16 September 25

Happy Birthday, Mom Wilma Wollenweber! To help her celebrate this 96th milestone, she asked me to wear my "library books" tie, which is one of her all-time favorites in my collection (matching one from Dad's wardrobe that now belongs to my sons!).

14 September 25

By special request of grandson B. M., I am wearing "the shirt that looks like it has a tie on it."

13 September 25

Today we are celebrating Mom Wilma Wollenweber's 96th birthday (coming up on 16 September)! She asked me to wear my bright red music tie. We will have dinner and a party with her three children, three of her grandchildren and seven of her great-grandchildren. She lives in her own condo in Richmond, and she has excellent home helpers through the occupational therapy program at EKU.

12 September 25

On 12 September 1758, early astronomer Charles Messier discovered a "new comet" which turned out to be the Crab Nebula. This observation became "M1," the first entry in the Messier Catalog of "new" non-comet celestial objects. Messier was most interested in finding comets, and he created his list to document the objects that frustrated him. The catalog eventually contained 110 nebulae, galaxies and star clusters, all quite easily visible from northern latitudes.

10 September 25

I attended a quickly-arranged online meeting today, so I had to wear a tie. I chose to show my "retired freedom" tie! The main topic for this Berea Home Village meeting was to re-delegate the responsibilities of a longtime leader who is resigning. Most of us in the organization are retired, and we all follow the rule that WE ARE FREE TO DO WHATEVER WE WANT!

8 September 25

Today our granddaughter T. R. turns three years old! On Sunday I showed her a few ties and she immediately picked out this one with bright flowers. Of special note, today is also Ampersand Day, celebrating the typographical character "&." September 8 is appropriate because so many of the letters in September and the numbers 8 and 9 can be styled like ampersands!

7 September 25

My tie honors Wild Rose Day (21 Fructidor) on the French Republican Calendar. Today is also "Grandparents Day," so I'm including a photo of my paternal grandparents, Frank and Sally Florence Kleppinger. I knew them well when I was growing up in Bethlehem, PA.

5 September 25

Tomorrow (6 September) marks the 533rd anniversary of the day Christopher Columbus sailed from the Canary Islands, his last port before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It also marks the 503rd anniversary of the return of one of Magellan's ships to Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth, and the 405th anniversary of the sailing of the Pilgrim's "Mayflower" from Plymouth, England. A few great events in sailing history!

31 August 25

It's Fantasy Football Draft Day! Our family has had a league in the ESPN Fantasy Football world for maybe 10 years. I didn't have a team last year, but this time I will either have a team of my own or work with Beth's on hers. One year I had the champion team!

29 August 25

The story of the zipper begins when Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine, received a patent in August 1851 for an "Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure." It didn't go much further beyond that, though, until 1893 when inventor Whitcomb Judson marketed a "Clasp Locker" device similar to the system described in the 1851 Howe patent, and eventually Whitcomb got credit for being the "inventor of the zipper." My tie looks rather ordinary but it has the special feature of zipping up!

28 August 25

Beth helped me get the right look for National Bow Tie Day! This is the eighth time I've celebrated with this cyan tie; three other years I've worn my rubber duckies, and twice I wore my wood bow tie. I began following this tradition in 2012, missing out only in 2015.

26 August 25

For National Dog Day I'm wearing my Snoopy "checkerboard" tie. Our own dog (Belle) Pepper, a black lab mix, is 9 years old! Today is also National Toilet Paper Day . . . 

24 August 25

It’s International Strange Music Day! I think this tie is a little strange, with an image that combines a globe with a music score. So it’s appropriate! 

The main point for this “Day” is to encourage you to listen to some new/unfamiliar/out-of-your-comfort-zone music. One source to consider is “world music” as collected at this site.

22 August 25

Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" was stolen from a museum in Oslo, Norway, on 22 August 2004. It was recovered two years later.

18-19 August 25

My astronomer/mathematical-physicist friend Jessica Crist had a birthday yesterday! I asked her to choose a tie and she asked for "Einstein with equations." When it is tied, several important equations are relatively obscured inside the knot, so I'm showing all of them in the detail photo. I'm also doing general outdoor work in our hyper-localized universe (our yard) today, so I'm wearing my special Einstein tee shirt.