23 June 24

Today we're celebrating the fact that grandson Joel has turned FIVE YEARS OLD! I chose my One-Fish-Two-Fish-Red-Fish-Blue-Fish tie, and he approved!

21 June 24

World Giraffe Day gives me my once-in-year opportunity to wear my incognito giraffes tie!

16 June 24

 For this Father's Day, I'm wearing my Jerry Garcia "Snail Garden Swirls" tie. It was a Father's Day gift from Beth in 2017! I'm also showing my lanyard that labels me "Papa Seeds -- Full Service Grandfather." Not shown is my stealth black T-shirt that says, in Star Wars style, "I AM YOUR FATHER." Our family will celebrate at Apollo Pizza (in Richmond), and I have been informed that one of my gifts will be some gummi bears, one of my favorite treats!

10 June 24

My tie today is labeled "Tools for Learning," drawn by someone named "Dan" at 13 years of age. It shows scissors, paper clips, pencils, a ballpoint pen, a large eraser, notebook paper and a composition book. Beth and I are very familiar with those items in our preschool guidance of our grandchildren!

It's especially appropriate today (10 June) because it's National Ballpoint Pen Day, celebrated annually to mark the filing of a patent on 10 June 1943.

Pencil Day is celebrated on 30 March. Paper Clip Day is 29 May, and Rubber Eraser Day is 15 April. Composition books appeared in France in the 19th century; the modern style with the marbled cover design seems to have become standard in the late 1870s.

The pairing of blades to form scissors has an ancient history. The earliest patent seems to be that by John L. Starks of Sharon Grove, Kentucky, granted on 15 February 1881.

9 June 24

I missed wearing my special tie on National Doughnut Day (7 Jume), so I'm circling around to it today. 

In our house right now all we have are doughnut holes! But they will do well to honor the celebration.

2 June 24

International Clothesline Week is celebrated annually in June! I've honored it with this tie every year since 2012. Our outdoor clotheslines help us use solar and wind power for drying all of our laundry. 

Today (2 June) is also noteworthy as the birthday of my father Arthur J. Kleppinger (1916-2004), my handbell-choir friend Allan Stephens (1940-2010), and my EKU comrade Jonathan Sikora! Of somewhat less significance, except to all the Eugenes in the world: this is St. Eugene's Day, honoring Pope Eugene I (577-657).

30 May 24

This evening we are attending grandson Branston's "graduation" from preschool. He will be a strong voice in the group song "We're Moving Up -- To Kindergarten!" My shirt and hair tie for this occasion are in his favorite color (green), and my tie is covered with brightly colored hand prints from small children!

26 May 24

Today's ensemble celebrates Towel Day (yesterday, 25  May) and Cellophane Tape Day (tomorrow)! Towel Day annually honors the life and work of Douglas Adams (1952-2001), most famous as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which tells us that a towel is "about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have." Adams tells us that the primary message of the HHGTTG is captured by the comforting words "DON'T PANIC!" on the interactive book's cover. Towel Day was first celebrated in 2001, two weeks after Adams' death (to give his worldwide friends time to prepare their towels). We created my towel-tie exactly ten years ago!

Tomorrow is the 94th anniversary of the patenting of cellophane tape. So I have a band of wide tape to hold my tie! Richard Drew had invented paper-based masking tape for 3M in 1925, to help create sharp borderlines for painting. The original tape was not very sticky, prompting one frustrated painter to tell Drew to "take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it." (Scotch means stingy.) Drew improved his tape with a cellulose base, which became known as Scotch Brand Cellulose Tape. It became a household fixture (haha) during the Great Depression, as a way to fix or seal almost anything.

24 May 24

Today marks the 99th birthday of my father-in-law Robert Wollenweber (1925-2016). I'm wearing one of his ties that Mom (Wilma) likes a lot. The extra picture is from our wedding in 1975, where Dad and I are checking over the marriage certificate, wondering "What we have gotten ourselves into?"

22 May 24

My granddaughter Evelyn asked me to "spin your ties" inside my closet, because she enjoys seeing my rotating tie racks -- all going at the same time. Then she said "Where's the one with the changing colors?" It hangs separately, and when I found it I decided to wear it for her the following day! It is pure white but has lighted strands that show red, green, blue, purple, pink and white, with options for solid colors or changing or flashing. She thought the solid green was very special and she asked me to take her picture when she wore the tie.