BirthdayGirl

Hi again All! I appreciate your patience while I was once again on haitus. I may have been gone for a spell, but the calendar pages are always turning, and every day is an unofficial holiday of some sort! Speaking of which, June 24 is International Swim-a-Lap Day! This is a day when we are encouraged to celebrate the ancient pastime of swimming and the engagement of it for sport and excersize! Done regularly, swimming can offer so many health benefits. It burns a substantial amount of calories, increases the heart rate and builds muscle strength. Swimming can also reduce stress and help one relax. In children, swimming can help build posture, increase coordination and flexibility and can help with motor development. Swimming might just be the ideal form of excersize! Humans have been swimming since no later than prehistoric times (maybe earlier!). References to swimming have been found on stone age paintings dating back to over 7000 years ago! And written references to swimming date from 2000 B.C.! Swimming emerged as a competitive sport in 19th century England, although there is historical reference to the Japanese inventing it. Today, swimming is one of the most popular competitive sports. You can find competitive swimmers of all levels and ages, from toddlers to adults at the Olympics! At the Olympics, you will find four kinds of swimming styles: the front crawl, backstroke, butterfly stroke and the breaststroke. If you are interested in learning more about how to perform these strokes, you can find multitude videos on Youtube, or take a class at your local rec center pool! So, this weekend hop in a pool, lake, bay, or some other body of water and take a lap or two for your health, enjoyment, and for Swim-a-Lap Day!

Greetings, Programs! It's May 25, which means it's Geek Pride Day! Geek Pride Day was first celebrated in 2006, when a Spanish blogger, German Martinez organized the first celebration. It was celebrated mostly on the internet but also IRL in Madrid, where 300 Geeks demonstrated their pride together with a human Pac-Man. A manifesto was then created to celebrate the first Geek Pride Day, which included a list of the basic rights and responsibilities of Geeks.So wave your Geek flag high! It was first celebrated in the U.S. in 2008 when numerous bloggers got together to launch the Geek Pride Day website. In 2009, the Science Channel recognized May 25 as Geek Pride Day by broadcasting special programming to celebrate geeks. In 2013 Geek Pride was solidified in Gothenberg, Sweden; a Geek Pride parade was held and it was decided that this would be an annual event! Many of us remember when being called a geek was a derogitory term, and cause for disdain and ostracism. But not any more! Did it start with Screech on the TV show 'Saved by the Bell' or Steve Urkel on 'Family Matters'? Could it be that when Steve Jobs and Bill Gates became creators of culture geekery became a respected form of expression? Any way you look at it, Geeks are cool and to be celebrated! If you're a geek, love a geek, or are interested in learning more about them, celebrate Geek Pride day by going online and learning more, or participating in one of the Pride Day celebrations around the world! Geek Up!!! Other notable May 25 observances: Towel Day; Wine Day; Tap Dance Day Current Listen: Geek Like Me - The Wonderstrucks; They Might Be Giants - Particle Man

Hi All! It's May 23, which means it is Lucky Penny Day! Have you ever found a penny lying on the ground? If you live in a country that has pennies, such as the United States and Britain, well then of course you have! Did you know what luck picking up these pennies can bring you? No one knows who started Lucky Penny Day or when, but some say it may be a twist on the “See a pin and pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck.” and similar verses you might find in American Folklore. I recall my Grandmother saying this and thinking how horrifying it would be to step on a pin, and so of course I'm going to pick it up! Maybe the good luck is in not stepping on it. And maybe the good luck of finding a penny is in becoming a penny richer! Whether you believe in this superstition or not, there are many who do. When they find a penny on the ground they think of it as good luck and will keep it in their pocket, shoe, or some other traditional place. Some superstitions hold that one should only pick up a penny that is lying face up. Others say that if you see a penny lying face down, turn it over for another to find their luck! Other superstitions around lucky pennies hold that when a ghost is trying to let you know they are with you, they will leave pennies around for you to find. I personally am not sure about this because there are so many pennies lying all over the ground anywhere you go. How on earth could one say which ghost is trying to state their presence!? At any rate, Lucky Penny Day is a day to remember this fun (and lucrative) tradition. Today, take a point to look on the ground wherever you go and see if you can find a lucky penny. Some really good places to find stray – ehem I mean LUCKY-- pennies are in a parking lot of a store, fairs, festivals, and sports stadiums. So, enjoy this day and remember, pennies are probably going to be extinct within the next few decades, so when you're picking one up, not only do you gain good luck, but a potential collectors item!

Hello There! How is your day going thus far? Are you aware that today is not only full of unofficial observances such as World Baking Day and Pack Rat Day, but it is also an honest-to-goodness bonafide holiday! What holiday is it, you ask? Welp, it's Norwegian Consititution Day! Also known simply as Sittende Mai (May 17th), Norwegian Constitution Day takes place around the world on May 17th. On May 17, 1814 Norway signed its Consititution to avoid being ceded to Sweden after a devistating defeat during the Napoleonic Wars. The celebration of this day began spontaneously by students to who psyched to have their Norway back! For a long time King Karl Johan actually banned the celebrations, thinking that the gatherings were an act of revolt or rebellion. It took many many years for Constitution Day to be established as a holiday. In 1864 the first Childrens Parade took place. Childrens Parades are a key event for any Sytennde Mai celebration. Children march around the community, often wearing traditional Norwegian garb and holding Norwegian flags while singing the National Anthem "Ja, vi elsker dette landet". In addition to parades, there are many other celebrations including parties, musical performances, speeches, food and yes, even lutefisk! Celebrations take place all across Norway in larger cities such as Oslo, Kristiansand and Bergen, and in smaller towns such as Akser and Ullensaker. Syttende Mai is also celebrated by many Norwegian immigrant communities in the United States and across the world. Stoughton, Wisconsin; Petersburg, Alaska; Brooklyn, New York; and Seattle, Washington all have large Norwegian communities and celebrate Syttende Mai in a big way! Scotland, Sweden, and New Zealand also have large celebrations. Syttende Mai is about celebrating Norways Independence, but it is also about inclusion and diversity. Young and old, rich and poor, those from near and far... all are welcome! So go find a Syttende Mai celebration near you today and say a rousing "Hep Hep!" for Syttende Mai!

Hi All, It's National Sea-Monkey Day! Sea-monkeys, otherwise known as “brine-shrimp” are small crustaceans that normally live in salt lakes.I wasn't able to come up with an answer to the question "When did National Sea-Monkey Day begin and who founded it?" but I do know that In 1957 Harold Von Braunhut invented the brine-shrimp based product to sell to consumers in the United States after ant farms had proven popularity a year earlier. How did the sea monkey get it's name? Well, these cute underwater creatures have long tails and demonstrate playful, monkey-like behavior! Whatever happened to sea-monkeys? Can one still purchase them? If a child of today can pull him or herself away from the numerous devices that took the place of fun toys like sea-monkeys, they could purchase a set of sea-monkeys at Amazon.com. I would venture to guess that a trip to Archie McPhees could turn up a pretty sweet colony of the little guys as well! May 16 is the perfect time to reflect on the fun little critters and maybe even share them with the next generation. One of the most fascinating characteristics of the sea-monkey is its ability to live for years as an egg before hatching. Sea-monkeys only begin to hatch and grow once you’ve added the proper nutrients to the water environment. Fun Fact: Sea-monkeys have three eyes and breathe through their feet! To celebrate National Sea-Monkey Day, buy some sea-monkeys of your own and enjoy watching them grow!

Hi All! I'm back after haiatus and just in time for a very significant observance! That's right, today is May ninth which means its National Lost Sock Memorial Day! Where on earth do all of those single socks run off to? Is there really a "sock fairy" who is playing a practical joke? Do they slip into another dimension that is now FULL of billions of sock singletons? Did the dog eat them? Or maybe those single socks are just out on a very successful Tinder date. It's been a conundrum common to all of us since the dawn of time, or at least since the first commercial laundry dryer was released to the public in 1938. No one seems to know when National Lost Sock Memorial Day began or who conceived of it. Regardless, this is a good day to remind ourselves of the multitude uses for the lonely single socks leftover after their twins mysterious departure. You could make a sock monkey of course but there are actually so many craft projects that have been imagined by some very creative people. A wine bottle cozy, iPhone holder, a hair scrunchie, or even a coin purse! I personally use my lone socks to dust and clean (I use old tshirts for this also but that is for another day). If you prefer to fight against this phemomenon, there are some pretty clever ways to do so. At any rate, today we say "here here!" (or "where? where?" perhaps) to all of the socks that have gone before us and all of the socks (and cold feet) that are left behind. So here's to National Lost Sock Memorial Day!

Hi All! It's a Reefer Revolution! Tomorrow we celebrate by lighting up a fat one on April 20, Weed Day! Potheads from all over the world, from Amsterdam to New Zealand, from Arkansas to Zimbabwe will be lighting up this Thursday to celebrate the Jolly Green! If you reside in certain states and countries, you can light up legally. Otherwise you'll want to keep it on the down low. As of 2017 smoking marijuana recreationally is legal in South Africa, Spain, Uraguay, and some parts of the United States including Washington State, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, and Alaska! My home state of Washington was among one of the first, along with Colorado to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes in 2012. In Washington State, this applies to those over 21 years of age and there are regulations similar to those around alcohol use. One may not legally drive under the influence and you can't smoke weed on the street corner, although that does not stop people from doing so. Take a walk around any street in Seattle and you will catch a whiff of that Giggle Smoke. A number of states and even more countries have decriminalized possession of a small amount of marijuana. And others have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Legend has it that the observance of marijuana on April 20 began with some high school students in California back in the 70's. They say that a bunch of high school students in San Rafael California chose to meet in the woods at 4:20 one day after school to search for a plot of cannabis plants that was reported to be growing nearby. They say that "420" became their code word when talking about Aunt Mary. Since then a number of events have been built around 4-20 including the Cannabis Cup and the World Hemp Expo Extravaganza. These types of events aim to promote the legality of marijuana, the health benefits that many experience from injestion of marijuana, and the harmlessness to others that underlies the need for legalization. Other events promote the viability of hemp and marijuana use as an environmental and social benefit to humankind. I will personally be celebrating this day by wearing my hemp socks, the most comfortable and breathable socks I own, walking down to my local weed shop and purchasing my favorite way to inject marijuana, Fremont Freaks. They are a delicious dried fruit that has been dipped in a sugar loaded with THC! YUM! How will YOU be celebrating 420?

Greetings! April 18 is World Heritage Day and I couldn't be more thrilled! World Heritage Day-- more formally known as International Day for Monuments and Sites-- is observed around the world every year on April 18 to recognize and celebrate all that is culture and heritage around the world! International Day for Monuments and Sites was approved by UNESCO in 1983 after being proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites in 1982. UNESCO serves to promote peace, respect for human rights, and collaboration between nations. World Heritage Day is noteworthy because it reminds us of of the value of preserving culturally relevant sites around the world. As of today, there are 1,052 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 165 countries around the world! Over two hundred of these are natural sites such as The Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere and Reserve in Mexico, and Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Many more are cultural sites; 814 to be exact; man made, and cherished by the world and their respective countries. From the decorated farmhouses of Halsingland in Sweden, to the Ankor Complex in Cambodia, these sites are precious and culturally relevant monuments to the creativity and diversity of humankind. How does one celebrate World Heritage Day? Do some research and find a World Heritage Site near you and pay a visit! Learn about World Heritage Sites around the world and plan a visit! I personally have a bucket list that includes visits to sites including Angkor Wat Temples in Cambodia, the Historic Monuments of Kyoto in Japan, Victoria Falls in Zambia, and the Statue of Liberty in the U.S! Check out the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites and plan your bucket list!

Hello and Good Day! One of my favorite pastimes is being celebrated today. April 14 is National Look Up at the Sky Day! Have you spent much time looking up at the sky? I sure have! It is an activity that humans have been partaking in since the beginning of time. From astronomers to sailors, meteorologists and airplane pilots and even the average Joe has had occasion to look up at the sky! There is not much on the origination of this unofficial observance, but I'm certainly not one to argue its validity. I have spent many a sunny afternoon lying on the grass, on the beach, or even sitting on a park bench and marveling at all that is the sky. One could ponder its vast expanse or find special shapes in the puffy clouds. You could ask yourself "why is the sky blue" and maybe find the answer or allow it to remain a mystery. And the birds! So many birds to enjoy and study can be found flying through the sky. Ah! The sky! Such an underrated part of our grand planet. No, it doesn't contain the vast and varied flora and fauna that the ocean does. You can't walk across it or plant a garden on it. But to me it is so much more. And apparently there was a club of sorts devoted to the appreciation of the skies. The Cloud Appreciation Society was founded in 2005 to foster appreciation and understanding of clouds and has over 42,000 members! I really enjoyed exploring this site. I found awesome photos of clouds, music and poetry about clouds and even a cloud of the month! Truely fantastic! And next time you go outside, take a look up at the sky and thank your lucky stars!

Hi All! Can you believe it's already the middle of April? Do you know what that means? Well, it means that Spring is upon us, flowers are blooming, birdies are singing, dogs are a-barkin'. And... it's National Submarine Day! National Submarine Day commemorates the day that the United States acquired it's first commissioned submarine, the USS Holland. The USS Holland was built in 1897 and, after proving her seaworthiness, was bought by the United States Government for $150,000 on April 11, 1900. We commonly know submarines, otherwise known as "subs" as an underwater vessel used by the military (or as the tenth, and very trippy, studio album, released by The Beatles in 1969) but subs are also used to conduct marine science, underwater construction, and even underwater archaeology! One can also book a ride on one of the 12 tourist submarines operated by Atlantis Submarine. They operate underwater tours in places such as Hawaii and Grand Cayman. My personal favorite submarine is the Submarine Voyage that closed in 1998 at Disneyland. She had a good run of nearly 40 years though, opening on June 14 of 1959 in what is now the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland. Submarine Voyage was 1,365 feet in length and could hold 38 happy riders for an eight minute ride through the arctic, the Graveyard of Lost Ships, the very bottom of the sea, and even the lost city of Atlantis! I've heard tell that mermaids have even been spotted on this ride. Wow! Granted, Submarine Voyage is not a true submarine, as she does not fully submerge, and she moves around on rails. National Submarine Day is not celebrated at Disneyland. As a matter of fact it is mostly celebrated in the submarine community, but I say why not give three cheers for submarines and maybe have a bite or two of it's gustatory namesake, the sub sandwich! Yum! Happy Submarine Day!