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Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category

I’m one of those extremely intermittent football fans who really only tunes in for the Super Bowl and sometimes forgets even then (much to the chagrin of some family members).

That said, hey, today is the Super Bowl!

Maybe you have been counting down the days and are currently settling in for a day of sports and snacks. You certainly aren’t the only one. Here’s a sample menu from a family member: 

“Chili with all the toppings, house made wings, chips, salsa, mozzarella sticks, wontons and a veg tray; all the major food groups…meat, cheese, spicy, fried and a vegetable garnish.” 

(Fortunately, he doesn’t eat like this all the time, because I’d like him to stick around.)

Or maybe you don’t care about American football at all. Fair enough!

If that’s the case, this is for you:

Don’t give a hoot about sports? The Superb Owl might be for you

The anagrammatic play on Super Bowl began as an accidental misspelling, or an internet meme, or who knows what. But it has since become a soaring cultural phenomenon, producing countless online posts and spawning a resurgence of interest in the nocturnal, wide-eyed raptors.

So that’s fun. And in case you’re wondering:

Why Does the Super Bowl Use Roman Numerals?

It’s not likely Hunt was thinking of avoiding confusion. Instead, Hunt believed the style lent the Super Bowl a kind of gravitas and signaled it was a major event.

And that’s how we arrived at Super Bowl LIX. (And yes, I considered trying to tie this all together with a joke about how many LIXs does it take an owl to get to the center of a lollipop, but it wasn’t coming together and I’ve got Sunday things to do.)

Whether you’re cheering on the Chiefs, the Eagles, or Team Owl, have a great day!

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Photo by Adriano Pinto on Unsplash

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In defense of Groundhog Day — America’s silliest holiday

As a kid growing up in Pennsylvania, there are a few state treasures you come to revere, like Tastykake’s Butterscotch Krimpets, a 64-pack of Crayola crayons with a sharpener on the back of the box, soft pretzels and Hershey’s chocolate. But no locally-produced treat could touch the majesty of the state’s ultimate icon: Punxsutawney Phil.

Happy Groundhog Day! This wacky holiday is good fun, but even our friendly neighborhood rodent doesn’t always know what the future will bring.

Whatever comes, let’s try to face it with a warm heart, constructive goals, and a sense of fun.

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Chris Flook, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Today marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year, a 15-day long celebration of with parties, feasts and red red red.

It’s also the start of the Year of the Snake, so if you have a phobia now might be a good time to look away!

Understanding Lunar New Year: What it is and how it’s celebrated

Snakes are viewed with both fear and reverence in Chinese culture. On the one hand, venomous snakes are associated with darkness. But in Chinese mythology, snakes are also known as “little dragons,” and the skin they shed is known as “the dragon’s coat,” symbolizing good luck, rebirth and regeneration. The snake also symbolizes the pursuit of love and happiness. In Chinese culture, they are grouped with the turtle and crane as a symbol of longevity.

Which Zodiac Animal Are You? — Google Arts & Culture

Google’s Snake-Themed Game Doodle

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Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

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Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. I do try to emphasize the brighter side of life in this blog and this is not that, but it’s important. Fewer children are taught this history and too many adults act like it never happened (and could never happen again).

As survivors pass on those of us who remain must remember what and how and why. Not only for those who died, but for ourselves and our futures. This is the power of stories.

It is right that those who committed atrocities be held responsible, but remembrance days like this aren’t primarily about blame for past guilt. They are about the political tides that make these events possible. They are about the ordinary people swept up in such times.

Most of all, they are about avoiding future repetition.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution.

‘New way of bearing witness’: one of biggest Holocaust archives goes online

Announced on Holocaust Memorial Day, the Wiener Holocaust Library’s new online platform includes more than 150,000 items collected over nine decades. Users can view letters, pamphlets and photographs that record the rise of fascism in Britain and Europe.

My grandpa chose not to speak about his Holocaust experiences – but he asked me to tell the world

I’ve been asked why I believe Holocaust education is so important, and I find it hard to verbalise. It seems so obvious to me, as the grandchild of survivors, that these stories must continue to be told – it sounds cliche to quote “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it”, but with every passing year, it’s clear we are continuing to forget the horrors humanity is capable of. Gyuri’s final message was clear: tell the world, so they can learn from it.

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Photo by Jan Huber on Unsplash

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“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, everyone! Today, I plan to celebrate the beauty of dreams, and the satisfaction of bringing those dreams to life.

“Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

To learn more about Dr King, his impact, speeches like “I Have a Dream” and more, check out History’s site on Martin Luther King Jr.

I also appreciate this related quote:

“The best way to make a dream come true is to wake up.”

— Anna Wintour

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Photo by Luke Richardson on Unsplash

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Today is the last day before the day job resumes. I shall spend it wisely, with food, chill, and books. Mostly books.

“Sections in the bookstore

  • Books You Haven’t Read
  • Books You Needn’t Read
  • Books Made for Purposes Other Than Reading
  • Books Read Even Before You Open Them Since They Belong to the Category of Books Read Before Being Written
  • Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered
  • Books You Mean to Read But There Are Others You Must Read First
  • Books Too Expensive Now and You’ll Wait ‘Til They’re Remaindered
  • Books ditto When They Come Out in Paperback
  • Books You Can Borrow from Somebody
  • Books That Everybody’s Read So It’s As If You Had Read Them, Too
  • Books You’ve Been Planning to Read for Ages
  • Books You’ve Been Hunting for Years Without Success
  • Books Dealing with Something You’re Working on at the Moment
  • Books You Want to Own So They’ll Be Handy Just in Case
  • Books You Could Put Aside Maybe to Read This Summer
  • Books You Need to Go with Other Books on Your Shelves
  • Books That Fill You with Sudden, Inexplicable Curiosity, Not Easily Justified
  • Books Read Long Ago Which It’s Now Time to Re-read
  • Books You’ve Always Pretended to Have Read and Now It’s Time to Sit Down and Really Read Them”
    ― Italo Calvino, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler

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On the first day of this new year, a short poem on the relative nature of time. And nature.

Do we seem as slow

To hummingbirds on the wing

As trees do to us?

Wishing you a happy new year.

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“Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.”

― Tom Stoppard

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Photo by Eric Muhr on Unsplash

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“What do you say, Pooh?”
Pooh opened his eyes with a jerk and said, “Extremely.”
“Extremely what?” asked Rabbit.
“What you were saying,” said Pooh. “Undoubtably.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

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Photo by Amira Yucra on Unsplash

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Merry Christmas! Today we have the final installments of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

A Christmas Carol (Dickens, 1843): Stave 4

THE LAST OF THE SPIRITS.

The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently, approached. When it came near him, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery.

It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. But for this it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded.

…

A Christmas Carol (Dickens, 1843): Stave 5

THE END OF IT.

Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!

“I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!” Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. “The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob; on my knees!”

He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears.

…

Read the last two installments of the story here and here, and thanks for sharing this Christmas classic with me.

May you keep Christmas well!

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Photo by Elin Melaas on Unsplash

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