For today's Berea Home Village committee meeting, I'm dressing up with red and silver diagonal stripes. I hadn't worn this tie since August 2022. It came to me in 2020 from Jennifer Woodruff Tait, when she gave me several ties from her uncle's collection.
We are celebrating grandson B. M.'s birthday with a party at a pumpkin patch farm today! He asked me to wear these bright, friendly popsicles. I've added a pin from CASA of Lexington, where Ben is the Director of Communications.
Grandson B. M. chose my neon green tie for me to wear on his seventh birthday! His favorite color has long been green, matching my own favorite.
October 23, or 10-23, is always Mole Day! It celebrates the number 6.02 times 10 to the 23rd power, which is known as Avogadro’s Number. In chemistry it counts the number of atoms or molecules in “one mole” of a substance, equal to the atomic weight or molecular weight in grams. One mole of copper weighs 63.5 grams, which is about 22 pennies (minted before 1982). One mole of water weighs 18 grams, which is a little more than one tablespoon.
My tie for today celebrates the periodic table of elements. Hidden inside my shirt, a T shirt celebrates Mole Day, with a cartoon mole and the words “Proud to be a Chemist”! On the back of the T shirt you can read a long list of all the chemical elements and compounds in the human body!
On International Sloth Day, I'm wearing my sloth tie! It says "don't hurry . . . be happy." You can see some sloth activity (maybe) at the EXPLORE.org webcam.
For the opening of National Chemistry Week I'm wearing my chemistry formulas and lab equipment tie. A real chemist wouldn't ordinarily mix colored waters from test tubes, but that fits a stereotype of laboratory life. I was destined to love chemistry from early childhood (when my parents gifted me with a "kids" chemistry set) through some great science classes in elementary, junior and high school, into college and one year of graduate school -- and forever since. I fell into philosophy of science through chemistry!
It's National Pasta Day! It's also long past(a) time to wear my Garfield tie (where he wears a necktie)! His favorite pasta is lasagna; for my own lunch I'm making an "alternate lasagna" dish with bowtie pasta.
I amazed/amused the staff at Eye Care Center of Richmond today with my eyeglasses tie and tie clip! My eyes are in good shape. It's fun to "dress up" for such a special occasion. Today is also the 99th anniversary of the publication of Winnie-the-Pooh!
It's National Farmers Day! The farmers in my "farmily" are few and far between -- two uncles, a couple of cousins and one or two great-grandfathers. But we are now great supporters of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), with close attachments to Lazy Eight Stock Farm, Elmwood Stock Farm, Stepping Stone Farm and Berea Farmers Market. The original American Kleppinger (Johann Georg, 1707-1786) was a farmer in eastern Pennsylvania. I am quite sure he did not have a tractor.
In 1792, in post-revolutionary France, the new government wanted a calendar that avoided all connections to religion. The result, called the French Republican Calendar, had twelve months of thirty days. (Five other special days were scattered among the months.) My interest in this calendar stems from its designation of each day of the year to honor a plant or crop, a farm tool, or a farm animal. Our date of 10 October was renamed Tournesol, for the sunflower, assigned to the nineteenth day in the month of Vendémiaire (grape harvest). My tie for Sunflower Day celebrates the art of VincentVan Gogh!
The first Peanuts cartoon was published on 2 October 1950, 75 years ago! Charles Schulz created daily cartoons for the next 50 years. My tie shows many characters in cartoon frames. I recently completed my set of 25 volumes of the complete Peanuts collection! They occupy bookshelf space near my collections of Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes, and Far Side.
I have a committee meeting today for Berea Home Village, so I observe my tradition of wearing a necktie. I have chosen my hibiscus flowers tie, which comes with a hidden bonus of hula dancers (upside down) on the tie's tail!
The annual celebration of "Read a Child a Book You Like Day" occurs on 28 September. I chose to wear my chameleons tie and read "A Color of His Own" (by Leo Lionni) to my grandchildren!
Where's Waldo? This is the 38th anniversary of the publication of the first Where's Waldo book (Where's Wally? in Britain), by Martin Handford. Martin's birthday can be found soon (27 September, 1956). I'm including a amusing cartoon that arrived yesterday, and a minimally challenging fragment from a page in "Where's Waldo Now?".
21 September is the United Nations International Day of Peace. (Most of Waldo's adventures are peaceful though chaotic.) It also marks the birthday of Beth's great-grandfather Frederick George Wollenweber (1846-1928), and yesterday marked the birthday of my own great-grandfather Jeremiah Wilson Kleppinger (1854-1931).
Ahoy! It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Here are some popular quotes and phrases to help you talk like a pirate: "Ahoy, me hearties!" (Hello, my friends), "Shiver me timbers!" (An exclamation of surprise), "Avast ye!" (Stop and pay attention), and "Aargh!" are all great ways to celebrate the holiday. You can also use words like "landlubber" (a person unfamiliar with the sea), "grog" (rum), and phrases like "walk the plank" (to be forced into the sea) to add to your pirate persona.
Yes, I am getting my free lunch today from Long John Silver's, where dressing like a pirate (including wearing a skull-and-crossbones necktie) is rewarded with food!
