Month: March 2017

March 31st National Bunsen Burner Day

March Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

I remember my days back in high school and the science lab. There are really only two things I remember about the science lab. The first was that I was paired up with the prettiest girl in the entire school and the second was the Bunsen burner. Talk about your win-win!

cf0874cc23e2dc0cd8d8f1ab01bd15a5

German chemist Robert Willhelm Eberhard von Bunsen created the Bunsen burner and today happens to be his birthday.  His invention came in 1811 as scientific exploration blazed forward, in his case, literally.

bunsenDiagram

The Bunsen burner combines gas and air to create a very hot flame.  The flame is used to heat up chemicals, normally in a test tube, to blend them together causing a chemical reaction. It’s also great for warming hot dogs. You may now understand why I did not do all that well in science during my high school years.

chemlab

I understand giving scientist open flame to work with, they need it… however the idea of giving students flame and chemicals may not be the best idea in the world. Oh well, live and learn.

bunsen-burner-day-collage

How to celebrate – Buy a Bunsen burner for your home. You never know when it might come in handy. If you have a child in high school, keep track of how many times something gets blown up in the school over the course of  year. Conduct your own experiments and find out what blows up and what does!

Advertisement

March 30th National Take A Walk In The Park Day

March Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

Now that Spring is here and all the snow has melted away, at least in the south, it is time to get out and enjoy the great outdoors! There is always something to see and something to do, even if that means doing nothing at all except enjoying nature.

images (1)

Everything is so green, so fresh, and so new you can stroll the grounds and see life anew. Flowers blooming, birds chirping, sun shining. Maybe not as colorful as fall but still delightful and clean.

a8f804ef6298bec33969c9b3528cd267

Wild life comes out from its hibernation, babies are playful, and even the old grumpy creatures seem to be in a good mood. Everyone seems glad winter is over and bask in the warmth of the sun.

images

And nearly every park has some sort of playground for children to play, allowing their parents to relax while keeping a close eye on their offspring as they burn off some of that excess energy that spring always brings with it.

Susan-Boyle-Meets-a-Flasher--65720

Yes, there’s something for everyone at a park, all you have to do is look for it, or maybe it will look for you. Either way, it’s no big deal.

How to celebrate – Take a picnic lunch to a park close to you and enjoy. Feed the birds and critters you find in the park, just make sure to keep your distance from them. Organize a clean-up crew and patrol a park keeping it clean for others.

March 29th Festival of Some and Mirrors Day

March Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

Magicians rely on it, business depends on it and people are delighted by it (Most of the time), Yes, it’s Smoke and Mirrors. Meaning, of course, that you don’t really know that what you are seeing is real or not.

shell-game

It’s sort of like the shell game though at least in the shell game you know the pea is somewhere. With smoke and mirrors, what you think is there may not be there at all! What’s more, it may never have been there in the first place.

download (1)

For example, you know the picture above is not moving but still as you stare at it you will see movement. It’s like when you go into a store and find an item on sale for $2.00 when the normal price is $1.49. What a bargain! It’s on sale so it must be a good deal… but wait, it really isn’t!

ff977fd50571088218d4739f2e8b479f

And depending on the way you look at this smoke in a mirror your perception will change. It’s still the same picture, it’s your mind that causes you to see it in several different way. Sometimes this is called a mirage which can be very bad in the dessert. Actually, come to think of it, it can be a bad thing no matter where you are.

Shake-Your-Head-Optical-Illusion

So shake you head and clear your mind, and see what is in the picture above.

How to celebrate – See if you can create your own illusion. See how many things you can find that take your attention away from what you are trying to concentrate on. Looking like you are actually doing work but aren’t is a particular art of smoke and mirrors.

March 28th Weed Appreciation Day

March Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

Boy, you think you are not appreciated!?! Try being a weed! Everybody tries to get rid of their weeds. We spray them, chop them out and curse them but they always seem to come back. At least they are determined.

he33c81bf

Imagine going through life never being wanted, cared for or even admired. I actually wonder how many of us can relate to being a weed. I know there certainly are times when I feel like one.

0435577924_15067372_8col

Of course, when you get down you can always turn to weed to get you in a good mood. Well, not actually a good mood but a mood that you don’t care about what your mood is. Now I know many will disagree, but to me, this is the worst weed of them all. I use to be in a band centuries ago. There were 12 of us and I am the only one still alive, the rest all having passed either directly, or indirectly, due to this weed. If you are in pain, okay, if not realize that you are opening the door to real heartache.

weeds

However, other weeds are just like the plants we want to grow. They provide oxygen, eat up carbon dioxide and provide shelter for animals.

5-weeds-you-want-in-your-garden-800x600

And there are actually some weeds that are good. Broadleaf Plantain, Chickweeds, lamb’s quarter, white clover and dandelions are actually good weeds! They protect soil, fertilize soil, condition soil and draw beneficial insects.

How to celebrate – Go outside and appreciate your weeds for a change. take a weed to lunch and show them a good time! Tell your neighbors why you have good weeds in your yard… spreading to their yard.

March 27th National Joe Day

March Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

This is another one of those days where you get to change your name if you want to. The only catch is, it has to be Joe, or Josephine if your female. Why Joe? Why not? Every morning you probably start your day with a cup of Joe so why not keep joe as your name for the day since you started it off that way.

52152b

Besides, who is cooler than Joe Cool? Wouldn’t you like the opportunity to be cool for the day? (Not that you normally aren’t anyway) The cool sunglasses, thew cool red shirt, the cool attitude.

43247_max

Or maybe you could be like Josephine Bonaparte. Do you like short guys that want to rule the world? Could be a perfect match!

GijoeDuke

Or maybe you’d like to be the All American Hero, G. I. Joe. During World War 2 the Japanese soldiers use to call American’s Joe because it was such a common name. They were nearly certain to find at least one Joe among the men that faced them, or maybe even a Josephine.

images

And your final choice is Joe, as in Sloopy Joe, for those of us that are not real tidy but like to think we still have good taste.

How to celebrate – Take the name Joe for  the day and use it to your advantage. Call all your friends, and family, Joe. In fact call everyone you run into today Joe. It makes it much easier to remember their names and they will probably correct you giving you the name that escaped you. Then you can explain to them that it is Joe day, a perfect cover!

March 2017 Shake it Up Salt and Pepper Shaker Box

Past Boxes, Unboxing the Bizarre

 

If you like what you see and you’re ready to join in the wackiness with us, click here to visit our site to subscribe to our monthly boxes.

March 2017 Original Standard Holiday Box

Past Boxes, Unboxing the Bizarre

Unboxing Monthly Card March LongCrop1

Unboxing Monthly Card March LongCrop2

If you like what you see and you’re ready to join in the wackiness with us, click here to visit our site to subscribe to our monthly boxes.

March 26th Make Up Your Own Holiday

March Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

Here is the day you have been truly waiting for, a day of your very own. No one can tell you what to celebrate because it’s your day and you make up all the rules. Wow, just go wild and make up anything you want… well go ahead… What’s that? They’ve all been taken?  Bummer… there has to be something left.

download (1)

How about Black Hole Day! Since no one has ever been in a black hole and survived to tell about it it’s the ideal day for you to create. You can make up anything you want and everyone should believe you! Well, maybe not everyone, but a lot of people.

heavensgrocerystoretop

Or maybe you can make your holiday about Heaven, someplace we all hope to get to one day… just not today. Well and not everyone. There are those who don’t believe in Heaven, I expect that they will someday be able to celebrate the black hole day you tried to create.

c265f50fc7ac27dea0e19bc2c9624247

Well, sorry, I can’t be of much help here cause if I make it up, then it’s my day, not yours! Apparently it was created by the Wellness Permission League… but no one can find out anything about them so maybe you could create that day!

How to celebrate – Ah, hello, this is where you come in. Make sure you make it fun for everyone. And try not to offend anybody (Good luck there) as you determine what they will be celebrating today.

March 25th International Waffle Day

March Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

Get up! It’s time for breakfast and time to breakout the waffles! So let’s share that last Eggo and make the day brighter for everybody.

mini-hot-chicken-waffles-1-2-1-1440x900

Waffles were first served, so far as we know, in the 1300’s in Greece. They generally were toppedwith cheese and herbs, maybe sometimes a little meat. (They didn’t have syrup back then.)

1873-3-large

In Sweden it’s called Vaffeldagen, and celebrates the first day of Spring (Also throughout Europe) and the Feast of Annunciation. Some find it odd that Waffle Day comes during Lent when you are supposed to give up something you would normally indulge in. I guess waffles are not normally considered one of those things, particularly in Sweden!

Teen-Titans-Go-Waffles-08192015

Here in the United States we celebrate the invention of the waffle iron by Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York in 1869. (They didn’t have Eggos back then)

maxresdefault

Now we have really altered the waffle since it first came out. Some think it is for the better, some think for the worse. What do you think?

How to celebrate – Have a waffle for breakfast this morning. Throw a little chicken and cheese on a waffle for lunch today! Find a friend from Sweden and celebrate their first day of Spring.

March 24th National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day

March Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

I remember sitting at the table as my Grandmother played bridge with her friend and munching on the chocolate covered raisins she sat out for her guests to munch on. I always thought I was doing them a favor from getting all that chocolate on their cards. I loved bridge day.

3103615.large

Chocolate comes from the cocoa bean discovered by Christopher Columbus when he came to the Americas. (Of course the Native American knew about it long before Columbus got there.) Believe it or not the cocoa bean is considered a vegetable. So if you want to really stretch it, you can tell people you are eating your vegetables while chomping down on that chocolate. (I suggest you don’t really believe that you are though.)

477304482_XS

And then there’s the raisin. It is a fruit, it is a grape. I can only imagine that there was a time when someone found some grapes they had left out for say, a couple of years, and decided to eat it any way. By itself, the raisin does not have that visual appeal of something you want to put in your mouth but it does taste good and is at least sort of good for you.

raisinet

Remember going to the movies and chopping down on chocolate covered raisins while being entertained? Today, no one can afford those tiny morsels anymore but there was a time when they were cheap, fun and  easy to eat. (Add to that you are eating fruits and vegetables it so rewarding.)

images

And if you want to try something truly an overload, fix yourself a chocolate covered raisin cake!

How to celebrate – Find some Raisinets and enjoy the memories. Discover your own way to use chocolate covered raisins. Include some chocolate covered raisins in your kids lunch today and create a smile.