January 4th - National Spaghetti Day and Trivia Day

HOW I CELEBRATED

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

January 3rd - Festival of Sleep Day, Fruitcake Toss Day, and Chocolate Covered-Cherry Day

HOW I CELEBRATED

Didn't I say in the initial post that I would celebrate AT LEAST one holiday for every day of the year? Today I saw three that could be celebrated in a single day, so I celebrated three of them.

For Festival of Sleep Day I had to adjust yesterday's schedule as well. I normally am relatively nocturnal, and go to sleep at around 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning, so in order to properly celebrate the day by taking a nap, I stayed up all night. Like I planned, this left me pretty exhausted, taking not one but two naps today. The first was from about 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. and the second, pictured below (yes, we've finally got pictures!) was after I went to my mom's house from about 4:00-6:30 P.M.

Fruitcake Toss Day I had to fudge a little bit I couldn't find an actual fruitcake to toss at Meijer (it's a superstore in the Midwest region of the U.S. for any out-of-area readers), so my mom and I decided that Nature Valley brand Fruit and Nut granola bars would be an acceptable substitute. After dinner, we held a small "fruitcake" throwing contest in the basement. I originally planned to hold it outside, but my mom refused to go out into the cold just to throw a "fruitcake", so the basement it was. The rules were whichever of us threw our acceptable substitute the farthest won in a best-out-of-three contest. My mom won because her "fruitcake" sat at an angle in the first round, thereby making it a smidge farther than mine. The following photos are a dramatic recreation of the manner in which we threw our granola bars.

(My mom's face was removed from the image by request.)

The last of the holidays for today was Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day. This was also the easiest to celebrate since that one just required buying and eating some. Like the "fruitcakes" we were able to get them at Meijer. We each had a couple chocolate-covered cherries shortly after the "Fruitcake Toss".

HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE

Festival of Sleep Day: the site that I discovered this holiday's existence on simply said to spend some time specifically sleeping during the day. Whether you sleep in, take a nap, go to sleep early, or just sleep the whole day away, it's pretty easy to celebrate this one.

Fruitcake Toss Day is similarly simple to celebrate. All you need to do is have a fruitcake (or an acceptable substitute) and throw or toss it in some way. A competition like the one my mom and I had is recommended, but if you'd rather just fling it, go ahead. I'd recommend finding somewhere you won't break a window or hit someone, though.

If you need the proper method of celebrating Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day explained, then you just haven't been paying attention. Buying and eating some is the easiest. You could also make them then eat them, but that seems to me like more trouble than it's worth.

HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

My research online hasn't uncovered a specific origin for Festival of Sleep Day, but common sense suggests that since the Holidays are finally over, and due to massive hangovers, many probably don't get around to cleaning up after their New Year's Eve parties until the 2nd, this holiday originally began just as an opportunity to finally rest and recuperate after the stresses and insanity of the Holiday Season.

Although I have not found any evidence to support this online, in one episode of Home Improvement, Wilson gives the Taylors a fruitcake for Christmas and tells them that British farmers would stick a fruitcake on a sleeping bull's horns then wake it from a distance. If the bull flipped it forward, the coming year would bring prosperity to the farmers, if it flipped it backwards, it would be a hard year. Like I said, however, I have found no evidence to support this claim but if it's true, the current Fruitcake Toss Day would be a bastardization of that tradition.

I have no idea why Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day exists. If anyone has any information on its origin, posting it in the comment section would be much appreciated.

UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG

I'm only going to pick a song for one of these three holidays, and since a song springs immediately to mind for Festival of Sleep Day, that's the one I'm going with. The song is "Daysleeper" by R.E.M. (For anyone who understands the mechanics of sleep, their name is a bonus connection to the holiday, for anyone who doesn't... look it up.)

FOOTNOTES

Other holidays/observances for this date:

-The ancient Romans held a festival in honour of the goddess Pax

-The Catholics hold a feast day in honour of St. Geniveve

-Fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien was born on this day

-Humiliation Day (not what you think)