odditudes-and-weirdities

Hitting mailboxes with snowplows, rhubarb pie, rhubarb without pie, pie without rhubarb, quilt shops near you, measuring your feet, and handwriting are celebrated today: Local Quilt Shop Day Measure Your Feet Day National Handwriting Day National Pie Day National Rhubarb Pie Day  and National Rhubarb Day Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day I'm assuming the creators of Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day have had their mailbox hit by a snowplow, and figure that if this is going to happen there might as well be a day for it. I don't know how much (if any) holiday origin synergy there is behind National Pie Day, National Rhubarb Day, and National Rhubarb Pie Day. Finally, this is also a day to use your handwriting skills.

The most used online encyclopedia, promoting unity/respect/remembrance, hats, fresh squeezed juice, strawberry ice cream, fetishes, snow goons of the deranged mutant killer monster persuasion, and moose get celebrated today: Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goon Day Fresh Squeezed Juice Day Humanitarian Day International Fetish Day Moose Day National Hat Day National Strawberry Ice Cream Day Wikipedia Day We celebrate Humanitarian Day today because Martin Luther King Jr was born on this date in 1929. One of the most dangerous threats to Calvin and Hobbes was probably the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons; we recognize their dire threat today. Finally, the moose (an animal that's larger than it appears ) gets some respect today. Photo by Zachery Perry on Unsplash

Holidays today cover subjects like getting to know your customers, the one-liner joke, sweatpants, the appreciation of squirrels, New England clam chowder, embracing, and granola bars: Get to Know Your Customer Day International Sweatpants Day National Granola Bar Day National Hugging Day National New England Clam Chowder Day One-Liners Day Squirrel Appreciation Day For people spending vast amounts of time at home, every day could be Sweatpants Day, but this is the traditional day for International Sweatpants Day. Those little rodents the squirrels get their day in the sun today. Photo by Rodrigo Rodriguez on Unsplash

  It’s Take A Walk Outdoors Day. This is a holiday to which you can find references if you search the web a bit, though I didn’t find a write-up on it. Exactly who created it and selected this date are unknown to me, though obviously the incentive was to encourage walking outdoors. Generally speaking, getting even a little exercise is a good thing, and it’s easy to think that communing with nature and/or getting some fresh air is generally a good thing. Put them together and this is probably worthwhile if you have the time.

Who doesn't love the Gorn ? They're almost too affectionate, as seen in this over-enthusiastic hug being given to a Starfleet captain. These guys were one of the more memorable one-story races introduced in Star Trek: TOS. Okay, Captain Kirk and the Gorn's first encounter was rather fraught with conflict, but in their later years they would socialize together . (Admittedly hard feelings would sometimes resurface.) How should you celebrate Gorn Friendship Day? Well, if the episode Arena is on, then it's a no-brainer; watch the program to celebrate. If that's not available to you, enjoying any of the Star Trek programs, movies, or books could suffice. And if you're able to watch with a reptilian alien, that's even better.

It's Good Memory Day. This is another holiday that you can see around if you google it but where it's hard to find out much more about it. While my instincts would tell me that the holiday is about improving your memory, but my notes suggest its about remembering happy memories. Some suggestions on how to do this are here and here and here . Image by  Michal Jarmoluk  from  Pixabay

On this date the world of Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin created the first of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons. This proves to be a mistake, since the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goon attacks Calvin. Having a single Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goon after you is bad, but things rapidly get worse when the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goon begins building more Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons. Today is a day to reflect on the sometimes weird and scary imagination of children, and of course is a cautionary tale warning us not to create Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons and similar creatures.