Sure there are other countries that celebrate their independence days on other days in the year, but today is the Independence Day for the United States of America. This year, as many of you have already experienced, the observed federal holiday began yesterday, July 3rd, due to the fact that the 4th of July occurs [...]
holiday
While it’s nice to have fun and joke around in a festive manner, Memorial Day (May 25, 2009) was enacted as a remembrance of the U.S. men and women who sacrificed their lives in military service. The day is almost at an end, but many of you have yet to take a bit of time to honor [...]
Things that make you go, “Hmm…” Today is Mother’s Day in the US, but it’s strangely difficult to believe that it has been a year since the last one. Last year, I mused about the origins of the US version of the holiday, and I also discussed what I was wandering about doing. This year, [...]
As the evening approaches, and early happy hours start kickin’ off, it’s that time of the year again: Cinco de Mayo! Although May 5th in the US has been heavily commercialized by the beer and fine spirits industries, the day did not originally celebrate mega-keg parties, strip poker, or topless bikini contests. Rather, it was [...]
Happy May Day!
A “sort-of holiday” celebrated on April 1 each year, April Fools’ Day has been one of those annual events that seem to get funnier or just maliciously bad, depending on whom you ask. Given the omnipresence of the Internet and the near-ubiquity of pranksters, many netizens are extra-wary of practical and not-so-practical jokes that spin [...]
Today marks the beginning of the “modern” Assyrian New Year, sometimes depicted as Kha b-Nisan. While ethnic Assyrians have been dispersed across the world, there are heavy concentrations in places within Syria and Iraq (both which were part of the Assyrian territories historically), as well as in the U.S. Since the ancient Assyrian calendar did not [...]
Yes, that’s correct: Pi Day. Some folks call it “π Approximation Day”, but close enough, right– although there actually is another day that is considered Pi Approximation Day as well. This day is set for March 14, 2009, according to a US Congressional resolution to that effect. N.B. For more reading: Pi Day (Wikipedia)
Today is the celebration for Christmas in the U.S. Merry Christmas, everybody! And yes, I really do mean everybody this year! We all need some sense of relief, don’t we? And even if you’re not a “Christian”, you can still celebrate the winter holiday through gift-giving and wishing well of others. The more, the merrier. ‘Nuf [...]
חנוכה The Jewish Festival of Lights begins this evening (at sunset) and lasts until sunset of December 29, 2008. Many people who are unfamiliar with the Jewish faith (and even those who are, to some extent) would be surprised by the richness of the tradition and lore behind the eight-day celebration and observance. While I [...]
