3 December 25

With nothing special to note for 3 December, I am choosing to celebrate peppermint candy, a holiday favorite for many people. A recipe for making striped peppermint candy was first published in 1844. The red-and-white twisted canes became popular in the early 1900s, and soon showed up as a traditional Christmas decoration.

31 March 23

 This is National Stripes Day. It's sponsored by the J. Crew company, intended (of course) to inspire you to buy more striped clothing. I'm just happy to wear one of my nice striped ties! And Portia Anne is showing off her own gold and dark brown stripes.

11 April 21

 I know that "co-grandfather" is not a recognized genealogical relationship. But today, on Dave Tennill's birthday, I'm celebrating the way we both share lots of love and respect (?) from Jonathan and Courtney's children! My shirt came to me from "Papa Dave," connecting to his work installing Water Furnace® geothermal heating systems. So, Happy Birthday, Papa Dave! As "Papa Seeds" I chose my peppermint stripes tie!

5 November 19

My peppermint stripes today are basically meaningless/purely spectacular. The "Water Furnace" shirt originally belonged to my fellow-grandfather David Tennill. The logo for this geothermal company includes the motto "Smarter from the Ground Up!" And, by the way, I did my civic duty to vote!

21 May 18

38 years ago today, started speaking like Yoda we did, after the release of The Empire Strikes Back! (which, in Yoda-speak, might have been Back The Empire Strikes!). The month of May many Star Wars occasions has, from 4 (The Fourth With You May Be) to 14 (George Lucas born was) and today (Talk Like Yoda Day). But my tie celebrates National Strawberries and Cream Day, with red and silver and white stripes -- and here's another bowl of newly picked strawberries!

13 June 16

James Clerk Maxwell was born on this date in 1831. He is best known as the 3rd greatest physicist of all time, following Newton and Einstein. His home in Scotland has the wonderful name Middlebie, Kirkcudbrightshire. The pleasing alignment of lines, bars and colors on my "peppermint stripes" tie symbolizes Maxwell's accomplishment in showing the underlying unity of light, electricity and magnetism. Many of the objects in my office, such as the refrigerator, microwave oven and computer equipment, have their theoretical foundations in the work of James Clerk Maxwell.

21 January 15

Today my Uncle Bob Kleppinger turns 94 years old! I chose my peppermint-stripes tie because I think he loves that candy and because he was my childhood "barber" -- we lived in nearby cities, went to the same church and visited each other frequently, including about every-other-Saturday for haircuts in the basement at 742 N. 7th St., Allentown, PA. Happy Birthday, Uncle Bob! (In the photo I'm holding my copy of the Kleppinger Family History, opened to a photo of the Frank Kleppinger family, from the 1950s. By the way, all six siblings in that family celebrated "golden anniversaries" with their spouses; Uncle Bob and Aunt Betty have shared 71 years together!)

13 August 14

If you are left-handed, or if you know someone who is, you should celebrate International Left Handers' Day today! Hoping to take a different "slant" on the theme, I chose this tie among the "minority" of my diagonal stripes (slanting sinisterly down to the left, like the forward slash keystroke). It turns out that there is no rhyme or reason to which way stripes are slanted on neckties, despite some myths about the history of military-regimental regalia.

18 August 13

Peppermint stripes for a day with low "holiday" associations. Today marks the birthday of actors Robert Redford (1936), Edward Norton (1969), Christian Slater (1969), and Malcolm-Jamal Warner (1970). It is also the birthday of Rosalynn Carter (1927), whom Wikipedia counts as the 41st First Lady of the United States. (Jimmy Carter was the 39th President.)

12 January 12

I declare today to be Peppermint Stripe Day.

28 September 10

Today it's cool enough for me to wear my new Old NaVy V-neck sweater with an appropriately striped tie. The occasions for this day include Confucius' birthday and "Ask a Stupid Question Day." It used to be celebrated as National Good Neighbor Day, but the documentation offered about that no longer exists.

13 June 10

This is my first of two Father's Days, because this Sunday was a better fit for Jonathan and Courtney's schedule. Next Sunday I should be able to celebrate with Ben and Amanda (and maybe J and C will be there too!). I chose peppermint stripes simply because I like the tie. Wearing more normal ties also keeps people guessing about what I'm actually up to.

08 December 09

It's Peppermint Stripes Day, which I invented in order to wear this tie.