November 20, 2013

Today we celebrate:

National Peanut Butter Fudge Day – This is a day for fudge, but not just any fudge. Today you must make and eat, or buy and eat, peanut butter fudge. Creamy and delicious, but filled with nuts so I will excuse you from this celebration if you have allergy issues.

Name Your PC Day – This is another unexplained, odd day. This is a day to pick a name for your computer. I'm not one to go around naming things. I don't name my car or my stuffed animals (when I was young enough to have them) and I found naming my children to be a difficult proposition so I'm not sure why we need to name our computers but I don't create the days, I just celebrate them.

Transgender Day of Remembrance – This is a day to remember all those who have lost their lives in anti-transgender violence. It's hard for me to understand why someone who is opposed to a transgender lifestyle would resort to violence. I have never heard of anyone forcing anyone else to be a part of that lifestyle. If it's not for you, just go about your business and let them go about their business. If you are opposed because of your religious beliefs, please remember that killing is a sin in every religion I have ever heard of.

African Industrialization Day – Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, this is a day to encourage the countries of the world to support the industrialization of Africa.

GIS Day (Geographic Information Systems) – Celebrated on the third Wednesday in November, this is a day to demonstrate the real and practical uses of GIS. This day was first celebrated in 1999 and was created by Ralph Nader.

Globally Organized Hug A Runner Day aka G.O.H.A.R.D. - Begun in 2011, this is a day to support people who are motivated to run. I am not a runner, but I have a lot of respect for those who are. So wrap your arms around a runner today no matter where you are in the world. You don't even need to know them personally.

National Educational Support Professionals Day – Celebrated on the Wednesday of the week before Thanksgiving, this is a day to honor everyone who provides services to schools. There are lots of people besides teachers and principles who are involved in making sure your children have a good education. These are the secretaries, custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, monitors, teacher aides and probably many others depending on the school you are part of.

Universal Children's Day – There are many Children's Days celebrated around the world on different days, but this is the day that was recommended by the United Nations. So let's all celebrate our children today.

To celebrate today, name your PC and then use it to find the name of a transgender person who lost his/her life and offer up a prayer for them and their family. Then you can use your GIS on the computer to find Africa on a World Map and show your children. Then send your children to school with a whole bunch of peanut butter fudge for them to share with the support staff at their school. Lastly, go out and find a runner so you can give him/her a hug. It shouldn't be hard, you could probably just stand on the side of the road for a few minutes. A runner is bound to come past very soon.

There are an amazing number of people from different countries who read my blog now and then.  Today I'd like to thank all the people in Turkey for checking in to see what craziness we are celebrating today.