're pretty full of odd references and inside jokes, that I was only able to determine a) that it's the main holy day for their season "Chaos" which runs from January 1 to sometime in May (between the 10th and 19th) and has to do with a 'Sacred Chao' that a guy called the 'Apostle Hung Mung' devised for Discordians.
George Washington Carver, as pretty much every American, or anyone interested in history or agriculture in any way, should know was an African American inventor and botanist who revolutionized farming in the American South during the latter half of the 1800s. He is believed to have been born in January 1864, a little over a year before the abolition of slavery in the U.S. His work with the peanut as a commercial crop did a great deal to help improve crop rotation and bring nutrients back to the soil. It also helped the agriculture-based economy of much of the south survive after the boll weevil ruined the cotton harvest in the Reconstruction era. Aside from that and discovering over 100 uses of various sorts for the peanut (including fabric dyes and nitroglycerin), Carver also helped to aid in religious, cultural, and educational reforms in the U.S. Dubbed by some to be the "Black Leonardo da Vinci", he was considered even in his day to be a great genius, and after he died on January 5th, 1943, Congress dubbed the day of his death to be George Washington Carver Recognition Day in his honour.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Since it's National Bird Day, it only seemed right to choose Charlie 'Bird' Parker's classic jazz composition "Yardbird Suite" as today's unofficial theme song.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Red Hackle Anniversary Day of the Black Watch -National Whipped Cream Day -Catholic feast days for St. John Neumann, St. Simoen Stylites, and Pope Telesphorous
Independent musician and nerd-rock's poet laureate Jonathan Coulton gave me permission to link to my blog from his site, so I thought that I'd do a special "about the blog" post to thank him for that. I can't say I'm a longtime fan of his, in fact, I've really only known about him for about six months, but I am definitely a fan. I don't know if this blog has drawn any regular readers aside from my friends yet, but anyone who sees this post should definitely go over to his site and check out (or better yet, buy) some of his music.
I originally intended to celebrate three holidays today, but due to the time of year and probable condition of the tennis courts, I unfortunately had to pass on Tennis Day.
My original plan with Trivia Day involved playing Trivial Persuit at my mom's house, but I'd forgotten that they don't have it there (silly of me, especially since I'm up there a lot). So, since that plan fell through, I went to my backup of simply talking about lots of trivia all day. How this actually differs from my average day is pretty much negligent at best, but it was specifically intended to count toward the holiday. Whether it counts or not I'll leave for you, the reader, to decide for yourself.
National Spaghetti Day was one that I did manage to properly celebrate, however, so I definitively met the low end of my criteria at least. It was a pretty simple celebration, I boiled some imported Italian noodles that my grandma had purchased at Trader Joe's, added sauce, and ate a bowl. I actually have a pair of pictures for this which are forthcoming in an edit.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Tennis Day would be easy for anyone in a better climate than the Midwest, or anyone who has a membership at a club for indoor court usage. As one would probably assume from the name, it is a day intended for the playing of tennis.
With Trivia Day, the manner in which I celebrated is actually suggested, as is a game of Trivial Persuit, so anyone who wishes to celebrate that doesn't need to do much.
With a part of my heritage being Sicilian, I probably should have done more to celebrate National Spaghetti Day (perhaps making the noodles and sauce in advance for a homemade meal...). But for most people, what I did is enough. If you want to go through the extra effort, however, feel free. It will only add to your satisfaction at the meal.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
I would really like to know what genius thought of putting TENNIS Day in the middle of WINTER. Seriously. That has got to be one of the worst scheduling errors for a holiday ever!
Likewise I couldn't find any particular reason for Trivia Day and National Spaghetti Day falling on this date, but I thought I should provide some history for each of the three subjects in honour of Trivia Day.
Trivia comes from the Latin words 'tri' meaning 'three' and 'via' meaning 'way'. In Ancient Rome, there would be informational signs at the intersection of three roads or paths, thus the word 'trivia'.
Spaghetti is a traditional Italian dish made originally with long thin noodles as well as cheese and an olive oil-based sauce, and a tomato sauce eventually got added into the mix once the fruit was brought over from the Americas. While many people assume that noodles didn't exist in Europe until after the journeys of Marco Polo to China, that is incorrect. Noodles were actually being made with a barleycorn flour before then, it's only the process of making them from wheat flour that originated with Marco Polo's travels.
Tennis originally developed in France as a form of handball with a net, before being adapted for the use of rackets. Eventually it was further developed in England into the set of rules and the court organization we know for tennis today. The name tennis is derived from the original French word 'tenez' which means "take heed" originally shouted from the server to his opponent. The lawn variation spread in popularity through the British aristocracy before spreading across Europe, then the rest of the world, eventually trickling down to a public level.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
It's unfortunate that I was unable to celebrate Tennis Day as the Cream song "Anyone for Tennis?" would've made a perfect fit, but as it is, I suppose I can have today's theme fit Trivia Day and go with the "Jeopardy" theme composed by Merv Griffin.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances for this date include: -Independance Day for Burma/Myanmar -Catholic feast day for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton -Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People -Sir Isaac Newton's Birthday -Jakob Grimm's Birthday (of the Brothers Grimm who compiled Grimm's Fairy Tales) -Louis Braille's Birthday -Utah Admission Day -Tom Thumb's Birthday
I am a 20 year old college student who is active in community theater and the local artistic community and am in school with the intention of becoming a drama teacher.
You can contact me at holidayaday@yahoo.com
I made it clear in a post, but I thought I'd clarify on the blog's sidebar here that absolutely anyone can comment on the blog, you don't have to be registered to blogger to do so.
Any comment you would like to add (as long as it's respectful) will be approved. Even stuff like "fuRsT pOst LULZ!!1!" will be allowed.
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