Also, my DH and DS graduated from UMass Amherst! Many of my best friends were in the marching band…but I couldn’t take my piano. LOL The internationally televised parade steps off at 11 a.m. EST. UMass joins 20 other marching bands selected from around the country to participate in the parade, as well as …
Category: Interesting stuff
Dec 31
Time for those Hogmanay Fireballs Again!
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year’s Day (1 January) or, in some cases, 2 January—a Scottish bank holiday. The …
Aug 21
ICYMI
Today’s the day! Here in Fairfax, the Eclipse will be about 81 percent of the sun covered. The City of Fairfax will have a viewing party at Old Town Hall (3999 University Drive Fairfax). The event runs from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. featuring family-friendly activities like stories, crafts, music, and more while the eclipse becomes visible. You …
Jul 10
Palindrome Week Returns!
The above image is from last year, but you get the idea. You should feel very balanced this week. Why? Because it’s palindrome week! July 10 – July 19, 2017 are all Palindrome Days (m/dd/yy). A palindrome exists when letters, numbers, or phrases are the same forward and backward. For example, the words “racecar” …
Jun 03
The Wartime Spies Who Used Knitting as an Espionage Tool – Atlas Obscura
DURING WORLD WAR I, A grandmother in Belgium knitted at her window, watching the passing trains. As one train chugged by, she made a bumpy stitch in the fabric with her two needles. Another passed, and she dropped a stitch from the fabric, making an intentional hole. Later, she would risk her life by handing …
May 25
Remember Your Towel Today!
Each year, May 25 is Towel Day. Do you know why? Towel Day is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the author Douglas Adams by his fans. On this day, fans carry a towel with them, as described in Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to demonstrate their appreciation for …
May 05
A Shell of a Day
I needed gas for my car last week. I was on my way to bell rehearsal so I didn’t have time to go to my usual place. Instead, I stopped by the station that was on my way. I had stopped going to this particular gas station many years ago when I thought that …
Mar 15
Ides of March
Everyone knows we’re supposed to beware the Ides of March and may even remember they’re from William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” but what exactly do they mean? The Ides of March marked the day the Julius Caesar was assassinated by members of the Roman Senate in 44 B.C.E. A soothsayer, or psychic, warned Caesar …
Mar 06
Found on Facebook
From My Heart Will Always be in Scotland Wha’s like us? The average Englishman, in the home he calls his castle, slips into his national costume, a shabby raincoat, patented by chemist Charles Macintosh from Glasgow, Scotland. En route to his office he strides along the English lane, surfaced by John Macadam of Ayr, …