Friday, September 30, 2011

Today let's begin with some Catholic history, shall we?

 It's the Feast of Saint Jerome, who is extremely important to Catholics and Protestants alike, and very important in our history, though only a few will recognize his name. Jerome was known for being extremely intelligent, and it was noted by Saint Augustine that "What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known." Aside from high intelligence, he was also quite well known for his sarcasm and fiery temper (I dare say are probably the most rare admirable traits in most saints). But what he's most well-for is his scholarly work. Jerome was commissioned by the Pope in the late 300s A.D. to work on a solid Latin translation of the Bible. Jerome's translation became known as the "versio vulgata" or Vulgate (sound familiar now?) which literally means the "commonly used translation." It became the official version of the Bible for the Roman Catholic Church. We celebrate Jerome's life and accomplishments on the anniversary of his death, September 30, 420.





 Other notable and relatively simple things to celebrate today:
Chewing Gum Day- grab a stick of Wrigleys, the oldest gum still in existence.

Ask a stupid question today, because that's exactly what today is: Ask A Stupid Question Day. I'm sure you've all heard to time-old saying "There's no such thing as a stupid question." Well, I challenge you to put that the the test!

A Wicked Awesome Day

That's right, today is a completely wicked awesome day. It's Broadway Musicals Day. So sync up that ipod and let her rip, shimmy til your garters break and all that jazz! Because I'm blasting Lion King, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera,West Side Story, (and mostly) Chicago today. If you could see any musical, what would it be?






Today is also Blackberries Day and Michaelmas, which are two holidays based on one cool Christian legend. It's Michaelmas to celebrate Saint Michael, the Archangel. The reason it's Blackberry Day is because it's said by some that after Lucifer was banished from Heaven he fell into a blackberry bush. Because of that blackberries shouldn't be picked after today. Hmm...

Well, I hope everyone enjoys their Feast of Saint Michael today. Eat the last of your blackberries and don't forget to set a little mood music.

Read, Run, Rosh

Reading and running and hashanah, oh my!

Today is Read a Child a Book You Like Day. Since I don't have quick or easy access to a child, I just read part of "The Myth of Certainty" by Daniel Taylor to my roommate, Jamie.
"Being reflective is both a blessing and a curse, a potential for strength and for weakness. It can lead equally well toward truth or error. Life can be richer, more textured, more challenging, more meaningful. Likewise, it can become more barren, more threatening, more overwhelming..."

Next up, it's time to dust off the ol' running shoes. Today is National Women's Health and Fitness Day. It's America's biggest annual push for women's health and over 1,000 groups held events for approximately 80-100,000 women today.

Then at sundown Rosh Hashanah began, the Jewish new year, which will last until tomorrow at sundown. For Jews this is a time for self-reflection and repenting. Not exactly the streamers and kiss at midnight us protestants are used to, but it still sounds pretty cool. Jewish people will usually eat apples and honey to represent a sweet new year. I can go for that.

Before you begin reading, you should set up some mood music. Here's the theme song of the day.

Today is fun and fancy free day! Anyone remember the Disney movie "Fun and Fancy Free"? It came out in the forties, so it's an oldie but definitely a goodie. Bonus features include...technicolor.  Here's the link to part 1.
So today, don't let your troubles trouble you. Be happy-go-lucky, just like Jiminy Cricket!


 Today is also Crush a Can day. So if you're just too stressed or grumpy to be fun and fancy free, take out some aggression on a can. It'll make you feel more fancy free! Don't forget to recycle.

Want even more awesomeness to celebrate on this lovely Tuesday afternoon? It's Ancestor Appreciation Day. Like every other American, my ancestry is sort of a hodge-podge. But I do have a lot of Austrian from my mom's side and Scottish from my dad's. Jordan was the Scottish twist on the french name Jardin. So maybe if you go back far enough, I'm French. Who knows?
So where do you come from? I encourage you to find a unique way to celebrate who you are and where you've come from today. If you don't know, look it up! There's plenty of awesome genealogy sites out there.

Johnnycakes and Appleseeds

Anybody else have parents that made Mickey Mouse pancakes when you were a kid and it pretty much made your day? Happy National Pancake Day :)
Pancakes have basically been eaten since the dawn of time, and there's something to be said about that. Anything that has been around since prehistoric times and is still pretty much a staple can only be described as purely fantastic. And just like anything else that's existed for thousands of years, it's evolved and changed a lot, and it varies a lot by culture. But the basic idea of a pancake remains universal- it's a combination of carbohydrate-rich flour and high-protein liquids (like milk or eggs). Anything else is pretty much player's choice. They can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. Cover them in jelly or whipped cream.  Pair 'em with bacon and eggs, or ice cream. Mix them with chocolate chips or fruit. There's almost no way you can go wrong! I'm making pancakes tonight with my apartment and enjoying them with some good ol' fashioned syrup. If you go out today to enjoy your pancakes, don't forget to tip! It's also National Food Service Employees Day.

It's also Johnny Appleseed Day, which I remember learning every year in elementary school. I'm sure most of you did too, so we all know he wore a pot on his head and went around planting apple seeds. But here's a few things you may not have known, and a couple things they won't teach you in kindergarten:
He was a missionary for the Swedenborgian Church. What that means, I do not know. But it sounds cool.
He cared a lot about animals, and would go out of his way (including living in discomfort) to avoid inconveniencing an animal. He was also a vegetarian.
He fell in love once, and when we went to propose he learned that he was a day too late- she'd accepted another proposal the day before. Years later he took in an orphan girl and raised her, planning on marrying her when she was old enough. But then he visited her unexpectedly and she was holding hands with another man. From then on if ever asked why he didn't settle down he would reply that all women are not what they profess to be; some are deceivers, but you don't know which ones until too late. That, or he would claim that if he stayed single on earth, he would get two spirit-wives in the afterlife. Johnny, say what?!
So eat an apple, keep the doctor away, stay single and earn a double spirit wife. However you want to celebrate is up to you, with little judgment from me... Unless you're Swedenborgian, in which case I have questions.

Wonders and Heros

There are two holidays today and both involve celebrating complete and utter awesomeness...
just in two very different ways.

When I say names like Carl Douglas, Eric Carmen, Minnie Riperton and Toni Basil, what do you think? Anything? Ringing any bells? For most people, no. What if I asked you- what do M/A/R/R/S, The Weather Girls, a-ha and Los Del Rio all have in common? Have any ideas?
Here, I'll give you a hint... Kung Fu Fighting, All by Myself, Lovin' You, Mickey, Pump Up the Volume, It's Raining Men, Take On Me, and Macarena!
I'll bet no one recognized many of the names, but I'll every one of you has heard all of those songs. Happy One Hit Wonder Day, everybody. Today's all about enjoying those one people, what ever happened to them anyways, and the songs they gave us that we all know and love. My playlist today consists of Come on Eileen, Mambo Number 5, Sugar Sugar, Who Let the Dogs Out, Tainted Love, and I'm Too Sexy. What other one-hits can you think of?

Registering as a 9.2 on the richter scale of awesomeness, today is also National Comic Book Day (not to be confused with Free Comic Book Day, which is the first Saturday in May).
Be your hero of choice DC or Marvel, today is a day to not let "series" separate us, but let us all stand together united against the common threat- lack of knowledge. Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash or Canary. Captain America, Wolverine, Spiderman, Iron man or Hulk. Whoever your superhero of choice may be, spread the word! Tell someone awesome it's comic book day. Break out your old comics from the attic and enjoy. And in honor of greatness that is to come... a great example of standing united.

Bluebird Singin' in the Dead of Night...

Anyone know anything about gallbladders? Anyone? Bueller? That's okay, me neither. Until I learned today is Gallbladder Good Health Day! So I looked up some things about gallbladders that I'm sure you'd love to hear. For starters women are 3-4 times more likely to suffer gallbladder attacks than men. Ouch. What's a gallbladder look like anyways? Thanks for asking, anonymous blog reader who's suddenly very interested in gallbladders. It's about 4-5 inches big and they look like baby eggplants. Or so I'm told. It's located just under the ribcage and liver. The gallbladder is part of the digestive system and it also helps to keep your liver healthy. I'm told apples are particularly good, whereas fatty (fried or greasy) foods are bad for it.
Two of my apartment-mates have actually had their gallbladders removed, even though it's pretty rare for people under 40. To celebrate, I'm making them fried oreos... o:) Treat your gallbladder well today by enjoying a nice apple, or put it to good use by eating something fried.

C'mon, get happy! It's National Bluebird of Happiness Day. I'd never heard this before, but apparently different cultures across the whole world for thousands of years have all held similar beliefs and myths about the bluebird- all positive. Blue birds are pretty much universally believed to be a sign of happiness, cheerfulness, good health, good luck and prosperity. Some indigenous groups even hold it as a sacred animal.

Ever thought to yourself  "I just want to go kill an unsuspecting animal for sport in order to fully appreciate the beauty of the great outdoors" ? Well, today's your lucky day. It's National Hunting and Fishing Day. In 1972 Nixon signed the first proclamation of National Hunting and Fishing Day, and it's been celebrated the fourth Saturday of every September ever since. The idea is to enjoy outdoor sports and recreation as well as promote a respect for conservation. I must admit I won't be celebrating this day by hunting (though I do support conservation of nature), but I did have a dream last night I went fishing and caught a halibut. Does that count?

And! For. All... You, English; lovers? Out: "There"
National Punctuation Day! Which, according to the National Punctuation Day official website is "A celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semi-colons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis." I'm so scared I've used improper punctuation somewhere in this post...





If you'd like to celebrate you can enter the punctuation contest. Submit your entry here. Here's a list of official rules and guidelines:
Write one paragraph, maximum of three sentences, using these 13 punctuation marks: apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, period, question mark, quotation mark, and semicolon. You may use a punctuation mark more than once.
Entries accept through September 30th, best of luck.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Wondering how to celebrate today? Easy! Buy a Native American dog named President Checkers and roll around with him in the leaves. (the dog, not the Native American man... Sorry, Jamie)

Today is sorta, kinda Native American Day. It's not a national holiday, so not all states celebrate it and those that do don't all celebrate it on the same day. To my knowledge there's two days it's celebrated. Some states celebrate on Columbus Day, other celebrate the fourth Friday of September. Feel free to celebrate today by singing with the voices of the mountain, or painting with all the colors of the wind.

 You could also celebrate the first day of fall, or as I like to call it "mourning the death of the best season ever". Just kidding. As much as I hate to see summer go, fall isn't so bad. It usually has at least some of the heat of summer, with the added bonus of awesome tree art. Enjoy how beautiful God is today.

The country at large takes a natural interest in the President's dogs and judges him by the taste and discrimination he show in his selection... Any man who does not like dogs and want them about does not deserve to be in the White House.

-AKC Gazette, 1924

Dogs in Politics Day. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...We've got a day set aside just to coo over the pets of political leaders. And perhaps judge them on it. So who's got a dog, and will that change your opinion of them?  I'm not here to sway a bias, I'm merely presenting the facts! Lets dig a little deeper, shall we?
Obama has a Portuguese water dog named Bo, W. Bush had two Scottish Terriers and a mut, Clinton had a Lab Retriever, H. Bush had two springer spaniels (mother and son), JFK had a Welsh Terrier, FDR had 7 dogs, Lincoln had none, and George Washington had 18 hounds. So, how do you judge their tastes?




And last, but certainly not at all least, Checkers Day! If you ask me, well I wouldn't mind one bit if you celebrated Checkers Day by playing a hearty round of checkers. But it's my blogging duty to inform you, with heavy heart, that Checkers Day isn't about playing checkers at all. In fact, I have my suspicions it may have something to do with the origins of Dogs in Politics Day.
September 23, 1952 was the day that Richard Nixon delivered his "Checkers Speech". At the time he was running for vice president under Eisenhower when some questions were raised about a secret campaign fund. A report in the NY Post alleged that Nixon had a secret fund of over $18,000 and he may have been using the money for personal, non-campaign purposes. While the fund did exist, there was nothing illegal about it, or keeping it a secret. Though there wasn't anything questionable about the legality of the money situation, it was an embarrassment to Eisenhower's campaign which was really pushing an end to government corruption.
On September 23, he appeared for 30 minutes on NBC explaining the situation, tearing down his political opponents, and promoting himself and Eisenhower. After explaining the money, where it came from, and what it had been used for, in an attempt to make light of the whole thing, Nixon did say there was one gift from his campaign he would keep no matter what- a cocker spaniel given to his 6 year old daughter. His name was Checkers.

Five Reasons to Celebrate

Five holidays in one 24 hour period?! I hope you're ready for this...

1- Dear Diary Day
     I couldn't find a whole lot of info on this day, but I did find enough on it to say it is a real day. Also it's mentioned on Oprah's site so...legit. Oprah said so. I highly recommend journaling and here's two good reasons why: Firstly, it can be very therapeutic. It helps to organize your thoughts, get 'em off your chest and rationalize. [psych major moment of the day] Secondly, it's just plain hilarious to read your old journals later. I go back and read old diaries all the time. You want a good laugh? Reminisce on life through the eyes of a freshman girl at college. Bah ha!

2- Elephant Appreciation Day

Did you know that elephants are pregnant for two years before they give birth? And baby elephants weight between 220-240 lbs at birth? And they live for 50-70 years? Whoa. Any animal that gives birth to something the size of a full grown man gets my appreciation.








3- American Business Women's Day
     Since the dawn of time women have been in the kitchen makin' our men sammiches. But in America women in the workplace has been a process. Women having jobs outside the home existed before the 1920s but it really only become common then. During the depression, when jobs and money were few and far between, working women increased by about 25%. Then during WWII in the 40s, 6 million women entered the workforce, taking jobs women had never seen before, including many factory and heavy labor jobs. Many of them quit their jobs at the end of the war, making room for returning veterans. But not as many as predicted. In 1964 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was created, though it didn't begin to see female discrimination cases until 1970. On September 22, 1949 the American Business Women's Association was formed, and in 1986 Reagan issued a proclamation that September 22 would be the annual ABW day.

4- Ice Cream Cone Day

The invention of the ice cream cone is a little uncertain. There's three stories, one of which may (or may not...) explain the real birth of the cone. One story goes that in 1903 an Italian ice cream vendor invented the cone as a way of cutting costs (apparently cones are cheaper than paper cups.) But there is another story that an English man received a patent in 1902 for a machine that made edible biscuit cups. You decide if that sounds like a cone. My favorite story was of two venders at the World Fair in St. Louis in 1904. One was selling waffles, one was selling ice cream. The ice cream vender ran out of cups so the waffle vender rolled up some waffles to give to the ice cream vender. Voila! The waffle cone was born.

Whichever story floats your fancy, you should all watch this adorable little video of this adorable little cat eating an adorable little ice cream cone. It's adorable.

           5- Hobbit Day

Hobbit day is in honor of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, of the Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship of the Rings opens with Bilbo and Frodo celebrating their shared birthday, the 22nd of September. Now I'm as big a fan of the Rings as the next guy, and I'm all about celebrating Hobbit Day by watching the Fellowship, barefoot, while stuffing my face with a ton of food...but I'll bet you probably didn't know there was controversy with this holiday, huh? Yep. People actually fight over whether Hobbit Day should be celebrated on September 22nd (the day mentioned in the book) or September 14th, due to discrepancies between the Shire Calendar and the Gregorian calendar. I wish I could make this stuff up...

18 Rounds of Peace and Gratitude

Today is probably the coolest combination of days in all of September.

First up- National Miniature Golf Day.

It's been about a year and a half since I've last played mini-golf, and since there aren't any courses near me I decided to set up my own course in the living room :)





 It's complete with 9 holes, a shoe pit (my roommates wouldn't let me have a sand pit) and a gourd maze.

Today is also International Peace Day, and its existence is completely due to efforts made by the Peace One Day organization. Peace One Day was founded by Jeremy Gilley in 1999. In 2001 the UN unanimously adopted Peace Day, the first ever attempt at a world-wide ceasefire for one entire day.
When I first started looking into this I was highly skeptical of the legitimacy of having one day of peace. Who would follow this "rule" and what does one day matter anyways? I soon learned my skepticism was completely ridiculous- one day of peace is real and it does make a difference.
To date the most successful Day of Peace was in 2007. Jude Law is an ambassador of Peace One Day and when he and Gilley traveled to Afghanistan they saw a 70% decrease in violence on September 21st as they gave polio vaccinations to 4.5 million children. That's amazing and awesome and wonderful, yes. But my inner cynic still writhes. What difference does one day make? Well, as Law said "It's the difference between life and death."

Day of Peace is also and perhaps more importantly a sign, a symbol. Hope for the future.
"If we can reduce violence by 70% in Afghanistan on that day...then why can't we reduce violence by 70% everywhere?" -Gilley.
 Perhaps the idea of  world peace is a little optimistic for your taste, as it was mine. It seems to me too unattainable to be realistic. It sounds like rainbows, butterflies and unicorns. It can't just happen overnight. But what if it could happen? Wouldn't it start with just one day?
"If we can succeed in reducing levels of violence for one day, we can show what a more permanent and stable ceasefire can mean and we can build a foundation for lasting peace."- Mats Berdal
 What would proving peace for one day mean?
"That will be a sign to future generations that if we combine our efforts in uniting we can stop the violence. We can create peace." -Gilley

If you're interested in more about International Day of Peace or the Peace One Day foundation I highly recommend watching this video. It's only 5 minutes and well worth every second --> Peace One Day

One last thing, today is World Gratitude Day. Started in 1977 by the United Nations Meditation Group, it's quite simply a day intended to take a few moments to think of all the things and people in your life you genuinely care about and maybe show some appreciation. Write him a note, buy her some flowers, give your dog an extra treat or watch another episode! Whatever you love...appreciate it. And show your gratitude!

Get Puuuuunched!

National Punch Day, everyone! Waking up this morning I was still uncertain as to whether or not I would be enjoying a tall glass of awesomeness, or causing those near me physical pain. Upon further research I discovered it would be the former. Phew! That's a relief, seeing as how tomorrow is International Peace Day and all.

Yes, punch. The big bowl of reddish liquid with little floating bits of melted sherbet that you tried (unsuccessfully) to spike at your junior prom. When we think punch we most often think fruit punch (which, by the way, was my lip gloss of choice today) but that's pretty much just the American version. Punch was originally a drink in India and was popularized in the west when sailors from the British East India Company brought it back with them in the early 1600s, and it spread to the rest of Europe from there. It was made with a few staple ingredients; water or tea base, sugar, lemon, spices and, yes you guessed it, spirits. In England it most commonly wine or brandy, until the mid-1600s when Jamaican rum hit the scene which is what alcoholic punch is typically made with now.

The most common types of punch are bourbon punch (a southern thang), cups (the proper British) and rum punches.  And then there's the good ol' classic fruit punch. I'd take a hawaiian punch any day. In Mexico they call they're punch "agua loca" or "crazy water". I remember (or don't remember, rather) it being the biggest mistake of my couple weeks there. Again, I'll just stick with hawaiian punch from now on.

So saddle up and enjoy a glass. Protip for my proud punchin' pals: plan ahead and freeze little bits of fruit in your ice tray, like I did with these oranges. Chuck 'em in your glass and go. Don't forget to enjoy with a sweet loopy straw :)

Also, according to the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety, today is National Farm Safety Day. Did you know farming is considered one of the more dangerous occupations and farmers are at a higher risk than average for both fatal and non-fatal injuries? On average about 2 farmers die a day in work related injuries, everyday 500 farmers suffer injuries that force them to lose time on the job (25 of which are permanent injuries). Holy cow! (pun intended)

One last thing. I was blogging while on the phone and got busted so now as punishment I have to mention Jerrod and how awesome he is. I love him, love him, love  him.

You guys enjoy your day. Cheers!

I propose...Kyle Day!

So I met this pretty witty, pretty smart fella this summer named Kyle. And Kyle does something pretty interesting that, from the moment I heard about it, I've been wanting to do. Kyle celebrates every single day of his life. See, everyday on the calendar is some sort of holiday to someone, somewhere. Everyday Kyle researches the holiday and tries to celebrate in some way.

I am prepared to take over Kyle's mission.  

This is my last year of college and the past three years have been a bit of a struggle for me. I've never enjoyed classroom learning and I find myself just pushing thru to get by. Especially now that I know exactly where I want to be and what I want to do after college... I just want to get the heck out of here! Last night a really good friend of mine gave me some much needed and good advice; "Lori, you need to just live your life and enjoy everyday as it comes." And THAT my friends, is exactly what I intend to do.

I've put together a calendar from today until the end of 2011 with different holidays. I'm going to research them, attempt to celebrate, and report on it all...right here.

Little did I know today was a perfect day to start. Constitution Day! In 2004, Congress passed a bill with a provision that every school and college that receives some sort of federal financial aid must observe Constitution Day. We're literally required by law to celebrate Constitution Day! My school did so by holding a lecture by Dr. Baum, professor at OSU- "Battling Over the Constitution; Current Controversies in the Supreme Court"

Politics not your thing? That's okay, today has several celebratory options!

*Holy Batman Day (Birthday of Adam West, from the 1960s Batman TV series. You may know him as a voice from the Fairly Odd Parents or Family Guy)

 *Argh, maties. National Talk Like A Pirate Day!

*National Butterscotch Pudding Day, anyone? Yum!

(PS- As compensation for stealing Kyle's holiday blog idea I've written a formal request and mailed it to congress asking September 19th to annually be celebrated as National Everyone Should Be a Little Bit More Like Kyle Day)