May 25: National Tap Dance Day

On May 25, 1878, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was born in Richmond, Virginia. Bojangles was a masterful tap dancer, who danced exciting, complicated steps while keeping his upper body fluid and calm.He started dancing in restaurants at age five, and was soon in high demand at black entertainment venues. Later, he became very famous with all over, and many people today are still familiar with him due to his cheerful dances with Shirley Temple in movies such as “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” and “The Little Colonel.”

National Tap Dance Day honors Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and all tap dancers – and it’s a great time to pick it up yourself.  Somehow I doubt I’ll ever have the poise and grace (and general non-klutziness!) needed to tap dance, but I’ll wish you luck if you try it.

“‘Then young women will dance and be glad,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.’
declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 31:13

P.S. Don’t forget to check out Towel Day! It’s “massively useful!”

May 24*: Don’t Fry Day

Today’s holiday has nothing to do with high cholesterol or fried chicken (mmmm!!!). Instead Don’t Fry Day is held every year on the Friday before Memorial Day to encourage everyone to avoid sunburns and “practice good sun safety.”

While I doubt that anyone actually enjoys smearing that gooey, smelly sunscreen all over, I’m pretty sure we also all feel rather strongly about not getting skin cancer! Actually, I’ve never tanned in my life, because my skin is so fair it just skips immediately to pink, painful burns. If you’ve forgotten since last summer, sunburns are painful and dangerous, so take care.

The National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention recommends the following protective measures: slip, slop, slap, and wrap.

• Slip on a shirt,
• Slop on sunscreen,
• Slap on a hat, and
• Wrap on sunglasses.

So, go enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, and your summer, just don’t forget about your skin!

“They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.”
Isaiah 49:10

May 23: World Turtle Day

Happy World Turtle Day! May 23 is a day dedicated by American Tortoise Rescue to celebrate turtles and tortoises and encourage people to protect them and their habitats – or at least watch an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

“How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.”

Psalm 104:24-25

 

 

May 22: National Vanilla Pudding Day

Now I know that vanilla has gotten a bit of a bad rap as the boring, standard, flavor, but I have to tell you: there’s a reason it’s standard. It’s delicious!

That’s why May 22 is National Vanilla Pudding Day. You could make it yourself with milk, sugar, vanilla extract and a few more ingredients, and that would be amazing. However, I have to admit that the most cooking I’ve ever done on a pudding is when I grab the regular instead of the instant version of off-brand Jell-O. Maybe I’ll have to try it some day. It doesn’t exactly sound difficult.

“The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!”

Psalm 22:26

In addition, if you have a bit of extra money to throw around, May 22 is also Buy A Musical Instrument Day. Since my husband’s got an old trumpet lying around that I still haven’t been able to do more than a C scale, I think I need to make a Learn a New Musical Instrument Day instead. (I’ll just pass him my old clarinet and we’ll be even!)

May 21: Sister Maria Hummel Day

I think I’ve always known a little about Hummels, the little figurines that were so popular a few decades ago (although I think it’s time we all stop hoping to become millionaires off of grandma’s Hummel collection), but I never thought to learn anything about their creator until today. It turns out that today is her birthday, and she lived a fascinating – though short – life.

Born Berta Hummel on May 21, 1909 in Germany, she joined a Franciscan convent in her early twenties, taking the name Sister Maria Innocentia. She had always been a good artist, and soon became the art teacher at the Sisters’ school. Her free time was spent painting pictures of children. The other nuns were so impressed by her artwork that they sent it to a publisher. Soon her work appeared on postcards and then, thanks for Franz Goebel, as porcelain figurines throughout Germany.

However, Sister Maria was painting during the late 1930s, and her innocent, childish figures were seen as ridiculous, insulting, and unacceptable as the Nazi party gained power. To make matters worse, she made several pieces showing Old and New Testament imagery, created a symbol showing the cross and the menorah, and even painted the Star of David in some pieces.

During World War II, the school was closed, along with much of the convent, and the remaining nuns found themselves without any real means of support. Thankfully, Sister Maria was able to sell her paintings. Although the Nazis took half of that income, the rest kept the Sister from starving. Shortly after the war, on November 6, 1946, Sister Maria passed away from tuberculosis at the age of 37.

And there you have it – the story behind those little figurines so often imitated, so  very prevalent, and so frequently ignored. Although they were popular in Europe before the war, many American GIs brought them home as souvenirs after, and the became immensely popular in the U.S. for the next few decades.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”

Matthew 25:35

May 20: Eliza Doolittle Day

“One day I’ll be famous! I’ll be proper and prim; 
Go to St. James so often I will call it St. Jim!
One evening the king will say: 
‘Oh, Liza, old thing, 
I want all of England your praises to sing.
Next week on the twentieth of May 
I proclaim ‘Liza Doolittle Day!‘”

Happy Eliza Doolittle Day everyone! If you want to know more about Eliza Doolittle Day, then you should watch “My Fair Lady” and read Pygmalion. At the very least, you should listen to “Just You Wait,” where Eliza vents a bit of her frustration with her elocution coach, Professor Henry Higgins.

So, get started! It’s time to sing the praises of the beautiful Miss Eliza Doolittle, who just might be a Hungarian princess in disguise.

“The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs 18:21

May 18: No Dirty Dishes Day

May 18 is No Dirty Dishes Day!

There’s some debate over how this day works, but most websites indicate that it’s a day to not wash any dishes, but that you really shouldn’t make a nasty pile for the next day either. Since eating out for every meal and using disposable dishes are both frowned on, I have only one real suggestion for this day: celebrate another May 18th holiday – Visit Your Relatives Day – and let them do the dishes!

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”

Matthew 23:25-26

May 18 is also International Museum Day!

May 16: Biographer’s Day

Today is Biographer’s Day, because on this day James Boswell first met Samuel Johnson. The resulting relationship eventually led to the world famous biography Life of Samuel Johnson. Of course, this book isn’t exactly flying off the shelves today. The friends met on May 16, 1763, and the book wasn’t published until 1791. Nevertheless, it is a classic, a ground-breaking book, and, according to many, the greatest biography ever written.

And now that you know all that, I have a confession: I have never read it.

Ouch. Actually, I really do want to read this. I read large sections while researching for a thoroughly fascinating essay on Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language. (Yes, as a matter of fact, I chose to do a college essay on Johnson’s Dictionary. In addition, I rather enjoyed writing it. What can I say?)

Samuel Johnson was really a fascinating man. He was a rather tall man with atrociously bad eyesight and was often seen to make extremely strange movements and sounds (seemingly involuntary). Recent biographers have suggested that he suffered from Tourette Syndrome. Some of his contemporaries assumed he was mentally handicapped when they first saw him, due to his odd looks and movements, but he was a marvelous speaker (and writer), and would shock these new acquaintances by his great knowledge and arguments.

And, of course, I can’t stop without letting you know that he wrote what is generally considered the first “real” English dictionary, not quite single-handedly, but close.

I suggest celebrating Biographer’s Day by reading a biography (especially if it happens to be Life of Samuel Johnson, but any biography will work) or writing a biography.

I suppose, if you know a biographer, today would be the day to send a card, flowers, candy, etc.

Today’s verse is not terrifically applicable, especially considering the length of this post, but I couldn’t resist:

“The more the words,
the less the meaning,
and how does that profit anyone?”

Ecclesiastes 6:11

P.S. It seems like a lot of people are excited about another holiday for May 16, which I blogged about last year (#6 on my most viewed posts ever!). It’s Wear Purple For Peace Day! Click the link to read it yourself, but, as a teaser, it involves world peace, purple clothing, and aliens.

May 15: Nylon Stockings Day

This is one of those holidays that I just don’t know about. I mean, Nylon Stockings Day? As in, pantyhose? As far as I can tell, they’re one of the most ridiculous and uncomfortable items of clothing in existence.

I mean, if you want something to keep you warm, wouldn’t you want it a bit thicker? And if you want it for modesty’s sake . . . wouldn’t you want something not entirely skin tight, or, at the very least, not transparent?

Nevertheless, I confess I do wear them sometimes!

Anyway, despite all that, today is Nylon Stockings Day. In 1935, a new synthetic material, nylon was developed. Then, on May 15, 1940, DuPont began selling nylon stockings, which were, by all accounts, immediately popular. Although stockings and pantyhose are not technically the same thing, they are very similar and the terms are often used interchangeably. Happy Nylon Stockings Day!

“How beautiful your sandaled feet,
O prince’s daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
the work of an artist’s hands.”

Song of Songs 7:1

May 13: Frog Jumping Day

May 13 is Frog Jumping Day. If you’ve never read Mark Twain’s short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” stop right now and go read it. It will only take you a few minutes.

It’s certain that Frog Jumping Day has its roots in Twain’s story, but I can’t find much information as to why May 13 was chosen. However, I can tell you that there actually is a frog jumping contest in Calaveras County, California, every May. It started way back in 1893, less than thirty years after the story was published, and now it has more than 35,000 attendees. In fact, if you happen to be in the area, the 2013 Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee will be held May 16 – 19. Sounds fun, right?

“Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.”

Luke 6:22-23