What is "The Holiday Month"?

The Holiday Month is an attempt to celebrate a calendar years worth of holidays during the month of January, 2012.

When the holiday takes place on a specific day (i.e. St. Patrick's Day always takes place on March 17th), then it will be celebrated on January 17th. When a holiday takes place on a rotating day (i.e. Thanksgiving takes place on the fourth Thursday of November), then it will be celebrated on the corresponding day in January.

Concessions had to be made for holidays corresponding with religious calendars . These holidays, such as Easter and Purim, will be celebrated on the dates that they are taking place in 2012. Mardi Gras, the celebration that marks the beginning of the season of Lent, is being celebrated on the Tuesday before Easter, as this would then represent the beginning and end of that religious celebration.

The holidays celebrated during this month are in NO WAY all of the holidays celebrated throughout the year. Every effort was made to create a list that would cover major religious beliefs, as well as fun and interesting holidays that everyone might not celebrate.

Happy Holidays!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

January 19th - International Talk Like a Pirate Day




Ahoy!  Shiver me timbers, me mateys, it’s time for an arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh-tastically awesome holiday.  Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, in which we all get a chance to let loose our inner Blackbeards and say things like “Avast!” and call people “salllllty daaaags.”

Created in 1995 in Albany, Oregon, International Talk Like a Pirate Day is held every year on September 19th and celebrates those scurvy denizens of the seas.  Its parody nature has reached beyond the pirate loving community, and has been embraced by the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (which, holy crap, why didn’t I know about that before starting the Holiday Month project?!).  For more on this particular organization, and their relationship to pirates, please visit http://www.venganza.org/.

Thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean films, pirates have taken on a very romanticized status in our culture.  I’ve always found this to be kind of weird.  We’re not talking about the musical Pirates of Penzance here, or heroic swashbucklers living the free life on the high seas.  When it comes down to it, weren’t pirates thieves, murderers, and scoundrels?  Weren’t they were dirty, drunken louts?  Didn’t they chop off ears and blow up ships and do other dastardly things?



And yet we put them on a pedestal as if they are some kind of folk heroes.  You don’t see us doing that with, say, crack dealers or muggers or even modern day pirates.  I guess Johnny Depp can make anything look good.


Today, I celebrated by walking around and saying pirate things.  I also tried to look the part, but lost so much depth perception with my patch that I just kept running into things all day.  Oh well, it’s the sacrifice that was well worth it.  So gather ‘round, me mateys.  Tonight, we drink, and tomorrow, we sail!
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