End of the Middle Ages Day, May 29th

End of the Middle Ages Day

May 29, 1453 is considered by many historians to be the end of the Middle Ages, (and therefore the Beginning of the Renaissance), and because of this, some people decided it would be good to celebrate the End of the Middle Ages, and some even call it a good day to give gifts.

On this day the city of Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire after being under siege for almost two months. So, why is this specific turning point significant? Because of the fall of Constantinople, the Byzantine (Greek) scholars migrated away from Constantinople which had been their political center. This scattering encouraged studies of Greek culture outside of the Byzantine Empire and began a revival of learning based on classical Greek sources, which began the Renaissance.

So, how do we celebrate the end of the Middle Ages? Well, one of my favorite ways to celebrate is with food. I found quite a few recipes here, and here, and here. I would probably try to think of more ways to celebrate, but my lunch break is over, so I should get back to work in the next few minutes.

So, in which ever way you celebrate, even if you just read a bit about the Fall of Constantinople, have a wonderful End of the Middle Ages Day.

World Turtle Day, May 23rd

World Turtle Day
If you don't know how to celebrate World Turtle Day, perhaps Michael the Turtle can help.

Frankin Days, or the Reason Not to Kill the Messenger

It seems that my life is in jeopardy since I quoted an old bit of Devonshire weather folklore.

Thunder in May
Frightens the Summer away.

In my own defense, I would like to state that it is not my fault it is snowing in Park City, Utah. It is, however, the fault of a Devonshire man named Frankin, because apparently, New England Puritans weren't the only people who frequently sold their souls to the Devil. According to The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore:

"Sharp frosts which sometimes occur about this time are the revenge of one Frankin, a beer-brewer put out of business by competition from cider. He therefore vowed his soul to the Devil in return for frost on each of the three 'Frankin's Days' around May the twenty-first, hoping that these would kill the apple-blossom and ruin the cider crop (Kightly 82).

So, Edgy, the reason why it snowed today? Because hops bloom in August.

Thunder in May

According to The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore,

Thunder in May
Frightens the Summer away.

I just heard thunder's dooming boom. Bye, bye summer!

National Memo Day, May 21st

Memo

To: Almanac Readers
From: Absent-minded Secretary
Date: May 21, 2007
Subject: National Memo Day

As it is currently National Memo Day, it has been proposed that all communication to and from the Almanac be in the form of a memo. If there are any questions regarding this change of policy, please direct them to Absent-minded Secretary via a memo.

Thank You!

Auntie Absent... part II

Baby Niece looks worried that Baby Niece II might steal her center-of-attention-ness.

Twilight Zone Day, May 11th

Twilight Zone Day

For Twilight Zone Day, I would like to present real lawn furniture. The furniture created for the greenest of treehuggers.

To me, it looks like there is something scary hiding underneath the lawn ...
just...
waiting...
for the right moment...

Clean Up Your Room Day, May 10th

Clean Up Your Room Day

Today is Clean Up Your Room Day, and what perfect timing it is for clean up your room day, because today is the first day of spring. In Absent-minded Almanac world, spring has not sprung until the first time I hear the song "Dreams" while I am driving in my car with the windows down. Last night while I was driving north on I-15 with my windows down, on my way to celebrate Day Four of the Week of Edgy, I heard the song. Anyway, now it's spring, and now we can begin spring cleaning.

I believe that to do anything correctly, I must first read about how other people do the same thing, because, who knows, I could have been cleaning my room the wrong way my whole life! I mean, when I clean my room I usually begin with dusting the bookshelves. Then, after I have read two books that I had forgotten that I haven't read, I remember that I was going to clean my room... last week. So, maybe there is a more efficient way to clean one's room.

The first place to look when you want to learn how to do something is Wikihow.com. Now, Wikihow does have several entries about how to clean and organize, but I was drawn to an entry titled How to Clean Your Room. This article has a very interesting suggestion for all of us who are procrastinators by nature.

Pretend that mutant aliens are coming and if the room is not clean in (insert time) you are doomed.

I had never thought of this approach before. I thought that I was being creative when I was seven and I made my younger brothers take turns being Cinderella while I was the evil step-mother so I wouldn't have to clean. Yes, I was one of those mean older sisters.

While I would like to be able to tell you that I am going to try the "Alien Deadline for Room Cleaning" tonight, I must be honest. I will probably just sit on my couch and watch The Office while eating cancer causing microwave popcorn.

Lost Sock Memorial Day, May 9th

Lost Sock Memorial Day



Poor mismatched pair!

Day of Edgy, May 7th

Day of Edgy

"There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents ... and only one for birthday presents..." -Lewis Carroll

Happy Birthday Edgy! May you get one new book for each of the candles on your birthday cake!

Avoiding Day, May 3rd

According to The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore, May the 3rd is "Avoiding Day." This is a very unlucky day because it is believed that this is the day the bad angels were kicked out of heaven. These fallen angels are allowed to haunt the earth on this day which makes it a very bad day to do things, and we should avoid starting anything.

So, the pile on my desk, I have a reason for ignoring it today.

At three minutes and four seconds after 2 AM on the 6th of May this year, the time and date will be...


02:03:04 05/06/07

Feast Day of St. Expeditus, April 19th

Feast Day of St. Expeditus

St. Expeditus (while no longer recognized by the Catholic Church) is the patron saint against procrastination, for urgent causes, prompt solutions, merchants, navigators, computer programmers, and e-commerce. According to legend, St. Expeditus was a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity. On the day when Expeditus made the decision to become a Christian, the Devil took the form of a crow and told St. Expeditus his conversion could wait until the next day. Expeditus stomped on the bird, and shouted "I'll be a Christian today!"

It is possible that Expeditus did not exist. Some historians speculate that the idea of the saint may have stemmed from a misunderstanding that occurred when Parisian nuns received a crate of relics from Rome labeled for "expedited" delivery and mistakenly thought the label referred to the name of a saint.

I feel as if I should have some sort of bond with St. Expeditus because I am a procrastinator, and perhaps when I pray under my breath for things to work out, maybe he is listening and watching over me. If I were Catholic, that is.

I am a very bad procrastinator. I haven't blogged about National Drop Everything And Read Day (April 12th), National Library Worker's Day (April 17th), or National Library Week (April 15th-21st). I meant to blog about D.E.A.R., and then I really meant to blog about D.E.A.R. after reading Neel's post about Library Week (by the way, if you don't already read Neel, you really ought to. He will give you the best information about how to attend movies before they are released on his advance movie screening guide.)

Well, I guess I still haven't really blogged about D.E.A.R. or Library Week, so I guess that St. Expeditus isn't helping me today.

Cheese Ball Day, April 17th

Cheese Ball Day

That is, we are supposed to eat them, not be them.

Reading Harry Potter books always makes me hungry. In book IV, which I am reading because it is the assigned book for April as part of Edgy's Book Club, J.K Rowling has twice mentioned beef casserole. Now I want stroganoff, or tater tot casserole anything pumpkin, and maybe some butterbeer.

April 13, 1844

On this date in 1844, the New York Sun printed a story of the first transatlantic flight, which took only three days in Mr. Monck Mason's flying machine. But, how can that be? The Wright brothers didn't fly the first successful airplane until 1903... which was 59 years previous to 1844, right?

Yes right. The story "The Atlantic Crossed in Three Days in Mr.Monck Mason's Flying Machine!" was written by Edgar Allan Poe, and became known as "The Balloon Hoax."

Gotta love Edgar!

paraskavedekatriaphobia

Cerealia

Cerealia

Somewhere about this time in April is the festival of Cerealia. Cerealia is a 5-8 day celebration of the Roman goddess Ceres. Ceres is the goddess of growing plants,(there is a statue of Ceres on the dome of the Vermont State House building, to remind us of the importance of agriculture to Vermont's economy and history), grains (hence the word cereal) and motherly love (her Greek name is Demeter, and her daughter is Kore a.k.a Persephone).

To celebrate Cerealia traditionally, you should make a spelt cake, and offer it to Ceres, but that recipe doesn't sound very yummy, and she might not like it. You could fancy-up a spelt cake with apples or chocolate, to eat all by yourself, which could be fun. Or you could be like me and just eat cereal. You know how they say you shouldn't grocery shop when you are hungry? Yeah, well, I just bought five huge boxes of cereal, for the one of me. Apparently, I like the idea of cereal when I am hungry.

I guess I had better go buy some milk too.

Poetry & the Creative Mind Day, April 11th; National Poetry Month

Poetry & the Creative Mind Day

If you like poetry, you should celebrate Poetry & the Creative Mind Day. If you want to celebrate poems longer than one day, you should know that April is National Poetry Month. If you are having a hard time forcing yourself to be creative, Poets.org gives us some ideas with their 30 Ways to Celebrate page. My favorite ideas are "Take a Poem Out to Lunch", "Get out the Sidewalk Chalk and Commit a Poem to Pavement", and "Put Some Poetry in an Unexpected Place".

Today at lunch I tried to recite a poem, any poem, and my brain just froze. Out of all the poems from all the poets that I had been required to memorize for a grade, or even those that have just became part of my subconscious from reading over and over again over the years... it's like they weren't there. I couldn't remember any of my Frost, or Parker, or Dickinson, or Lewis, or Yeats; the only poem that I remembered enough to recite was Shel Silverstein's "I Cannot Go To School Today", which probably means that I shouldn't be at work today. You know, because I have the measles and the mumps, a gash and rash and purple bumps...

Tell the Truth Day, April 4th

Tell the Truth Day

It's Tell the Truth Day. Or is it?