24 October 25

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.

16 May 25

The 16th of May (16/05) is Chartreuse Day! In the year 1605, the Chartreuse monks in Paris received a manuscript of an Elixir, soon to be known as "the Elixir of long Life." This minty liqueur had a distinctive in-your-face-neon-green color, forever named for the monastery. So the date of 16/05 gets associated with the liqueur and its color, and I get to wear this bright tie. 

 My personal interest in chartreuse comes from memories of analytical chemistry labs where we used the vibrant color of fluorescein as an indicator in some titrations for trace metals. 

More recently, we've been listening to the Louise Penny novel "The Grey Wolf" in which the recipe for chartreuse liqueur plays a very important role for Inspector Gamache in the mysteries surrounding a potential catastrophe for the citizens of Montreal, Quebec.

28 July 24

I asked grandson Branston to choose a tie and he said GREEN. He was very pleased with this bright green (chartreuse) tie on a green striped shirt.

16 May 22

The sixteenth of May is CHARTREUSE DAY! It's not specifically about the color, but that's what I'm celebrating today! In the year 1605, the Chartreuse monks in Paris received a manuscript of an Elixir, soon to be known as "the Elixir of long Life." This minty liqueur had a distinctive in-your-face-neon-green color, forever named for the monastery. Why celebrate on May 16? Because this date can be written 16/05. My photos do not capture the shocking brightness of this shiny tie! (I am fully aware that I have repeated this narrative on this date for several years. I just like the tie and the story of how the color got its name!)

16 May 21

The sixteenth of May is CHARTREUSE DAY! It's not specifically about the color, but that's what I'm celebrating today! In the year 1605, the Chartreuse monks in Paris received a manuscript of an Elixir, soon to be known as "the Elixir of long Life." This minty liqueur had a distinctive in-your-face-neon-green color, forever named for the monastery. Why celebrate on May 16? Because this date can be written 16/05. My photos do not capture the shocking brightness of this shiny tie!

18 May 20

The sixteenth of May is CHARTREUSE DAY! It's not specifically about the color, but that's what I'm celebrating (two days later because that was Saturday!). In the year 1605, the Chartreuse monks in Paris received a manuscript of an Elixir, soon to be known as "the Elixir of long Life." This minty liqueur had a distinctive in-your-face-neon-green color, forever named for the monastery. Why celebrate on May 16? Because this date can be written 16/05. My photos do not capture the shocking brightness of this shiny tie!

16 May 19

The sixteenth of May is CHARTREUSE DAY! It's not specifically about the color, but that's what I'm celebrating. In the year 1605, the Chartreuse monks in Paris received a manuscript of an Elixir, soon to be known as "the Elixir of long Life." This minty liqueur had a distinctive in-your-face-neon-green color, forever named for the monastery. Why celebrate on May 16? Because this date can be written 16/05. My shiny tie was a gift from my mother(-in-law) Wilma Wollenweber, challenging me to find appropriate occasions to wear it!

1 November 18

My chartreuse tie celebrates the synthesis of fluorescein (in 1871) by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolph von Baeyer, who was born on 31 October 1835. Fluorescein is an important "tracer" compound, useful in detecting tiny amounts of metals, other organic compounds, etc. The powder itself is dark red, but in solution it displays vibrant chartreuse. I first encountered fluorescein as an indicator for some titrations in quantitative analytic chemistry, in 1972-1973! Adolf von Baeyer won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1905.

16 May 18

Today is CHARTREUSE DAY! It's not specifically about the color, but that's what I'm celebrating. In the year 1605, the Chartreuse monks in Paris received a manuscript of an Elixir, soon to be known as "the Elixir of long Life." This minty liqueur had a distinctive in-your-face-neon-green color, forever named for the monastery. Why celebrate on May 16? Because this date can be written 16/05. The tie was a Christmas gift from Beth's mom, Wilma Wollenweber. My friendly chartreuse dragon is a figure in the children's book "Stormy Night," by Salina Moon.