July 13, 2013

Today we celebrate:

Carver Day – This day has celebrated George Washington Carver for the last 70 years. Mr. Carver was born into slavery somewhere around 1864, no one knows the exact date. He never knew it himself. He had 10 sisters and one brother who all died very young. He encountered prejudice and segregation and rejection time and time again in his determined pursuit of an education but he did not let that deter him and he finally earned a high school diploma. He also became the first black student at the Iowa State Agricultural College in Ames and later became the first black teacher at that school.

Embrace Your Geekness Day – This is a day to celebrate your inner geek. Embrace the technology age, revel in your knowledge of gaming “stuff” and try not to rub my ignorance in my face too much.

Barbershop Music Appreciation Day – Way back when, before there was radio, music was sung around player pianos or enjoyed at concerts. The Barbershop Quartet was begun around that time. In 1938, Owen Cash and Rupert Hall formed the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing In America. They thought it would be funny to have such a long acronym as S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. (In 2005, they changed it to the more manageable Barbershop Harmony Society.) This day was created in 2005 by Sweet Adelines International (which was begun by the wives of the Barbershop Quarteters in 1945).

National French Fries Day – While we are not sure if these “potatoes served in the French manner” (Thomas Jefferson) originally came to us from France or Belgium, it doesn't really matter. What matters is they are delicious, frequently cooked in a very unhealthy manner at restaurants, and can be found almost anywhere in this country. Now I'm hungry.

Grange Day – On this day in Elk River Minnesota, the youth of the National Grange Organization will reenact a Grange meeting from 1873. If you look around your area (assuming you have an active Grange Organization) you might find other youth celebrations.

International Puzzle Day – This is the 69^th birthday of Erno Rubik, the man who invented the Rubik's Cube back in 1980. My daughter has mastered it and many of the variations of the original cube, but I still fumble around with it for hours.

To celebrate today, grab your geeky technological stuff and head out to find a Grange event that you can video tape using your geeky technology. Then use it to record the barbershop quartet that you track down next (check your local barbershop, they might know where you can find one). Then head home and have some french fries while you tell your kids all about George Washington Carver. Use the internet to find out some interesting details of his life that you might not already know. It is yet another geeky technological thing you can avail yourself of today. Finish up the day by attempting to complete your Rubik's cube.