31 October 21

For the sheer length of name and title, it's hard to beat Sir Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck, Lord of Nyenhuis, Peckedam and Gellicum, who was born on this date in 1761. (His surname has 12 consonants and (only) 4 vowels!) He rose to official prominence under Napoleon's rule, becoming Grand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic from 1805 to 1806. My tie is super-long to make you "schmile" for Schimmelpenninck. Also note that today's math lesson is 10 = 31 - 21. (10/31/21)

26 June 19

The last Wednesday in June is designated as "Parchment Day." I think my tie is parchment-colored. (The primary association for the day is supposed to be with parchment paper for baked goods and other uses with food. Maybe next year.) Another more convoluted reason for this tie is the birthday of Lord Kelvin (William Thompson, 1824-1907). His scientific work established the first and second laws of thermodynamics, but his name is probably most famous for his pioneering measurement of the temperature known as absolute zero, -273.15 C or -459.67 F. And so that temperature is ZERO on the Kelvin scale. The solid, bland color of my tie seems to be the "baseline" for all the other colors and patterns that I wear. Yet it has an interesting texture and woven pattern, a beautiful metaphor for the fact that even under the "coldest" conditions of absolute zero, the atoms and nuclei of substances are still in motion!

12 July 18

Simplicity Day is celebrated every 12 July, honoring the birthday of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862). I chose to wear a solid beige tie (with the simplest four-in-hand knot) on a light green shirt.

22 February 16

No one knows why February 22 is "Be Humble Day." The person who created it remains in obscurity, of course. I may not be the humblest person on earth, but I think I'm way ahead of many others I've met. This "plain vanilla" tie resembles burlap or sackcloth, so (IMHO) it's appropriate for the day.

26 March 15

This is just a plain old ordinary day. So -- time for the solid beige tie.

3 July 13

Today is just another "Keep-Them-Guessing-What-I'm-Up-To" day. It's the birthday of my philosophy comrade Minh Nguyen, so I guess this is for him, but he really deserves more than a plain beige tie.

11 April 11

April 11, 1954 was the Most Boring Day in History, at least in the 20th century, according to a report published in The Daily Telegraph. Nothing significant happened, nobody born on that day has become famous, and no celebrities' deaths were noted. And I had done nothing important yet, because I was only eight months old. To celebrate the 57th anniversary of that occasion I decided to be blandly and boringly beige. Have a nice day.

24 February 10

"Inconvenience Yourself Day may seem like an unusual holiday to celebrate. Its goal or mission is not only to recognize a person's self awareness in life, but also to acknowledge other people's lives and actions as well. There are times where you need to put yourself first, but this day, try to put someone else before you. This unofficial holiday is celebrated on the 4th Wednesday in February."

For help with inconveniencing yourself today, and with reflecting on the value of inconvenience, see http://www.wikihow.com/Celebrate-Inconvenience-Yourself-Day. Ties are inherently inconvenient, and this one is bulky and quite hard to knot.

20 October 09

Today I'm making a passionately neutral statement honoring the birthday of James Chadwick (1891), who discovered the neutron as a separate particle in the atomic nucleus (in 1932). The passionate part comes from the "love cross" hanging around my neck.

10 June 08

This a day to "keep 'em guessing." I haven't worn a plain solid tie in months, so today's the day.