Bunches of Thanks

Today is World Gratitude Day! Aw snap, ya'll! Stuff just got real up in here. You weren't expecting to have to be thankful for anything until Thanksgiving? Well, you best start thinking of something that's happening right now to be thankful for! It's like when a teacher calls on you when you didn't have your hand raised and you freak out because you didn't prepare? Well, that's what I'm doing to you. Here's a quick list of things that I'm quite thankful for so far this year.

1) My recent trip to the UK with Lift Ministries. It was my third time over there and it gets more intense and awesome every year. I can't wait to see what happens next year!

2) My job. It took forever to get one, but I finally did. Also, it's at a bakery and everything is delicious there. You just can't say that about working many places.

3) My friend Lori, who thought that my holiday celebrating was neat, and has even started a blog of her own describing her celebrations and/or thoughts on the holidays. She even found some holidays that were different than mine (My list... may or may not be outdated... by two years... almost three), so you'll get twice the holidays for half the money! Which... is still $0.00, because they are free blogs... OFF TRACK! I was trying to say that her involvement and interest in this has re-kindled my excited-ness in my own blog! (I was getting lackadaisical lately, and also mad at the food holidays for being so... prevalent.) I will do my best to not do that now!

4) Last but not definitely not least, I'm thankful for my loyal viewers. All 8-27 daily viewers (Yeah I'm watchin' you) that read this blog. It may sound small, but that's a good room-full of people. And they aren't always the same ones either! I get people I know coming up to me asking about what holiday it is, and it's all fun times! Without your viewership, I would basically be talking to myself. Which, while sometimes therapeutic, becomes creepy if done too often. So thank you!

Today is also the International Banana Festival Day! I hear tell that this is a Kentucky thing, but that doesn't make sense to me because of the word 'International' in the title. However, from the pictures I've seen, it involves eating a lot of bananas. I am totally down for that. I've eaten banana bread, banana pudding, a banana and peanut butter sandwich, and even a banana smoothie! Feel free to experiment with banana recipes today, too. And just so you don't forget today is banana day, it helps to have this stuck in your head forever.

Thanks for reading!
~Kyle

Even at the Disco

Today is International Panic Day! I do not know why, but today has been selected as a day for the entire world to panic. The most common form of panic (at least in my cartoon world-based mind) is screaming and running around in circles. I don't recommend we do this however, as I think the entire human race spinning around in circles at the same time would somehow throw off the orbit of the earth, even if it only does so at an infinitesimal rate. I also don't know why June 18th was chosen as the day to put this burden on. Sure, some monks saw crazy stuff happen on the moon, and war was declared between two nations, but that's all behind us! It's obviously more serious than our celebration of Panic Day in March. No, this is international. So find your most foreign friend and panic with them. Believe me, it's easy to find SOMEthing you can panic about. The best thing is, you can panic anywhere.

Thanks for reading!
~Kyle

Monet Makes The World Go 'Round.

Today is International Museum Day! Thousands of museums participate in this day by having some sort of event acknowledging the important role of art, history, and science in culture. I could not find one of these museums near me that I could afford, but I DID go to a museum and snap some pics. Here ya go!

So spend some time enjoying and appreciating a museum or even just one piece of art/time of history/facet of science today. It's easy, fun, and I had a nice 2 hour walk around town looking at awesome stuff! Have fun!

Thanks for reading!
~Kyle

Throwing Up

Today is International Jugglers Day! As everyone knows, juggling is tossing objects into the air and making sure not to drop any. I learned how to juggle using three miniature Mike and Ike boxes, but it's usually something simpler like three balls or something more dangerous like 15 flaming sabers. It can also be used for business men when they are juggling clients around their schedule, or even used for what are called "Playas" who are people who juggle people without the other people knowing for the sake of saying they can. At least thats why I assume it's done? I don't know for sure. Either way, juggling is one of those talents that has been around for an incredibly long time that still maintains it's impressiveness. It takes a lot of concentration, coordination, and strength (depending on what you juggle). It also depends heavily on showmanship. Sure you can toss any number of items into the air without dropping them, but can you make it look easy? Better yet, can you do it with ease and make it look hard? I am personally a huge fan when people throw in their own twist on juggling like this man I saw a video of a few days ago.

That's awesome.

Thanks for reading!
~Kyle

To eat or not to eat

Today is Pecan Day! Today is a day to celebrate the pecan. I have to admit: I rarely ever eat pecans, and when I do, it has never been too delicious. I've just never been a pecan type of guy. Nutty right? (Ha) Well,  there is one kind of pecan that I'm okay with eating a few of, and that would be roasted pecans. When roasted in the right kind of flavor, I may even go so far as to eat 4 or 5 pecans!

Today is also International Waffle Day! A day to celebrate waffles is by far more understandable to me. There are so many ways to make waffles, and even top them after they are baked. Some people don't like waffles and prefer pancakes. In my humble opinion, it's all about the mood you're in. Sure, pancakes absorb a little more, but waffles just seem to have more flavor packed into them. Not to mention waffles don't flop around on your fork when you try to eat them. Speaking of flopping around, you could also spend today celebrating the first definition of waffle: Fail to make up one's mind. I've already started celebrating that way. I can't decide whether or not to celebrate these two holidays together. The waffle would make the pecan taste better, but the pecan would make the waffle taste worse. A predicament for the ages. Or at least today.

Thanks for reading!
~Kyle

North Polar

Today is International Polar Bear Day. I'm not sure how official the "international" part of this holiday is, or for that matter any previous or coming holiday with "national" in the name. However, I'm glad that this holiday IS international, as very few nations have polar bears that are indigenous to them. Today is a day to celebrate the existence of this extraordinary animal. Think about how much the world would miss out on if it were to suddenly disappear. For starters, I would wager that Coca-Cola and Klondike bars (pictured here) would be significantly less popular without such an established mascot. (Although Coca-Cola admittedly has quite a few 'mascots'). They are also one of the largest meat-eaters, and very unique in that their habitat is quite different from other bears. I won't go into too much detail, or else I may start sounding like Dwight Schrute. There are options for how to celebrate today: Go to the zoo to see polar bears, have a coke, eat a klondike bar, discuss polar bears as often as possible. You could even get really fancy and do all four. Since today is sunday, I'll have to stick with the latter three, as I simply do not have the time or money for a zoo visit right now. Next time. Maybe.

Thanks for reading!
~Kyle

Treats for Tricks

Today is International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day. As you may have guessed, today is a day to include dogs in your celebration. Although, if you were at one time a child with a pet dog, the curiosity of wondering what exactly a dog treat tasted like has overwhelmed you, and now you know what a milkbone's flavor is. I know I was one of those children, and in fact my mother was standing beside me almost daring me to do it while I ate it. I can tell you right now that it is probably much tastier to a dog than it was to me. I will also say, however, that Petco has dog treats that look like people cookies and taste like them too. Sure, it's not Nabisco, and I won't be going out of my way to get Petco's cookies for me instead of some Chips Ahoy, but they are pretty good. Amazingly good if you take into account that they are meant for dogs.

I'm getting side-tracked. Today, appreciate the existence of dog biscuits and all they are good for. Which is almost exclusively giving to dogs after they have done something that you deem as "Good". And you tell them "Good boy/girl!" as you hand them the treat. This is the proper way to bequeath treats upon canines.

Thanks for reading!
~Kyle