Beer Can Appreciation Day

Today is a day for celebrating beer cans. We're not celebrating the drink itself, but the container it comes in. That is, if the container is a metal can. Thus, without further ado, I present to you a feast for your eyes on this most wondrous of days, a parade of beer cans...

If the above images are not enough for you to truly feel as though you have celebrated this holiday, feel free to imbibe some beers of your own (from cans, of course) and stare wonderingly at their receptacle for as long as you see fit. The best method I have yet seen for truly appreciating the beauty of beer cans has to be the classic student beer can tower.

Go on, I dare you >:)

References
Beer can tower http://file770.com/?p=1443

Handwritten With Love

Today is National Handwriting Day in the US. This holiday was created by the Writing Instrument Manufacturer's Association (WIMA) as a way to raise awareness and promote handwriting in an increasingly digital age. This date was chosen as it is the birthday of John Hancock,  the first person to sign the American Deceleration of Independence with a flourish.

Writing by hand is becoming a lost art, but there is undeniably a personality and charm to it that one cannot impart simply by choosing an appropriate font. For the first couple of years of my relationship with my boyfriend, I would make the 300 mile journey home from my university in Plymouth to stay with my family in Doncaster for a month or so a few times a year. As we are the kind of couple that spend most of our time in each other's company, even if just sitting in companionable silence, a month was quite a long time for us to be so far away. We would talk on the phone quite often, but neither of us are really the type of person to call a friend up just to chat. About 85% of all the telephone calls I make are to organise plans for an evening or to find my friends in town or something along those lines. It's very rare for me to ring someone just to see how they are. It doesn't mean I don't care about my friends that don't live close, it's just with such a set life routine now, I rarely have any news that they won't have already gleaned from facebook and twitter, and while I can happily sit in companionable silence for hours with my friends in the room, there is no such thing as a comfortable silence on the phone. Thus, I'm not very good with phone calls that have no definable purpose.

In addition to this my family exist in some kind of technological ice age (my Mum had dial up until last year) and this was the era before smartphones, so we decided to write to each other once or twice a week. The letters would be filled with little stories and anecdotes, quite often with drawings in all the margins and sometimes including silly poems with titles like 'Ode to your Camel Eyes.' At one point I was suffering with horrible nightmares nearly every night, and my next letter had a tiny little dreamcatcher enclosed within it, which still hangs over my bed at my Nana's house today. After the first couple of years, we moved in together properly, first in Plymouth and then later moving up to Leeds, but we still have all of the letters hidden away in a drawer somewhere. They were a great comfort  while were apart, an assurance that we had not been forgotten and that we were still loved. It is a shame that handwriting is fading fast in the face of today's latest technologies. It seems that the only socially acceptable ways to enjoy yourself these days all involve staring at a screen, which is a great shame, and also the reason I have been putting off buying a tablet computer or e-reader for such a long time despite my ever-decreasing amount of storage space for books and how convenient it would be for me to own one.

My own handwriting is unfortunately barely legible when I fail to write in block capitals.Through most of my teens I struggled to find a style of handwriting that  thought suited me and my personality, and what you can see below is the result of me giving up and therefore devolving into a scrawl. As it turns out all my previous different styles of handwriting were all just desperate attempt for me not to write in the way that my hand and my unconscious brain clearly wanted me to. I've come to terms with my handwriting now, and interestingly enough my block capitals are almost identical to my Dad's usual handwriting style, which led him to mistakenly think he was leaving himself cryptic messages around the house that he had no memory of writing, until I disabused him of the notion. I have no idea how or why my writing has ended up so similar to my father's but I'm going to guess that the explanation for this has something to do with science.

So as part of my celebrations for today I decided to 'analyse' my handwriting using a free online guide. I generally believe that this kind of stuff is bullshit, but in the spirit of being open to new things, I'll see what it has to say. My handwriting counts as being medium in size, which supposedly indicates that I am adaptable, I fit into a crowd  practical, realistic, balanced person who works well by myself or with others. So far, so bland. I am quite adaptable and practical but I'm probably more whimsical than realistic. What next? The slant of my handwriting is to the left, which means that I am socially cautious, reserved, observant and non-intrusive. As anyone with a passing acquaintance to me will tell you, this is all bullshit. I am known for being a bit blind and partially deaf, so I am quite loud and clumsy. The baseline of my writing, while not visible here on the lined paper, without guidance usually veers uncontrollably up into the top right corner of the page which means that I am hopeful and optimistic with a positive outlook at life. This is more accurate, than the previous indicator but still is very vague and unsatisfying. On balance, I still think handwriting analysis is a load of rubbish, about as accurate as those awful body language interpretations you sometimes see in celebrity magazines. Trash. 

The other way in which I am going to celebrate National Handwriting Day is by writing a letter to my beloved Nana (the one who still has my dreamcatcher hanging from her ceiling.) I love my Nana very much, but I don't always find time to give her a call, and as I've said before, I'm not a very good person to chat to over the phone. So I'm going to write her a letter to let her know how I'm getting on, and how much I love her, and I'l draw little pictures in the margins and maybe even write a silly little poem, so whenever I'm not around she'll be able to look at it and know how much I care :)

              Not my actual signature

References
Dreamcatcher http://solitarywitches.tripod.com/dreamcatcher.html
Hancock signature http://www.sd104.s-cook.k12.il.us/students/math/2ndquarter2007webdesign/dcovarrubias/DcovarrubiasPage.htm

Cheesy Penguins

Today, class, is Penguin Awareness Day, and thus I shall be making you aware of penguins.  From Gunther in Adventure Time to Pingu, penguins are all over the place in media, and they're pretty cool. It is usually just the most famous of penguin breeds that get all the attention, though, and there is much more to penguins than just the Emperor penguins from Happy Feet. For the purposes of identification, I have tracked down this comparative chart.

Whether there are 17 or 18 different breeds of penguins seems to be a hotly contested issue amongst the penguin specialist community, but 18 are shown on the above image, so we've got our bases covered either way. I will go into further detail describing some of these breeds, the choice of which shall be dictated by nothing other than my whimsy and the availability of penguin research resources. I readily admit that I am not a wealth of penguin information myself, so in order to save referencing everything, I've just listed the resources used at the bottom of this post.

Erect-Crested Penguin Eudyptes atratus

I chose this guy because he had an interesting name and I like how his yellow eyebrows (aka his crest) make him look constantly consternated. His crest is similar to that of the Snares and Fiordland penguins, and makes him difficult to identify while at sea, as it droops when wet. He is one of the rarest breeds of penguin, living in the Sub-Antarctic feeding off small fish and krill. Standing at only about 20 inches tall, he's quite small for a penguin, which makes him prey for not only the ubiquitous seals, but also Skua, a type of predatory bird. Erect-crested penguins breed on rocky slopes near the sea, and whilst a select few pairs make nests, most of them are hardcore and just lay their eggs straight onto the cold rocks. 

They usually lay two eggs after a long courtship (giggity) of which the first one unfortunately mostly dies. The second one, which in some cases can be up to twice as large, is usually looked after much better by the adult penguins and survives it's incubation period. Not much more is known about these secretive guys, but interestingly considering their physique they are excellent climbers, capable of climbing steep rocky cliffs that would be a long trial for fully equipped and experienced humans.

Little Blue Penguin or Fairy Penguin Eudyptula minor

Well, it's easy to see how these little guys got their name! I chose this breed because both fairy penguin and little blue penguin are excellent names, plus they are very small and cute, and interestingly enough, blue! This breed of penguin are smaller than their Erect-Crested cousins, standing at only about 16 inches tall and weighing in at around 2lbs. These guys prefer warmer water also, and so live in the Southern Hemisphere, mostly in Australasia, on a diet of crustaceans and small fish, with the odd baby octopus or squid thrown in. Strangely for penguins, this breed is predominantly nocturnal, although this may be due to the sheer number of predators they have. Being so small, this species has to worry about pretty much every carnivorous land and sea animal bigger than it and native to the same habitat, from killer whales to rats. They live  for about seven years, mating when about four and staying with the same partner for life (awwww). They mostly live in established and well-defined colonies, with each pair having their own nest or burrow which they return to year after year. In some nature reserves in Australia you can go to observe these tiny penguins in their natural habitat. Probably the most famous of these places is Philip Island with it's nightly 'penguin parade.'

Rockhopper Penguins Eudyptes chrysocome

The Rockhoppers are the cause of dissent amongst the ranks of penguin fanciers. Some insist that the Northern and Southern Rockhoppers are distinct enough to warrant separate species classification, but this claim is refuted by many others. I care little for such an argument, so I shall just impart some general Rockhopper facts here, for you to take as you will. These guys are again crested, albeit not quite as angrily as their Erect-Crested relatives. They also have cool-but-slightly-creepy red eyes which I like. I had to wear contacts to make my eyes look like that at Halloween last year, so well done pal. 

The suave crests come into play whilst competing for the attention of a lady Rockhopper, as the blokes waft their feathery faces all over the place in an attempt to entice a mate. This breed prefer to live in smaller groups, as opposed to the huge colonies favoured by some other penguins. Like most penguins, their diet mostly consists of water based meat smaller than themselves (an average of about 21 inches tall). They're also really really noisy apparently, which endears them to me even more. I have an affinity with loud creatures, being one myself.

*

One last thing that I discovered that I think everyone should know about penguins; for many breeds part of their mating ritual is for the male to search high and low on a beach for the perfect pebble to give to the woman of his dreams as a gift. This pebble, if accepted, becomes a symbol of their union and gets a prominent place in their nest.

Penguin love <3

So there it is. Consider yourself more aware of Penguins. If you would like to celebrate Penguin Awareness Day further, you can choose to wear black and white today and (optional) pretend to be a penguin. You could also visit a zoo to look at some of the cute little guys, or failing that, gain more penguin awareness via further reading  and/or watching an Attenborough documentary about them, in which case Frozen Planet is a good shout. Partying like a penguin is also considered to be acceptable in some circles.

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Today is also National Cheese Lover's Day. Mmm, cheese. As far as I am aware, everyone loves cheese. It's a crying shame that cheese isn't that great for you nutritionally, because I would totally eat a block a day if my thighs could get away with it. There are many different types of cheese, and many more different varieties of cheese within those sub-genres. 

I don't think that I really need to spend much time going through different cheeses with you. I may be mistaken, but I believe everyone has a good idea about what kind of cheese they tend to prefer. Personally I like a good smoked cheese, like a nice Gouda, not too crumbly, not too rubbery. It's all a matter of taste really though, and everyone has their own opinion.

To celebrate National Cheese Lover's Day, why not invite your friends over to enjoy a few glasses of wine and a refined cheeseboard? You could find out more about cheese, maybe have a look and see if some interesting new cheesy recipes tickle your fancy. Or even, if possible, that holy grail of party cheese - fondue!

References
Penguin Chart http://penguingeek.wordpress.com/identification/
Penguin resources 1. http://www.penguins-world.com
2. http://www.penguinworld.com
3. http://www.nothingbutpenguins.com
Philip Island Penguin Parade http://www.aroundandabout.com.au/images/phillipadd.jpg
Pebble http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lohrddFBi31qj7d1co1_500.jpg
Dancing Gunther penguin gif http://smera.deviantart.com/
Cheese 1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/cheese
2. http://www.vizzitdorset.co.uk/business-news/sturminster-newton-cheese-festival.html

Wallace http://www.shoutingatco.ws/2012/02/21/reasons-why-both-cheese-and-alex-james-are-rubbish/

Winter Warmers

January 17 is National Hot Buttered Rum Day in the States, so I'm going to find out more about this cocktail and then give it a whirl in celebration. Before starting this blog I admit I had never before heard of Hot Buttered Rum but I love warm drinks in cold weather, butter and rum, so by all rights this venture should be a resounding success. Upon researching the history of this drink I discovered that it basically just a bastardisation of the classic Hot Toddy (that had it's own celebration last week) dating back to the colonial American era, when the importing of molasses from Jamaica started to become a big thing. In some areas of America Hot Toddy and Hot Buttered rum are in fact just interchangeable names for the same thing, although there are many regional and personal variations. I procured this particular recipe for the winter cocktail from foodnetwork.com;

Hot Buttered Rum Cocktail

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

1 min

Cook Time:

10 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

10 to 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• Pinch ground cloves
• Pinch salt
• Bottle dark rum
• Boiling water

Directions

In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Refrigerate until almost firm. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the butter mixture into 12 small mugs. Pour about 3 ounces of rum into each mug (filling about halfway). Top with boiling water (to fill the remaining half), stir well, and serve immediately.

A helpful friend beating the butter into submission!

Verdict It smells incredibly Christmassy, and is warm and comforting to hold. . .devastatingly strong but undeniably delicious. A friend added coffee and a splash of milk to her cup and it worked really well, so this can presumably work with tea just as easily :)  Someone mentioned that butterbeer from the Harry Potter novels is described as being similar to this drink, and so possibly might be based on hot buttered rum. This is entirely (mildy drunken) speculation, and is based on 0% true facts, but it might be true! Whether there is any truth to this idea or not, the drink is an absolute delight, warming you from the inside out, and totally worth the effort. It loses a point for being a bit of a pain to prepare. Just be aware: it's extremely strong  9/10

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Tea Testing Round 3

I went with an online recipe for this cup of Lavender tea, but I definitely didn't actually grow and harvest the lavender, I just used a tisane and then showed the brew a bag of Yorkshire tea briefly, adding some honey and lemon. I'm getting well into honey and lemon with hot drinks now, it's an excellent gravy train and I would recommend that everyone get on it immediately. I love the smell of lavender, and this doesn't disappoint. Tastes wicked too, nice and sweet but the lemon gives it a sharp edge. Really scrumptious, will definitely be repeating this one :) 8/10

National Nothing Day

Celebrate nothing with me.

In Appreciation of Hats (Winter Edition)

Today is National Hat Day in the United States of America. National Hat Day in the UK, however, is celebrated on the 21st of April, and has been every year since 2010 (an institution, to be sure!) Now, let’s be clear from the outset, I think hats - especially silly ones - are ACE. Hence, I shall celebrate National Hat Day twice. Today shall mostly be in honour of winter hats, and in April I will give many summer hats the recognition they deserve. I have decreed it, and so it shall be.

Let us begin with something quite basic. This is me posing in my current favourite hat, a maroon coloured beret-like thing with loads of sequins and a bobble on it. I usually care nothing for fashion, but I've really jumped on the bandwagon with the whole everything must be the colour of red wine thing. In my defence, I have been dying my hair this colour for 8 years, so my theory is that that the fashion world has only just now realised how awesome I look and decided to popularise the shade. Plus, it keeps my ears warm and it matches my lipstick. WIN.

This is my boyfriend in his warm winter trapper hat (with the ear flaps tied up). This is an excellent hat that I have worn myself on many occasions, however I have a much smaller head than Tom so if I am not wearing my glasses the hat comes down to obscure my eyes with warm fluff every ten seconds, which is quite nice but not very conducive to sight.

This is the winter trapper hat again only this time being worn with the ear flaps down(!) by our friend Barsby, otherwise known as Wild Thymes when he's being fun at the weekend, and Mild Times on all other occasions. We gave this to him for the walk home in torrential rain. He survived; score 1 for the hat.

The above hat scarf and mittens combo is my beloved leopard spirithood. It is an excellent choice for all seasons but probably a bit more wintery than summery, I guess. This hood also has the power to make anyone who wears it happy. A treasure.

My leopard spirithood proved to be so popular I had to get a similar one for my friend Helen, on the proviso that she had to give the appropriate amount of love and respect. It was happily given :)

This is my excellent witches hat. It came already equipped with the front veil (with added spiders) and I won the spiderweb veil at the back from a bet at work. Reduced vision (and alcohol) did cause me to smash my head on a light in the club that evening and fall off the stage, but my hat still looked awesome :)

This is Tom's Adventure Time Finn Hat. We did Adventure Time costumes for Hallowe'en last year and it was wicked. The hat is also wicked.

This is my Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct hat, modelled here by Toad. My Dad brought me this back as a souvenir from Prague. It's lovely and warm in the cold months of winter, but as with the trapper hat I find it difficult to see through an opaque wall of fluff!

While technically not a hat, the hood of my Red Panda kigu is goddamn excellent headgear, and definitely deserves a mention! Just LOOK AT IT.

This is Tom's top hat. This is probably the most expensive item of headgear we own, being as it is an authentic woolen top hat from Christy's of London, who have been prolific milliners since the 19th century. Tom loves it.

Finally, when no kind of headgear appears to be readily available, improvisation is encouraged! :)

The Good Ducktor

This is Ducktor Who. Although he sports a similar scarf, Ducktor is not to be confused with a certain timelord who despite having access to every possible place in the space time continuum, still chooses to get his all of his clothes from charity shops and thrift stores. I have been the Ducktor’s bathtime companion for a good while now - he used to rave for me while he floated, but my carelessness in leaving him in a damp spot put an end to those happy times. Today is a day for celebrating Ducktor and his ancestors. Today is Rubber Ducky Day.

The origins of the rubber ducky are shrouded in mystery, and no-one seems to know where they came from exactly (my guess is aliens). So, why today? Well, as far as I can tell, this holiday is related to an accident of fortune that happened more than 15 years ago. Get ready for this, because it is GREAT :) In January 1992, a container carrying 28,000 rubber duckies fell off a cargo ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The container exploded open in the water, and all the rubber duckies escaped. These were special rubber ducks known as Friendly Floatees that had no holes in them, so they didn't let in any water.

Cute little guys, eh? A few months after the accident, which was complete not-news at the time, rubber duckies started showing up on beaches in Canada and Alaska. As time continued to pass, the duckies continued to make their way slowly around the world and wash up on beaches all over the place, showing up on UK shores as recently as 2007. That intrepid rubber duck had been at sea for over 15 years! What a guy. There are still some ducks presently unaccounted for, some of which must still be afloat on the high seas, yet to come into port.

This map shows the Friendly Floatees progress around the world since the incident, and washed up Friendly Floatees have been selling for more than £1000 on sites such as ebay. The information regarding the rates of the ducks travels and the places they have eventually turned up at has even been used to find out more about how ocean currents work. SCIENCE! If you would like to find out more about these ducks, there's a wealth of information around the internetz and books have been written on the subject. Otherwise, I would recommend nothing more than having a relaxing bubble bath with your own friendly floatee this evening to celebrate Rubber Ducky Day :)