Happy Birthday to my dear sister Glo! We grew up together in Bethlehem, PA, but she went off to college when I was in grade school. She was my first piano teacher (when I was five), and she helped inspire a lifelong love for music. She hoped I could choose a tie for today that symbolizes hope in a desperate world. I think the diverse children holding hands on this globe under a smiling sun and moon fit that theme nicely.
Today (19 December) is a special day in my history with the Blackboard (now Anthology) company. I've been a frequent contributor/consultant/complainer/critic/idea-creator in many of their online forums, conferences and focus groups for the last 23 years. Today's session for Blackboard system administrators is my last official group meeting! I asked my friend from Anthology, Lisa Clark (Senior Product Manager for Learn Ultra) to choose my tie, and she asked for Save Our Earth plus my holly bow tie. I added my tie tack that proves I am a Learn Ultra Rockstar. (Note added on 27 December: I just realized that I forgot to include Lisa's calendar justification for the Save Our Earth tie: 1958 1st radio broadcast from space, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower Christmas message "to all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere.")
"One Voice Day unites all countries of the world with the reading of the Universal Peace Covenant on July 26th at 6 p.m. UT each year. Individuals and groups around the world unite spiritually, declaring their commitment to global peace while reading the covenant, a 577-word peace pledge which "serves as an instrument defining how to think peacefully and live peaceably in a world that is constantly changing." Students at the School of Metaphysics—who were "from all walks of life, several religious beliefs and nationalities, diverse occupations, all races, as young as seventeen and as old as seventy-five"—created the pledge in 1996 and 1997, and it was signed on October 8, 1997." I chose my "Save Our Earth" tie to celebrate this project to inspire peace around the world.
Today is "Dr. Seuss Day," honoring the birthday of Theodore Geisel (1904-1991). It is also celebrated as "Read Across America Day," and so I'm taking this occasion to wear another great tie that originally belonged to my EKU comrade Richard Day, from his time as an elementary school principal. The design, from Save the Children, is named "Save Our Earth -- by Whitney, age 8." I couldn't find our copy of "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" to match the global geography theme on the tie, but I believe that both Horton and Daisy-Head Mayzie are well-traveled characters!
