That was the week that was

...and so we come to the end of another banner week.

For those of you who missed the memo, this was a week designated to raise awareness of all kinds of things. The question is...were the organizers aware of what other people were doing?

For example, did the observers of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (22-28th February) know that it was also National Pancake Week (22-28th February)?

Did anyone else see the irony in Telecommuter Appreciation Week (24th February - 1st March) coinciding with American Crossword Puzzle Week (27th February - 1st March)?

No? Was it just us?

Fair enough. Anyway, we hope y'all are recovering from yesterday (which was National Chili Day) and git along with your verse writing before Texas Cowboy Poetry Week is over.

Yeee-haw!

Feb 25th - A Day of Contradictions

As if we need further proof that the world is full of contradiction, today is significant in four completely different ways.

It is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and a day traditionally given over to fasting and mortification of the flesh.

It is also National Clam Chowder Day, celebrating a well-known comfort food, designed to warm and sustain the flesh.

Also in the warm-and-fuzzy department, some bright spark decided that Feb 25th will be National Cuddle Day this year.

And back on the dark side, it's also Pistol Patent Day--a celebration of Samuel Colt's intellectual property rights on an instrument of death. His 1836 patent No. 138 guaranteed Colt ownership of a pistol design with a six-chambered revolving cylinder full of bullets.

So what is the common ground between these four celebrations? Beats us. We'll just wish you a happy day of mortifying the flesh, warming it, pressing it against someone else's, and pumping it full of lead.

How's that for a cheery greeting?

Job's birthday approaching

Poor Job had a tough time of it, back in the Old Testament. God chose him to prove to the cynical that human devotion was not based on getting material rewards. God's methods were harsh--he took away Job's cattle, his home, his family, and his health. And Job remained devout.

But he didn't remain happy about it. In fact, he literally cursed the day he was born in Job 3:3:

Let the day perish wherein I was born...Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it...let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

Some people say that this prayer was answered--because Job's birthday was February 30th. This tradition was recorded in the Memoirs of the American Folklore Society in 1925 as a common belief among black people in Maryland.

We'd suggest raising a glass to Job this February 30th, but we can't write it on our calendars, so we're sure to miss the celebration.