What to Celebrate August 26 to September 1, 2019
Celebration Ideas for August 26 – September 1, 2019
Can you believe we’re heading into the final week of August? Does that make you happy or sad? Or maybe a little of both?
Either way the wealth of celebrations heading our way next week can help make for even more happiness. Or keep any sadness away. Seriously, who can be sad while celebrating dogs? Or eating cherry popsicles? Drinking Cabernet?
Or, if you’re looking for more serious topics to sink your teeth into, there’s protecting Japan’s dolphins, spreading awareness of spinal muscular atrophy, and learning about preventing overdose.
And of course that’s just a tiny sampling of the ways you can celebrate next week.
So go ahead: Take a peek and plan your week.
And as always …
Enjoy!
Celebrate for the rest of August
To close out August we learn about & spread the word about some things that can go wrong with your nervous system and your skin.
And we head into September learning how best to prevent lice. We also sign up for a library card, which can be a huge help with all that learning we’re doing!
Psoriasis Action Month: Learn more about what psoriasis is (a chronic skin condition) and what it’s not (contagious) for the rest of August. And help spread the word that you might find it ugly to look at, but for some people with psoriasis it’s disabling.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month: Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a disease of the nervous system that can affect patients’ ability to walk, eat, and even breathe. Help spread the word about this little-known condition and the need for a cure.
Neurosurgery Awareness Month: For this month, learn more about the many different neurological conditions that exist and what it’s like to live with them. For 2019 the month is focusing on the spine, and this page links to information about the spine & things that can go wrong with it.
And if you’d like to get a jump on September, consider these month-long celebrations.
Library Card Sign-up Month: Get your kids (and yourself!) library cards for this month. This simple little card opens up a whole world of learning. For free! And libraries offer more than books these days too. Most also give you access to lots of different online resources.
National Head Lice Prevention Month: With kids back in school, it’s time to think about head lice. These nasty little buggers are easy to spread, but policies on how best to diagnose, treat, & prevent them have been changing.
Weekly Celebrations for August’s final week
It’s a week of kindness, sweetcorn, and fresh water.
National Sweetcorn Festival (August 29 – September 2, 2019): If you can make it to Hoopeston, IL for the 76th annual Sweetcorn Festival, you’ll get to enjoy some of the best sweetcorn you’ve ever tasted … cooked with an antique steam engine! Plus all the other usual festival activities, including a carnival, parade, and more. And if you can’t make it to the festival, at least make sure you enjoy some fresh sweet corn … maybe from your local farmer’s market?
Be Kind to Humankind Week (August 25 – 31, 2019): Use this week to help make the world a kinder, better place. And keep up your efforts for the rest of the year, too! Because kindness should be an everyday thing.
World Water Week (August 25 – 30, 2019): During Water Quality Month we have a special week to focus on global water issues. It’s actually a conference in Stockholm, Sweden every year. But even if you don’t go, learn more about how companies are working toward helping us all live a water-wise life.
Celebration Days coming up for Aug. 26 thru Sept. 1
It’s a week full of usefulness, deliciousness, and weirdness!
Surely we can all agree that toilet paper is exceptionally useful. And so is diatomaceous earth … although fewer people probably realize that.
Covering deliciousness we’ve got cherry turnovers, chop suey, and bacon, among others.
And weirdness? How about a huge statue of a boy with a chicken head? Yeah. That’ll do.
There’s plenty more too. Like dogs. And bow ties. Also whale sharks. And … well, you get the idea! So let’s make it another fun-tastic week.
August 26:
National Dog Day: August 26 is all about the dogs! Old dogs, young dogs, shelter dogs, stray dogs. On this day we love them all … and we vow to protect them from those who don’t love them and may even want to hurt them. Then we keep loving them for all the rest of the year.
National WebMistress Day: This day recognizes that women can and do design & maintain websites. And yes, technically that makes them webmasters. But for some reason people are still surprised any time a webmaster turns out to be female. So WebMistress is a legitimate job title and a fantastic reason to celebrate.
National Toilet Paper Day: Ah, toilet paper. Something most of us don’t think much about … unless we’ve run out! This incredibly useful invention surely deserves a day of recognition. After all, before toilet paper people had to be quite creative in cleaning themselves, using things like grass, hay, or stones!
National Cherry Popsicle Day: Enjoy a sweet, frozen treat for this day. But only in cherry! If you’re looking for something healthier than the store-bought popsicles, try this recipe for 3-ingredient cherry ice pops.
August 27:
Just Because Day: For this day you don’t need a reason for anything you do. You’re allowed to do it “just because.” So just have fun with it!
The Duchess Who Wasn’t Day: Celebrate Irish author Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, who wrote under the pen name “The Duchess.” She wasn’t a real Duchess, but rather a minister’s daughter who died at only 42 years old. But not before she had at least 57 works published, one of which contained the well-known saying “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
National Pots de Creme Day: Clearly your dessert for this day will have to be pots de creme. Despite the fancy-sounding name it’s just a cup of custard, but looser than the custard you may be used to. So make yourself chocolate pots de creme to celebrate. Or maybe you’d prefer salted caramel pot de creme.
August 28:
Bow Tie Day: On this day we wear bow ties! Because bow ties are cool. And so are we. Don’t have a bow tie? Get one!
National Crackers Over the Keyboards Day: On this day we don’t worry about getting crumbs in the keyboard. We grab some crackers (or cookies!) and munch on ‘em right over that keyboard! And you have Tom & Ruth Roy to thank for this freedom.
Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day: The Roys must have been quite frustrated with their computer on the 28th. Not only do they advocate getting the keyboard all crumby, they also suggest racing your mouse all over the icons on your screen while you wait for that slow hunk of electronics to load whatever is it you’ve asked it to.
National Cherry Turnover Day: Add a cherry turnover to your lunch or dinner plans! Because of course the only way to celebrate cherry turnovers is to eat some. Even better, make cherry turnovers for yourself and to share.
August 29:
More Herbs, Less Salt Day: The Roys seem to have moved on from their computer frustrations to a healthier outlook on life. On this day they suggest we replace most of the salt with herbs. It’s both healthier and better-tasting!
According to Hoyle Day: Englishman Edmond Hoyle wrote several guides on board and card games (starting with whist, an early form of bridge) back in the 1700s. His guides became the standard of rules for the games, and “according to Hoyle” became the final word on how to play. Today we celebrate this gaming authority on the anniversary of his death on Aug. 29, 1769.
Individual Rights Day: Philosopher John Locke argued that humans have fundamental rights based simply on their existence. And government is supposed to defend those rights not trample on them. On his birthday we celebrate this idea.
National Chop Suey Day: There’s a lot of debate over how, when, and where chop suey was invented. But there’s no debate at all over how to celebrate this day … Eat chop suey! Get it at a restaurant or try this super-simple, detailed recipe to make it yourself.
August 30:
International Whale Shark Day: Learn more about the sea creature that’s not a whale but is a shark. But not a scary shark. Whale sharks are big & gentle & endangered.
National Toasted Marshmallow Day: Do you have any marshmallows left from S’mores Day ? This is the day to use ‘em up! Toast them to perfection & enjoy their smoky sweetness. Of course, if you want to make s’mores again with your toasted marshmallows, we’re pretty sure nobody’s gonna’ complain! Do you prefer your toasted marshmallows lightly browned or with a dark char?
International Cabernet Sauvignon Day: Open a bottle of Cabernet & celebrate! Does Cabernet go with toasted marshmallows?
August 31:
National Trail Mix Day: Take a hike and bring your favorite trail mix to keep your body fueled! Don’t have a favorite? Make your own trail mix & customize it with just the right mix of your favorite nuts, fruits, & other ingredients.
International Bacon Day: Bacon! We celebrate the unofficial end of summer with bacon. Lots & lots of bacon on the Saturday before Labor Day. And, let’s face it, probably all weekend long. Can we add bacon to our trail mix?
National Diatomaceous Earth Day: On this day we celebrate a truly useful substance you’ll find in everything from filters and paint to toothpaste. And it’s completely natural, formed when single-celled organisms called diatoms die & their bodies turn into fossils.
International Overdose Awareness Day: Overdoses & overdose deaths are preventable. But we have to be able to talk about the problem and its causes. Thankfully more & more people are willing to share their stories. Use this day to learn how you can help. Or share your own story.
September 1:
Emma M. Nutt Day: This day commemorates the very first female telephone operator. Before Emma they were all boys. But her patience with callers helped lead to most operators being female.
National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day: On this day we celebrate those words that nothing else rhymes with. Why? Apparently for no particular reason at all!
Japan Dolphins Day: September 1 is the 1st day of dolphin hunting in Taiji, Japan. Dolphin Project invites all concerned citizens of the world to join together to protest the massacre. Yes, massacre. The dolphins at Taiji are herded into a small cove where they have no chance to escape the killing. The goal is for peaceful & positive protests to help educate the Japanese people of what is happening and encourage them to put an end to it.
World Letter Writing Day: To celebrate this day right you must write a letter. No, not an email. An actual letter … with pen & paper. To whom? Anyone! You can do it!
Chicken Boy Day: Apparently September 1 is the unofficial birthday of a 23-foot tall statue of a man/boy with a chicken head who’s holding a bucket of chicken. Why do we celebrate this weirdness? Because we can! Chicken Boy was one of many huge installations advertising various businesses once upon a time. He stood on the roof of a Chicken Boy restaurant. The restaurant’s long gone, but Chicken Boy was saved. And now we celebrate him every year.
