Prompt #5: "You are an Astronaut. Describe your perfect day."
My favorite day is... actually a little corny, I guess you could say. Most people would think it's the day you get chosen for the mission, or the day you landed on the moon, or even the days it takes to go to and from. Honestly, though, I think my perfect day would have to be the day we landed back on Earth.
I mean, there's definitely something amazing about launch day. All that training that goes into that moment makes the payoff a little sweeter, and you can just feel the power in the rocket lifting you into the air. It's not enough to prepare you for what's next, though. There's this... surreal feeling as you exit the atmosphere that's almost like... leaving reality. It's the first time that you truly see the entire world in a new perspective. Then, of course, there's the obvious change of gravity. Everything is so much lighter, so weightless. You are so far away from everything you've known, that even life's stresses lose their weight. Then, being on the moon is just incredible, of course. It's such an alien landscape. Something that seems so familiar at home is this... completely different thing once you are up there. It's beautiful, but dangerous, which only lends to it's beauty, I think.
But, coming back, which is a three day trip, by the way. That's a trip unlike anything else. The last day, the arrival, is more surreal than the trip out. I remember the last hours so vividly. It was a blue canvas with splashes of green and strokes of white at first. As we got closer, though, more colors appeared. Soon, we could see yellows and reds in the deserts, then the bright outline of shores. Then we could differentiate different blues in the waters. Visually, it was like watching the world paint itself back into the pictures that we could all recognize. Physically, as we entered the atmosphere, it shook us back to reality. We were back in the familiar pull of our home's once inescapable gravity. The occasional turbulence of different pieces of our vehicle being released as our own weight came back to us. Then the parachute comes out, and we begin the slow decent. Enough time to think about everything we've done. It's hardly believable, though. Looking up at the sky and thinking 'Were we really just out there? For so long?' Not long ago, it was only being dreamed of, and that's what it seemed like. A dream.
But my favorite part of that day, bar none was after all of that. After we were picked up, and taken back, we did what we had been waiting to do for a long while. Meeting our friends and family again. Not to tell them about all the things we've seen, although we did, of course. I can't speak for my fellow travelers, of course, but my reasons were a little selfish. When I had that moment, the one where you see family after a long break, it felt the same as launch day. Seeing the smiles they had, and hugging loved ones. It all felt weightless, like all worries and troubles had been left floating somewhere far away once again. That was my favorite day.
Showing posts with label Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Day. Show all posts
Friday, February 7, 2014
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Uninspired
Today is Unlucky Day! Wow! What a day to end on. After all the fun and food, the calendar slaps a downer day right in my face as if to say "Haha! Fooled ya! It was all a long rise leading to an anti-climactic anti-celebration"
Or maybe what makes this day unlucky is the fact that it is the last day. All the holidays are over and celebrated, and this is the last day I get to write to all you lovely people and tell you what to do today. I'll miss it. You might. The Internet as a whole... Well that'll pretty much stay the same.
Of course, it doesn't lessen the memories that I've made while visiting museums, trying weird food, and learning about customs from other places around the world. This'll be a year I won't soon forget, if only by the holiday memories' merits alone.
The Unluckiest thing that happened to me, and still IS happening, is that I can't think of something new and fun to keep my mind busy. If I don't find something to keep myself distracted and experiencing new things, I might accidentally do something weird and crazy. Like... write a book. Or something. That's what wild and crazy people do, right? ARGH! The clock is ticking! I have to go think of something fast!
Here's hoping your year was just as filled with fun, and that your next brings even more new things into your life. Have a good one, folks!
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Or maybe what makes this day unlucky is the fact that it is the last day. All the holidays are over and celebrated, and this is the last day I get to write to all you lovely people and tell you what to do today. I'll miss it. You might. The Internet as a whole... Well that'll pretty much stay the same.
Of course, it doesn't lessen the memories that I've made while visiting museums, trying weird food, and learning about customs from other places around the world. This'll be a year I won't soon forget, if only by the holiday memories' merits alone.
The Unluckiest thing that happened to me, and still IS happening, is that I can't think of something new and fun to keep my mind busy. If I don't find something to keep myself distracted and experiencing new things, I might accidentally do something weird and crazy. Like... write a book. Or something. That's what wild and crazy people do, right? ARGH! The clock is ticking! I have to go think of something fast!
Here's hoping your year was just as filled with fun, and that your next brings even more new things into your life. Have a good one, folks!
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Cold Music
Today is Ice Cream and Violins Day! Now, at first I thought this was two separate holidays, but as it would happen: It isn't. That made explaining the meaning of this holiday much harder. The celebration is still almost the same thanks to the 'and' between the two, but there is actually no solid explanation that I've found. Only theories. So... here is my theory.
Question: Ice cream is a cold treat, and is a summer favourite (as seen by all the ice cream holidays). So why would we celebrate it in December? A month notorious for it's lack of heat.
Answer: I do not know yet, so let's move on to violins.
Fact: Violins are known for being cued for either one of two things in musical scores made for the silver screen: sharks and sadness.
Other Fact: Ice cream has very little to do with sharks. However, dramatic characters that are sad turn to one of two foods to help ease their weepy pains: Chocolate or Ice Cream.
Less-than-Fact: Chocolate give a warming sensation that causes the eater to be just the slightest bit happier. While Ice cream does the same thing, it doesn't to it to the same extent, especially if it has no chocolate in it.
All of it Put Together: Violins can be said to be known for being a sad instrument, and Ice Cream can be a treat to eat while you are sad. So today must be a day to grab a pint (of ice cream, mind you), crank up the Tchaikovsky, and wallow! What're you waiting for? Get to it!
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
I Hereby Decree
Today is Start Your Own Country Day! Many people have mentioned that I've been in my own unique state for most of my life, so I guess I am overdue for an upgrade to my property. That makes today the perfect chance to do so! I hereby claim all land within 5 feet of where-ever I go to be my country. Now that may not be technically legal in most other countries, but luckily: it is in mine! Which is, in case you haven't heard, everywhere I go. The great thing about my country, though, is that it automatically assumes the laws of whatever country it is surrounded by. So for now, my country follows America's laws. It just makes the paperwork easier. Every good country needs a name, too. ... Actually every country needs a name regardless of whether it's good or not. Enough of that nonsense, my country is named... Kyleton? Wait that's a city sounding name. Let's go with Kylia. That's good. It rolls off the tongue. It also sounds like Hylia which I am totally all for.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle (King/Ambassador/Everyone of Kylia)
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle (King/Ambassador/Everyone of Kylia)
Friday, November 18, 2011
A Cult Classic
Today is Occult Day! The occult is something that deals with the supernatural or paranormal, and is usually cast in a none-too-positive light. I find it hi-ho-larious that the newest Twilight movie came out today, and that hi-ho-larious doesn't come up as a misspelled word. Probably due to the hyphens. I decided that the best way to celebrate... er... acknowledge today was to perform a little magic trick. And here it is. I can't say that it turned out too well for me. Let this be a lesson to all you kids. Don't mess with magic.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Thursday, November 17, 2011
A Hike In My Head
Today is Take a Hike Day! Now, there aren't many places near me that I would qualify as a genuine 'hike', as I always thought you need at least one good hill involved to no just be on a walk or a stroll. However, I did my best to find an at least somewhat bumpy path to hike on, and did! Being a complete dummy, I forgot to take any pictures or evidence whatsoever. However, since I was pretty much alone with my thoughts, I heard them quite clearly, and actually have a mental record of what I was thinking. So here is a brief look into what goes on in my head in the easiest way I could think of to do it. Script-form.
LOGIC (Pretty much the head honcho): Alright, guys, we've made it to the park. Quick check to see how everything is going. Everybody report.
DOC (Handles almost physical stuff): The stomachs still looking good thanks to the late breakfast, the neck's a little stiff from driving, though.
LOGIC: I'll have one of the interns tell the hands to get crackin' on that.
DOC: Great. The feet seem to be wondering why they aren't being covered up. The ground is still cold before noon.
LOGIC: Look, they kept complaining about shoes being too tight, so a vote was passed to forgo wearing shoes until the new ones came in the mail.
DOC: New ones have come. They're very comfy, if lacking in arch support.
LOGIC: Well, we'll have to call another meeting about that, then, he might have gotten used to going shoeless. Right now let's focus on the task at hand: Enjoying nature. EMOTICON, what's the feel out there?
EMOTICON (A robot built to process emotion (spoken in a robotic voice)): Everything looks very fresh and new with the morning dew on it. I especially like that tree that looks like a face. :) Otherwise, I'm not getting many clear observations yet.
LOGIC: Why not?
EMOTICON: It seems that the observation deck has not turned all it's systems on yet :/
LOGIC: What?
(LOGIC swivels his chair around to face SEPIA and RUSSET, who control the left and right eye respectively)
LOGIC: What's going on, you two?
SEPIA: We haven't had our coffee yet.
LOGIC: Kyle... doesn't drink coffee.
RUSSET: He doesn't, but we do. It's cliche of our character types.
LOGIC: ... Whatever. Drink some coffee then.
SEPIA: Aw, we can't imagine good coffee.
LOGIC: You've literally had a front seat to every coffee ever seen by Kyle. Do your best.
RUSSET: ...Fine
(Coffee appears and SEPIA & RUSSET drink it)
LOGIC: Alright. Anyone else have anything to report?
CHAOS (Nobody really knows what this guy does, but he's interesting, so they let him come to the meetings): Totally. Did you guys know that the Space Jam website is still up? The original one! I saw a tweet about it yesterday and thought I'd bring it up.
LOGIC: Thanks. That's great...
EMOTICON: The sunrise is so beautiful, guys.
LOGIC: It's 10:47...
EMOTICON. It was beautiful, though.
LOGIC: Good to hear. Log it into the memory files.
EMOTICONS: Well, we've seen better, to be honest.
LOGIC: Alright, well we'll just keep it on the table until it gets in the way, then.
ANXIETY (Tries to keep the brain free of clutter or duplicate ideas): Uuuuugh! The tables so full, though. Argh... I'll just throw out some character names from Chuck. He hasn't watched that show in a while.
LOGIC: I'm getting some readings of annoyance from the brain. Anyone know what the cause is?
ANXIETY: You're wel-
RUSSET (shouting across room): Yeah, there are some mosquitos out today. We're teaming up with the guys running the hands to care of it, but there's also gnats everywhere.
EMOTICON: Why do gnats always stay above the sidewalk?! >:(
LOGIC: It's fine, it's fine. We've got a good swatting method, and as long as we don't breath during the gnat clouds, we'll be fine.
SUBCONSCIOUS (Background guy): NO! I take care of breathing just fine! If you take over, he'll just hold his breath for fun again!
LOGIC: Calm down, you still have control of... is there a word for wanting to live?
SUBCONSCIOUS: You mean the thing I do when he holds his breath for too long and I make him start breathing before he passes out?
LOGIC: Yes. I don't think there's a word for that. Make a note to try to find one later.
ANXIETY: Ugh...
DOC: Oh I think I should mention that we do need to go to the bathroom.
LOGIC: It'll have to wait, he's still hiking.
DOC: Well, it's one of those times where I should have brought it up hours ago, but just found it on my desk and realized it was never taken care of.
LOGIC: (Heavy sigh) Alright, let's head back to the car.
END SCENE!
And that's how I think of my brain. There were actually a lot more subjects talked about between other people at the meeting, but I just gave you the really pertinent things.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
LOGIC (Pretty much the head honcho): Alright, guys, we've made it to the park. Quick check to see how everything is going. Everybody report.
DOC (Handles almost physical stuff): The stomachs still looking good thanks to the late breakfast, the neck's a little stiff from driving, though.
LOGIC: I'll have one of the interns tell the hands to get crackin' on that.
DOC: Great. The feet seem to be wondering why they aren't being covered up. The ground is still cold before noon.
LOGIC: Look, they kept complaining about shoes being too tight, so a vote was passed to forgo wearing shoes until the new ones came in the mail.
DOC: New ones have come. They're very comfy, if lacking in arch support.
LOGIC: Well, we'll have to call another meeting about that, then, he might have gotten used to going shoeless. Right now let's focus on the task at hand: Enjoying nature. EMOTICON, what's the feel out there?
EMOTICON (A robot built to process emotion (spoken in a robotic voice)): Everything looks very fresh and new with the morning dew on it. I especially like that tree that looks like a face. :) Otherwise, I'm not getting many clear observations yet.
LOGIC: Why not?
EMOTICON: It seems that the observation deck has not turned all it's systems on yet :/
LOGIC: What?
(LOGIC swivels his chair around to face SEPIA and RUSSET, who control the left and right eye respectively)
LOGIC: What's going on, you two?
SEPIA: We haven't had our coffee yet.
LOGIC: Kyle... doesn't drink coffee.
RUSSET: He doesn't, but we do. It's cliche of our character types.
LOGIC: ... Whatever. Drink some coffee then.
SEPIA: Aw, we can't imagine good coffee.
LOGIC: You've literally had a front seat to every coffee ever seen by Kyle. Do your best.
RUSSET: ...Fine
(Coffee appears and SEPIA & RUSSET drink it)
LOGIC: Alright. Anyone else have anything to report?
CHAOS (Nobody really knows what this guy does, but he's interesting, so they let him come to the meetings): Totally. Did you guys know that the Space Jam website is still up? The original one! I saw a tweet about it yesterday and thought I'd bring it up.
LOGIC: Thanks. That's great...
EMOTICON: The sunrise is so beautiful, guys.
LOGIC: It's 10:47...
EMOTICON. It was beautiful, though.
LOGIC: Good to hear. Log it into the memory files.
EMOTICONS: Well, we've seen better, to be honest.
LOGIC: Alright, well we'll just keep it on the table until it gets in the way, then.
ANXIETY (Tries to keep the brain free of clutter or duplicate ideas): Uuuuugh! The tables so full, though. Argh... I'll just throw out some character names from Chuck. He hasn't watched that show in a while.
LOGIC: I'm getting some readings of annoyance from the brain. Anyone know what the cause is?
ANXIETY: You're wel-
RUSSET (shouting across room): Yeah, there are some mosquitos out today. We're teaming up with the guys running the hands to care of it, but there's also gnats everywhere.
EMOTICON: Why do gnats always stay above the sidewalk?! >:(
LOGIC: It's fine, it's fine. We've got a good swatting method, and as long as we don't breath during the gnat clouds, we'll be fine.
SUBCONSCIOUS (Background guy): NO! I take care of breathing just fine! If you take over, he'll just hold his breath for fun again!
LOGIC: Calm down, you still have control of... is there a word for wanting to live?
SUBCONSCIOUS: You mean the thing I do when he holds his breath for too long and I make him start breathing before he passes out?
LOGIC: Yes. I don't think there's a word for that. Make a note to try to find one later.
ANXIETY: Ugh...
DOC: Oh I think I should mention that we do need to go to the bathroom.
LOGIC: It'll have to wait, he's still hiking.
DOC: Well, it's one of those times where I should have brought it up hours ago, but just found it on my desk and realized it was never taken care of.
LOGIC: (Heavy sigh) Alright, let's head back to the car.
END SCENE!
And that's how I think of my brain. There were actually a lot more subjects talked about between other people at the meeting, but I just gave you the really pertinent things.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
I Ramble In This Post
Today is Chaos Never Dies Day! Today is a day to recognize the fact that there will always be some small amount of chaos in your life. It sounds depressing, but believe me: it isn't. Here, let me try to explain.
Chaos is, by definition according to my dictionary, Disorder and Confusion. Now, both or those words have a fairly obvious negative connotation to them, but disorder actually means "a state of confusion". That makes Disorder somewhat of a subsection of Confusion's whole business. So let's just focus on why I'm trying to tell you that Confusion is good. Well... not 'good'... but it isn't inherently bad.
Confusion means "A lack of understanding". Now we're getting somewhere. Instead of defining Confusion by any other word that has negative connotation, we are defining it by it's lack of a word with good connotation: Understanding, which means (most pertinently) 'the power of abstract thought'.
"WHOA, Kyle. I thought Chaos was abstract thoughts and stuff like that!"
Well, you are both right and wrong. Chaos deals with abstract thoughts, but only in the way that a baby deals with it's own diaper. See, Understanding is the power of abstract thought, meaning that it is used to harness the potential of the thoughts by putting them into patterns that can be easily remembered and later turned into ideas. That way your brain doesn't have to find it's way down memory lane twice. You made a map! Chaos, being the lack of understanding, can have all the thoughts it wants, but even if thoughts correlate, a map may never be made between the two, thus making it harder to see how they ever related.
It's almost like how you may tie a string around your finger to remember to go grocery shopping. How many things does grocery shopping have in common with tying a string to your finger? Close to none. But you see that string and it reminds you that you had something to do. Instantly your brain goes through the "Things I Have To Do" File Cabinet it has until it remembers: "Grocery Shopping". Congratulations! You have re-travelled the road you subconsciously made when you connected those thoughts in the first place. In fact, thats such a common visual stimulus, that when I see a string on someone's finger, one of the first things I think is "They must be trying to remember something". Not all abstract bridges need stimuli, though. In fact, most of my own don't.
Now that I've said ALL that, here is why chaos isn't bad: It's needed to make anything interesting. If we had only Understanding, then there would be little need for studying or exploring. Chaos, in manageable amounts, is what pushes humans forward. It causes new ideas to be had due to the fact that everyone connects the abstract thoughts differently. It makes us want to learn more and gain more understanding. However, the more we discover, the more questions there are about these new, as of yet unconnected abstract thoughts created by the new discovery. That creates an endless amount of things to discover, which makes life worth exploring! Chaos and Understanding aren't at opposite ends of any spectrum, instead it's more of a ratio of what is and isn't understood. The reason that Chaos is usually shed in such a scary light is because we can quantify how much we understand, but we will never be able to measure what we don't. I personally, find that pretty exciting, though. It would be boring if we knew how much there was left to know. Would we even want to?
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Chaos is, by definition according to my dictionary, Disorder and Confusion. Now, both or those words have a fairly obvious negative connotation to them, but disorder actually means "a state of confusion". That makes Disorder somewhat of a subsection of Confusion's whole business. So let's just focus on why I'm trying to tell you that Confusion is good. Well... not 'good'... but it isn't inherently bad.
Confusion means "A lack of understanding". Now we're getting somewhere. Instead of defining Confusion by any other word that has negative connotation, we are defining it by it's lack of a word with good connotation: Understanding, which means (most pertinently) 'the power of abstract thought'.
"WHOA, Kyle. I thought Chaos was abstract thoughts and stuff like that!"
Well, you are both right and wrong. Chaos deals with abstract thoughts, but only in the way that a baby deals with it's own diaper. See, Understanding is the power of abstract thought, meaning that it is used to harness the potential of the thoughts by putting them into patterns that can be easily remembered and later turned into ideas. That way your brain doesn't have to find it's way down memory lane twice. You made a map! Chaos, being the lack of understanding, can have all the thoughts it wants, but even if thoughts correlate, a map may never be made between the two, thus making it harder to see how they ever related.
It's almost like how you may tie a string around your finger to remember to go grocery shopping. How many things does grocery shopping have in common with tying a string to your finger? Close to none. But you see that string and it reminds you that you had something to do. Instantly your brain goes through the "Things I Have To Do" File Cabinet it has until it remembers: "Grocery Shopping". Congratulations! You have re-travelled the road you subconsciously made when you connected those thoughts in the first place. In fact, thats such a common visual stimulus, that when I see a string on someone's finger, one of the first things I think is "They must be trying to remember something". Not all abstract bridges need stimuli, though. In fact, most of my own don't.
Now that I've said ALL that, here is why chaos isn't bad: It's needed to make anything interesting. If we had only Understanding, then there would be little need for studying or exploring. Chaos, in manageable amounts, is what pushes humans forward. It causes new ideas to be had due to the fact that everyone connects the abstract thoughts differently. It makes us want to learn more and gain more understanding. However, the more we discover, the more questions there are about these new, as of yet unconnected abstract thoughts created by the new discovery. That creates an endless amount of things to discover, which makes life worth exploring! Chaos and Understanding aren't at opposite ends of any spectrum, instead it's more of a ratio of what is and isn't understood. The reason that Chaos is usually shed in such a scary light is because we can quantify how much we understand, but we will never be able to measure what we don't. I personally, find that pretty exciting, though. It would be boring if we knew how much there was left to know. Would we even want to?
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Monday, November 7, 2011
Aw man... Almonds.
Today is National Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day! Now if there's one thing I hate about chocolate, it's nuts in it. As a double whammy, the only chocolate with almonds I can find that still qualifies as bittersweet chocolate also has coconut in it. I hate coconut. "It's not the taste, it's the texture" as I'm sure you've heard a bajillion times before. The reason is because my mother gave me some coconut flavoured medicine (good call mom) even though grape medicine is as nasty as the inners of an old man's ear, os one would assume a NON-fruit medicine would be a batrillion times worse. Coconut isn't a fruit, right? Maybe it is. It's on fruit ninja... so it must be I guess. Well, I'm not correcting myself. I'm doing this LIVE! Whatever I'm just rambling to avoid eating this Almond Joy. Here goes nothing. I'll update you on how it goes.
[UPDATE]
This is dag nasty. Gotta power through, though.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Saxophone Island
Today is Marooned Without a Compass Day! Being marooned is bad enough, but having no compass? Well... actually that's not all that bad if you have even the most basic survival skills. Plus, I found it nearly impossible to be without a compass today. My phone had a compass, so I just didn't use that app. Simple enough. However, every street sign, building, and several landmarks had compasses or some sort of directional instructions on them. I suppose that at this point in time, we've pretty much figure out the lay of the land as a species, so this holiday, while hard to celebrate, was celebrated to the best of my ability.
Today is also Saxophone Day! Today is in honor of the birthday of Adophe Sax, who invented the Saxophone. ... In case that wasn't apparent by his name. He made a whopping 8 different kinds of saxophones in his lifetime, as a matter of fact! This holiday was significantly easier to celebrate. There are many classic songs that incorporate quite a bit of sax, along with some really recent songs, too. For some reason, the sax has become a very popular choice for alternative rock bands lately. Not that I'm complaining. Sounds good. Sounds pretty dag good.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Today is also Saxophone Day! Today is in honor of the birthday of Adophe Sax, who invented the Saxophone. ... In case that wasn't apparent by his name. He made a whopping 8 different kinds of saxophones in his lifetime, as a matter of fact! This holiday was significantly easier to celebrate. There are many classic songs that incorporate quite a bit of sax, along with some really recent songs, too. For some reason, the sax has become a very popular choice for alternative rock bands lately. Not that I'm complaining. Sounds good. Sounds pretty dag good.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Remember, Remember.
Today is Gunpowder Day! Also known as Guy Fawkes Day, this is a holiday(?) celebrated(?) in England. I question whether or not I should call it a holiday or say that it is celebrated due to the confusing nature of the day. But I'll do my ignorant american best in explaining it to the internet. Just a real quick side-note before we get started, though. The movie "V for Vendetta" is very strongly related to today and if you go watch it right now, it'll make it easier to explain. So I'll wait for you to get back from doing that.
...
Alright, so just in case your powers of observation aren't as good as Evey's, that movie was fictional. Or very prophetic. Guess we'll find out. That doesn't matter much, though. If you payed attention to what historical facts there actually were in the movie, you're fairly in-the-know.
Guy Fawkes wasn't as much the brains behind the operation as V was in the movie, but instead the 'trigger-man' more or less. He was also the 'fall-man'. Oh right... I guess all of you might not have watched the movie. Well, in an american nutshell: King has laws that small group doesn't like, those guys start a somewhat underground rebellion, they are all caught, Guy Fawkes ends up taking the heaviest portion of the historical blame. Oh, and he's hanged, too.
England celebrates the fact that their plot (to blow up parliament) failed by making bonfires, setting off fireworks, and burning Guy Fawkes' effigy. Children make their own Guys out of pillowcases and whatnot and take them around saying "Penny for the Guy?" in hopes of getting money to buy their own fireworks to set off.
While I, being in America, realize that building a bonfire, setting off fireworks, and burning effigies by myself will get me put in jail no matter how into obscure holidays and European culture the judges in my local area are. Instead I settle for watching V for Vendetta and eating a candy Bo-Bomb with strawberry flavored gunpowder in it.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
...
Alright, so just in case your powers of observation aren't as good as Evey's, that movie was fictional. Or very prophetic. Guess we'll find out. That doesn't matter much, though. If you payed attention to what historical facts there actually were in the movie, you're fairly in-the-know.
Guy Fawkes wasn't as much the brains behind the operation as V was in the movie, but instead the 'trigger-man' more or less. He was also the 'fall-man'. Oh right... I guess all of you might not have watched the movie. Well, in an american nutshell: King has laws that small group doesn't like, those guys start a somewhat underground rebellion, they are all caught, Guy Fawkes ends up taking the heaviest portion of the historical blame. Oh, and he's hanged, too.
England celebrates the fact that their plot (to blow up parliament) failed by making bonfires, setting off fireworks, and burning Guy Fawkes' effigy. Children make their own Guys out of pillowcases and whatnot and take them around saying "Penny for the Guy?" in hopes of getting money to buy their own fireworks to set off.
While I, being in America, realize that building a bonfire, setting off fireworks, and burning effigies by myself will get me put in jail no matter how into obscure holidays and European culture the judges in my local area are. Instead I settle for watching V for Vendetta and eating a candy Bo-Bomb with strawberry flavored gunpowder in it.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Friday, November 4, 2011
Do You Want To Wait Forever?
Today is Waiting For The Barbarians Day! Today's holiday is related to (according to the internet), the book by J.M. Coetzee titled, oddly enough: Waiting for the Barbarians. Having never read this book or even heard about it before, and also having believed that anything with the word 'barbarian' in it is very unlikely to have anything to do with any kind of written literature; I was sorely unprepared for today. I also am sorely afraid I used that semicolon incorrectly. The basic gist of the story is: People living fairly peacefully, new government people come and claim ensuing barbarian attack, government people go out of their way to find and torture/kill barbarians, people end up evacuating the city out of fear of the barbarians, and finally: (SPOILER ALERT! SCROLL DOWN TO NOT SPOIL BOOK!) The barbarians never come because they never were going to, and the town is unprepared for winter.
I can't REALLY see how that can translate into a celebration I could easily pull off without creating my own society and then hoping my government becomes corrupt enough to try such a tactic. What I CAN do is watch Conan the Barbarian. So... Barbarian HOOOOOOOO! ... Conan didn't have a catchphrase for me to yell.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wives & Sandwiches
Today is a pretty hilarious combo of days, if I do say so myself. It's right up there with the "Sock" days from May. No doubt many of you will crack some jokes at today's coincidental (?) celebration combination. I count myself in that number of people as well.
Today's first holiday is Housewives' Day! A holiday created to acknowledge and celebrate all the hard work that a wife does to make a house into a home. What better way to acknowledge all that work by taking it on yourself to do it instead? Although, you might do it wrong and she'll just have to fix it later, I'm sure the gesture will be appreciated. I mean it seems pretty easy when you do it, but you don't realize that they also do it every day! And the kid isn't as easy to deal with as you'd think when you're with them all day! And boy oh boy does hilarity ensue when you forget your daughter at ballet practice. At least that's what sitcoms paint this picture to be like. (Author's note: I'm not married)
Today is also Sandwich Day! Sandwiches are the best thing since sliced bread. In fact, without sliced bread, there wouldn't be such a thing. Luckily for humans, we have someone to thank: John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich. While the concept belongs to him, the inventor was his servant, who was told to put meat between bread and deliver it to him while he was gambling. That way, he had one hand to hold his meal in, and one hand to hold his hand in. He also did other things in his time as the Earl, but... I mean you really can't beat coming up with the idea for sandwich.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Today's first holiday is Housewives' Day! A holiday created to acknowledge and celebrate all the hard work that a wife does to make a house into a home. What better way to acknowledge all that work by taking it on yourself to do it instead? Although, you might do it wrong and she'll just have to fix it later, I'm sure the gesture will be appreciated. I mean it seems pretty easy when you do it, but you don't realize that they also do it every day! And the kid isn't as easy to deal with as you'd think when you're with them all day! And boy oh boy does hilarity ensue when you forget your daughter at ballet practice. At least that's what sitcoms paint this picture to be like. (Author's note: I'm not married)
Today is also Sandwich Day! Sandwiches are the best thing since sliced bread. In fact, without sliced bread, there wouldn't be such a thing. Luckily for humans, we have someone to thank: John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich. While the concept belongs to him, the inventor was his servant, who was told to put meat between bread and deliver it to him while he was gambling. That way, he had one hand to hold his meal in, and one hand to hold his hand in. He also did other things in his time as the Earl, but... I mean you really can't beat coming up with the idea for sandwich.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Candy Lies
Today is Candy Corn Day! A lot of people get excited about candy corn for reasons unbeknownst to me. Candy corn takes the names of two delicious things that shouldn't be put together, and ruins them both as individuals and a team. Candy is good. Corn is good. Candy corn tastes like someone used the leftover wax from the previous year's fall candles, but took all the flavor out and replaced it with wet chalk. ... I'm not the biggest fan of candy corn. But, since it's a holiday, I will eat one. ONE piece of candy corn. Other than that, I'll TRY to have a good day.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Sans Claws
Today is Hermit Day! When I think "Hermit", I immediately think "crabs". No, not because I think all hermits are diseased. It's because of Hermit Crabs. Because of this connection in my brain, I start thinking about the beach, and by the time someone says "No, just a hermit. Like a really reclusive kind of person." I can think of nothing but sandy places, so most hermits are visualized as beach dwellers by my mind's eye. Which doesn't make sense, really, since beaches are usually very populated. So the logical portion of my mind takes over and puts him (hermits are always male in my mind) on a small island near a crowded beach, but not close enough to really be a part of the crowd at all. It has to be near the beach because if it's just an island in the middle of nowhere, he isn't a hermit. He's just stranded.
My weird thought processes aside, you can celebrate today by being reclusive! This is actually something I excel at. Being a phlegmatic, I can handle hours and hours of being alone. I have an interesting mind with odd thought patterns to entertain myself with. As you should very well know by now.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Friday, October 28, 2011
Chocolate Plush
Today is Plush Animal Lover's Day! Pretty simple. Today is a day to love on your favorite plush animal. almost everyone I know has some kind of plush animal or toy. They can usually be seen on or near their bed, so thats a good place to start looking if you have misplaced yours. Or if it went on an adventure of it's own free will. They tend to do that, you know.
Today is also Chocolate Day! Ah, a chocolate oriented day once again. As full of these food holidays as I can get, I always have room for another chocolate day. In fact, they are the only holidays that I have marked on a real-life, no-joking, honest-to-goodness, PAPER calendar. Take some time out of your day to enjoy some chocolate. Or if you're like me, you'll have to set aside some of your time to enjoy some of the day in the middle of all your chocolate consumption.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Monday, October 24, 2011
Every Day of Elementary
Today is National Bologna Day! Not 'baloney'. 'Bologna'. There IS a difference. One is meat, and one is just a bunch of talk. Today is about the meat one! You don't even WANT to know how many times I ate bologna in my life. It was pretty much a staple of my dietary menu up until the time when I was tall enough to reach all the shelves in the pantry, and smart enough to make my own healthy meal. Well... at least smart enough to not be seen when I made unhealthy meals.
Bologna is one of the most widely-used sandwich meats, believe it or not. But why not? It's made of beef, pork, and etcetera! Not to mention how easy it is to make a sandwich out of. Bread+bologna+mustard+bread = Done! So go and enjoy yourself some bologna today!
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Sunday, October 23, 2011
I Made You Avocado
Today is National Mole Day! No, it's not for the animal. It's not for that weird thing growing on your back, either. It's based off of Avogadro's Number. You may remember Avogadro's Number from high school chemistry as being (6.02 x 10^23), or you may be more like me: simply remembering his name vaguely because it sounds like 'Avocado' and that was more entertaining to you at the time.
Well, the number is used as a unit to measure the atomic mass of a molecule. The actual would look like this: 602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Or you could say 'Six hundred and two sextillion". Frankly neither is very efficient, which is why there's a shorthand for writing such large numbers, and why every scientist should rename every important number after a notable figure. How much easier is it to say 'Avogadro's Number'?
It's celebrated today because of the 10^23 (It's like 10/23). Celebrate today by finding the atomic mass of all the molecules in an avocado. That seems fitting.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Aw Nuts
Today is National Nut Day! Today is a day to simply enjoy, consume, and appreciate nuts. Not necessarily in that order. There are a lot of nuts out there for you to try, from chestnuts to red bopple nuts. Although bopple nuts aren't usually eaten... they CAN be. They're related to the macadamia for what that's worth. It's usually just an ornament, though. Whatever you do, don't you even THINK about letting peanuts in on this holiday. They're legumes. They just pretend to be nuts. ... posers.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Friday, October 21, 2011
Babbwing Bwog
Today is Babbling Day! I originally saw today and thought that it was basically the same as 'rambling', but unfortunately for me (fortunately for you), it isn't. Babbling is the kind of talking that babies do, which some would argue is none at all. They just make coos and gurgles. So, I've devised several ways to celebrate today.
Celebration Method #1
Find a baby (preferably one with parents you have met at least once before), and talk to it. Try to decipher what it's trying to say. This method obviously increases in difficulty as the babies you are talking with get younger. ...Er... the babies shouldn't be getting younger unless you know the Button family. I'll just trust you know what I meant.
Celebration Method #2
You could find your very closet friend and talk to them all day using only noises. They don't have to be loud or obtrusive noises. Most good friends can read so deep into the meaning of even an eye twitch, that making a noise is almost like spelling it out for them.
Celebration Method #3
Talk to everyone as if they were a baby. This could be the riskiest method, as not only would you weird everyone out, you would also offend the vast majority of them. Most people don't take kindly to being talked to in baby-talk. For some reason it makes them feel like their being talk down to? But I'm not. I just tink deir sho precioush twying so hawd to figuwe out deir wittle pwoblwms!
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Celebration Method #1
Find a baby (preferably one with parents you have met at least once before), and talk to it. Try to decipher what it's trying to say. This method obviously increases in difficulty as the babies you are talking with get younger. ...Er... the babies shouldn't be getting younger unless you know the Button family. I'll just trust you know what I meant.
Celebration Method #2
You could find your very closet friend and talk to them all day using only noises. They don't have to be loud or obtrusive noises. Most good friends can read so deep into the meaning of even an eye twitch, that making a noise is almost like spelling it out for them.
Celebration Method #3
Talk to everyone as if they were a baby. This could be the riskiest method, as not only would you weird everyone out, you would also offend the vast majority of them. Most people don't take kindly to being talked to in baby-talk. For some reason it makes them feel like their being talk down to? But I'm not. I just tink deir sho precioush twying so hawd to figuwe out deir wittle pwoblwms!
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Spirited Day
Today is National Brandied Fruit Day! Brandied fruit is a mainly European treat for the autumnal and winter..al holidays. It's fruit kept in brandy for around 3 weeks, giving time for the fruit to absorb the brandy and take on it's flavor. The nice lady at the store told me that brandy is sweeter, and would thusly make a good addition to fruit. However, they also had no brandied fruit, because it's mainly used for holidays such as christmas. So instead, I bought some "Spirited Peaches", which were in an almond liquor. I chopped them up finely... TOO finely, actually. It turned into somewhat of a jam rather than actual peaches. Unhindered by my mistakes, I bravely carried on and put them in crispy, little sweetbread cups and topped it with crumbled almond cinnamon cookies. Turned out pretty good, although I do think it would have been better had I not obliterated the peaches as much as I did. Probably shouldn't have used a food processor, but... live and learn.
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
Thanks for reading!
~Kyle
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