Floral Design, Day, Public Sleeping Day, Rare Disease Day, more

February 28th, 2011, is Floral Design Day, Public Sleeping Day, National Tooth Fairy Day, National Chocolate Soufflé Day, and Rare Disease Day.

Rare Disease Day logo.

Floral Design Day honors Carl Rittner, founder of The Rittners School of Floral Design in Boston. Enjoy some flowers, for spring will soon be here.

Public Sleeping Day is an event to celebrate at your own risk. Consider the park, your office, or your car - but please hide your valuables.

National Tooth Fairy Day is celebrated on February 28th and August 22nd. Considering how busy she must be, with so many baby teeth to collect, the tooth fairy deserves two days.

I have no information on the origin of National Chocolate Soufflé Day, but why not indulge? The word soufflé, in French, means "to blow up"

Since 2008, Rare Disease Day has "furthered rare disease as a public health priority, has shed light on the need for closer collaboration between patients and researchers, and now continues to underscore the challenges rare disease patients and their caregivers face."

The Holiday Whiz best advice: Enjoy a quick public nap to restore your energy. Bring flowers and a chocolate soufflé to someone in your area who is fighting a difficult illness; ask how you can help. If a child in your life loses a tooth today, ensure the tooth fairy rewards him or her richly.

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Celebrations for the week of February 27-March 5, 2011

This week - February 27th to March 5th, 2011 - we honor Telecommuter Appreciation Week and Peace Corps Week.

Telecommuter Appreciation Week always includes March 5th, the birth date of Alexander Graham Bell. The American Telecommuting Association has celebrated this week since 1993.

Peace Corps Week is celebrated this year from February 28th to March 6th. During this week, volunteers are encouraged to achieve The Third Goal: "educate our fellow Americans about other cultures, illustrate how important it is to serve those in need, and underscore how relevant the work of the Peace Corps continues to be."

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No Brainer Day and Polar Bear Day

February 27th, 2011, is No Brainer Day and International Polar Bear Day.

No Brainer Day is an opportunity to go on autopilot, to relax, to handle tasks that require little or no brain power. This special day was created by America's Premier Eventologist, Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith, in 1995. Presumably she put at least a little bit of thought into creating this day.

International Polar Bear Day is dedicated to saving the world's largest land predator. Do something green on behalf of the polar bear.

The Holiday Whiz best advice: Resolving to help polar bears is a no-brainer.

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For Pete's Sake Day, Int'l Sword Swallowers Day, Pistachio Day, more

February 26th, 2011 is For Pete's Sake Day, International Sword Swallowers Day, World Pistachio Day, Tell a Fairy Tale Day, and Open that Bottle Night. After such a busy day, that bottle will look pretty good.

For Pete's Sake Day might make you ask, "Who's Pete?" No one knows for sure, but the phrase "for Pete's sake" is considered to be a desirable substitute for the more blasphemous "for Christ's sake" or "for God's sake."

International Sword Swallowers Day will be celebrated at Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditoriums around the world.

World Pistachio Day features a creative contest. Winners will enjoy free pistachios and backpacks.

The origins of Tell a Fairy Tale Day are sketchy, but why not participate?

Open that Bottle Night is celebrated each year on the last Saturday in February. Open that bottle you've been saving for years, and enjoy. Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher of the Wall Street Journal founded this holiday in 2000.

The Holiday Whiz best advice: Pretend to discover a long-forgotten bottle of wine, exclaiming, "for Pete's Sake!" Share the wine, some pistachios, and a tale or two about princesses, fairies, and sword swallowers.

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Cuddle Day and Pistol Patent Day

February 25th, 2011, is Cuddle Day and Pistol Patent Day. Um, interesting combo.

Cuddle Day is a day to cuddle with loved ones, of course. Send long-distance cuddles to those who are far away.

Pistol Patent Day honors this date in 1836, when Samuel Colt received a patent for his famous/infamous invention.

The Holiday Whiz best advice: Cuddle your pistol? Better yet, protect the ones you love by locking your pistol away from curious minds and little fingers.

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National Tortilla Chip Day and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

February 24th, 2011, is National Tortilla Chip Day and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.

National Tortilla Chip Day honors the invention of Rebecca Webb Carranza. In the 1940s she cut up and fried some tortilla rejects, engineering a new crunchy treat.

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2011. The "10 for 10" campaign, which runs for 10 weeks, is intended to inspire 10,000 10-year-old girls to consider a career in engineering.

The Holiday Whiz best advice: Encourage the girls in your life (including yourself, if you're female) to build a structure out of tortilla chips, a la a house of cards. Share your pics!

Browse these links for more info:

• NowPublic - Celebrate National Tortilla Chip Day on Feb. 24th
• News on Women - Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

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Int'l Dog Biscuit Day, Curling Is Cool Day, more

February 23rd, 2011, is International Dog Biscuit Day, Curling Is Cool Day, Banana Bread Day, Tennis Day, and Inconvenience Yourself Day.

International Dog Biscuit Day celebrates the dog treat invented in 1860 by Cincinnati electrician James Spratt.

Curling Is Cool Day is easy fodder for jokes, but a serious matter to Canadians. Canada is currently ranked number one in this icy sport.

Banana Bread Day is a celebration of a relatively healthy baked treat.

Tennis Day honors a sport which evolved from a 12th-century game known as paume, meaning "palm."

Inconvenience Yourself Day, celebrated on the 4th Wednesday in February, was conceived by Julie Thompson in 2006, to encourage everyone to inconvenience themselves rather than inconvenience others.

The Holiday Whiz best advice: Inconveniencing yourself, bake banana bread for a friend in need or a shut-in. Spend time with that person, listen to their troubles, and share some trivia about curling. Toss around a tennis ball with your dog, then give your furry friend a dog biscuit.

Resources to help you plan your day:

• 123 Greetings - Banana Bread Day
• petcentric - International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
• Holiday Insights - Tennis Day
• Greeting Card Universe - Curling Is Cool Day
• PR Web - Inconvenience Yourself Day

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It's Single-Tasking Day

In the spirit of Single-Tasking Day, I'm featuring this event in a separate blog post. February 22nd is a day for slowing down. Don't multi-task. Take a deep breath.  

Focus.

I almost got off track myself, looking for links and trying to decide whether "single-tasking" is one word, two words, or spelled with a hyphen.  

Focus.

Check out these sites -- one at a time, please!

• zenhabits - Now Do This, and the Single-Tasking Philosophy
• lifehacker - A Case for Singletasking
• Simple Mom - What's More Beneficial -- Single-Tasking or Multi-Tasking?
• Dull Men's Club - Single-Tasking Day

If you're committed to single-tasking today, ignore this post of other February 22nd celebrations.

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It's Be Humble Day, National Margarita Day, and more

February 22nd, 2011, is Be Humble Day, National Margarita Day, Spay Day, Walking the Dog Day, World Thinking Day, and National Chili Day. That's a lot for just twenty-four hours.

Holiday Whiz best advice: Enjoy some chili and a margarita, then walk your dog to burn off the calories. Humbly think about having your dog spayed, then do so.

Below are some resources to help you plan your day:

• Altius Directory - Be Humble Day
• Food Channel - National Margarita Day
• The Humane Society - Spay Day
• Holiday Insights - Walking the Dog Day
• Girl Scouts - World Thinking Day
• redeye - 50 Ways to Celebrate National Chili Day

By the way, February 22nd is also Single-Tasking Day. In the spirit of doing one thing at a time, I'll cover this event in a separate blog post.

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International Mother Language Day and more

February 21st, 2011, is International Mother Language Day, Card Reading Day, and, of course, Presidents' Day.

International Mother Language Day was established by the United Nations in 1999, "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world."

Card Reading Day was created, presumably by a greeting card company, as a day for reading cards. Of course, you should probably send some as well.

American flag. Image: Salvatore Vuono; freedigitalphotos.net

Presidents' Day is celebrated on the third Monday of February. Scholars dispute whether the holiday is meant to honor just Washington and Lincoln, or all of the U.S. presidents. Sadly, many Americans merely view the holiday as an opportunity to miss work or school.

Holiday Whiz best advice: Send greeting cards to U.S. President Barack Obama and United Nations President Joseph Deiss, scribbling multi-lingual comments in each.


More about International Mother Language Day:

• International Mother Language Day

More about Card Reading Day:

• Card Reading Day

More about Presidents' Day:

• Presidents' Day (Snopes clears up misconceptions.)
• Presidents' Day cards from someecards

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It's Hoodie-Hoo Day and more!

Shimmer, Official Dog of the Trend Police.

February 20th, 2011, is Hoodie-Hoo Day, Cherry Pie Day, and Love Your Pet Day.

Hoodie-Hoo Day is a desperate attempt to scare away winter. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, run outside at noon, wave your arms in the air, and shout, "Hoodie-Hoo!" Nobody will think you're strange. 

Cherry Pie Day is self-explanatory. Bake one or buy one, and save me a piece. 

Love Your Pet Day is also self-explanatory, and should be a way of life every day of the year.

Holiday Whiz best advice: Take your pets outside at noon (unless they're fish), wave your arms in the air, and shout "Hoodie-Hoo!" Encourage dogs to howl along. Then head inside for some cherry pie and a nap.

More about Hoodie-Hoo Day:

• Zany Holidays - Northern Hemisphere Hoodie-Hoo Day (Hoodie You Think You Are?)

Recipes for Cherry Pie Day:

• Food Network - Deep Dish Cherry Pie
• Epicurious - Cherry Pie

Advice for Love Your Pet Day:

• eHow - How to Celebrate Love Your Pet Day
• Humane Society - Find a new pet to love. We adopted Shimmer, our Lhasa Apso and Official Dog of The Trend Police, from a Humane Society facility in the St. Louis area. We could not ask for a more loving pet.

Happy shouting, eating, and loving!

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Celebrations for the week of February 20-26, 2011

This week - February 20th to February 26th, 2011 - we honor a variety of causes:

• International Friendship Week
• Eating Disorders Awareness Week
• National Engineers Week
• Build a Better Trade Show Image Week
• Read Me Week (This week actually runs from February 21st to March 4th, more than a week. It's about reading, people, not math!)

Enjoy your celebrations.

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Pisces, February 19 to March 20

Pisces. Image: Salvatore Vuono, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Everyone born between February 19th and March 20th is a Pisces, the sign of the Fish.

For more information about Pisces:

• Pisces.com
• Whats-Your-Sign for Pisces
• Astrology.com: Pisces Sun Sign
• Farmers' Almanac: Zodiac Signs, Astrology and Astronomy Explained

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Chocolate Mint Day and Temporary Insanity Day

A chocolate heart. Image: morgueFile

February 19th, 2011, is National Chocolate Mint Day and Temporary Insanity Day. Yummy and yikes!

National Chocolate Mint Day is celebrated in honor of the first chocolate mints sold in America, created by Andes Candies.

Temporary Insanity Day commemorates the first time someone used the temporary insanity plea in court.

Holiday Whiz best advice: Go insane and eat a whole box of Girl Scout cookies - Thin Mints, of course.

Other tips for National Chocolate Mint Day:

• eHow - How to Celebrate Chocolate Mint Day
• Holiday Insights - Chocolate Mint Day
• Gone-ta-Pott.com - National Chocolate Mint Day

Other tips for Temporary Insanity Day:

• 123 Greetings - Cards for Temporary Insanity Day 
• Associated Content - Act Crazy; Let's Celebrate Temporary Insanity Day!

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