September 27, 2014

Today we celebrate:

National Crush A Can Day – This is an odd day that doesn't seem to have a specific purpose or history that I can find. I can speculate that it is a stress relieving day as some people like to relieve their stress by breaking or crushing things. I prefer to recycle my cans but I guess I can make an exception today.

Ancestor Appreciation Day – This is a day to dig into your family history and find out where you came from so you can appreciate your ancestors, whoever they happen to be.  Without every single one of them, you would not be who you are.  So, even if you find that one or more of them are not necessarily people you would be proud of, you should be thankful for their role in ultimately creating you.

Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – Created in 2008 by the National Association of People with AIDS, this is a day to recognize that although gay and bisexual men are only about 2 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for 61 percent of all of the newly diagnosed HIV infections in the year 2009. Since this is the demographic that is most at risk of developing this devastating disease, it stands to reason that men who are gay and bisexual need to be tested regularly and, even better, take precautions to protect themselves against becoming infected in the first place.

National Chocolate Milk Day – Chocolate fans everywhere, heads up! This is a day for you. Carry some chocolate around with you today so you can add it to your milk at every meal. If you don't usually drink milk at meals, you might want to change your habits today.  I really like to use Ovaltine as opposed to Nestle or Swiss Miss or other chocolate milk mixes because it is chock full of vitamins and minerals and makes really good chocolate milk.

Google's Birthday – This date apparently changes depending on when the Google people feel like having some cake. The real first day of opening for Google is probably September 4th, 1998, at least that is when they incorporated, but they registered their web domain on September 15, 1997 so some may consider that to be Google's birthday.  I can’t find a reason why they would celebrate anything today and some speculate that it is related to a rivalry of some kind with Yahoo!

Family Health and Fitness Day USA – Celebrated on the last Saturday in September, this is a day to encourage families to engage in physical activity together. Face it, your kids will be far more likely to exercise if they see you doing it. I know when my kids were little, I would exercise here in my house and every time I got down on the floor to do pushups or situps or anything like that, they were right there climbing on me either wanting to do it with me ( in their own fashion ), or wanting to make it harder for me.

National Hunting and Fishing DayCelebrated on the 4th Saturday in September, this is a day to celebrate the history and tradition of hunting and fishing in America.

National Museum DayMany (but probably not all) museums will have free admission today so take advantage of that and visit your favorite, or take a chance and visit one you've never been to today.

National Public Lands Day – Celebrated by the National Environmental Education Foundation, this is a day to enjoy, and learn how to conserve, public lands.

World Tourism Day - This is a day to focus on the value of tourism.  The theme for this years celebration is "Tourism and Community Development - focusing on the ability of tourism to empower people and provide them with skills to achieve change in their local communities."  The organizers want to know how you will be celebrating so they ask that you send them photos based on the theme to the WTD Facebook album and label your tweets about it with #WTD2014.

Fish Amnesty Day - This day, created by PETA, is always celebrated on the fourth Saturday of September. It is a day to understand that fish are living beings with the same rights any animal should have.  PETA wants to protect the fish by convincing vegetarians who eat fish to become full vegetarians.  Even better if they can convince some meat eaters to become vegetarians.

International Lace Day - Also celebrated on the last Saturday in September, this is a day to make lace.  You can’t have too much of the stuff, it doesn’t take up too much room and it is pretty.  Make a lace tablecloth for your dining room table.  Or a runner for a living room table or nightstand.

Kiwanis Kids’ Day - Another fourth Saturday in September celebration, this one was created by Kiwanis International  in 1949, to focus on children and their welfare. On this day Kiwanis clubs all over the world have a wide variety of activities that involve children.  From parades to picnics to talent shows and banquets.  Contact the Kiwanis International Foundation to find out more.

To celebrate today, crush a can of chocolate milk before you go fishing on public lands with a bunch of Kiwanis club kids.  Grant any fish you catch amnesty by releasing them back into the wild. Then google the location of a Lace Museum that you can tour with your gay friends.  Make sure they are aware of HIV/AIDS and how to keep themselves safe.  Next, make sure you appreciate your ancestors and the gift of life that they gave you by keeping yourself healthy and fit.

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