April 3 – Don't Go to Work Unless It's Fun Day

Posted on April 3, 2018

There is a book called Don't Go to Work Unless It's Fun, and author Frank Sanitate may have started the holiday as a way of publicizing his 1994 book.

I am not sure what points Sanitate makes in this book; if you are motivated to check it out, I cannot think of a better day to do so!!

But here is what I thought of, when I saw this holiday name:

A lot of jobs are really difficult, or exhausting, or dirty, or even boring - but also really important. So I do not want to urge people in difficult, exhausting, dirty, or boring jobs to quit or even to skip work today...

BUT, in any job, people can find a way to make the job at least somewhat fun. This might be a great day for bosses to try to brainstorm ways to do just that! And I would urge people who work in supposedly non-fun jobs to also brainstorm ways to make those jobs better and even, at moments, fun.


Of course, as important as some jobs are for all of society (like, we kind of need someone to collect trash!), jobs tend to be very important to the job holders, because doing those jobs is how they get money! So don't take today off just because it's Don't Go to Work Unless It's Fun Day, unless you know your boss is fine with that!

I often think how important it is for people to try to find work worth doing (to them), work they are good at (or can become good at), work they find fun. Young people should be exposed to eleven-ty thousand different sorts of subjects and activities and jobs and opportunities, and they should be encouraged to explore whatever makes their heart sing - because happiness with careers and work is an important part of happiness with life!


But I also think that, at least in modern "Western" society, the word "work" often gets a bad sort of rap, especially as it contrasts with the word "play." Here are some great quotes to make you think about the work / play dichotomy:






Also on this date:

April 2 – Easter Monday

Posted on April 2, 2018




Okay, so a year ago, I was trying to plan a springtime visit to Europe around my daughter's show schedule, so I could be sure to see her show in Leipzig, Germany, during the trip.

It turned out that that meant I was in Eastern Europe during the Easter holidays. Which I hadn't really thought out, because, in many places in Europe:

Good Friday is a big-time holiday, AND
Easter Sunday is a big-time holiday, AND
Easter Monday is a big-time holiday!


Ummm...three of the first four days I was in Europe, a lot of places were closed. And some places were also closed on the Saturday in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday...because, why not?

I ended up having a really splendid time, anyway, and I didn't miss a thing I'd planned on doing or seeing - so "all good"! But I thought it was interesting that things were so shut down that weekend, because I always hear that Europe is less religious than the U.S., and that Eastern Europe is especially less religious than the U.S....and yet, most places in the U.S. aren't closed down for half a week at Easter time!

How do people celebrate Easter Monday?

Easter Monday is celebrated in many places all over the world. It is often just a day of rest and recovery, sort of like the day after Christmas being a holiday in many places.

In some places, there are parades or solemn religious processions on Easter Monday. In Sydney, Australia, there is a parade and family day at a park.


In Guyana, Easter Monday is a traditional day to fly kites!


In the U.S., a popular tradition is the White House Easter Egg Roll; to learn more, click the link below.

In some places, it's a great day to go outside - but not necessarily to watch a parade, fly a kite, or roll eggs. It can be a good day just to enjoy the beginnings of spring (or, in the Southern Hemisphere, the beginnings of autumn). Picnicking is big in Portugal and Italy, on Easter Monday, and hiking after a big holiday breakfast is common in the Netherlands.

Hopefully, the beginnings of spring are warm, because an old Hungarian tradition is for men to dunk their wives or girlfriends into water. It's even called Dunking Day! In some places, "dunking" becomes buckets of water sloshed onto loved ones - hence the name "Wet Monday." And in Poland, 
it's sometimes called Splash Monday or Dyngus Day (to learn more, click the Dyngus Day link below).

No! Not the camera!

April 1 - Republic Day in Iran

Posted on April 1, 2018

Today is the anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran, on Farvardin 12 (generally April 1) in 1979.


The land that is now Iran has been home of some of the world's oldest civilizations - starting with the Elamites and reaching its height with the Persian Empire, including the Achaemenid Empire, the Parthian Empire, and the Sasanian Empire. Arab Muslims conquered Persia in the 600s, and the area continued to be important during the Islamic Golden Age. 

Unfortunately, the modern history in the region has not been a shining beacon of democracy and human rights. The Shah of Iran that ruled before the 1979 revolution was known for political repression and, to the shame of the U.S. and the U.K., pandered more to the profits of those nations than to the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of the Iranian people themselves. Of course students and others revolted against the Shah's government!

However, the government that formed after the revolution has been repressive, too - political opponents are still arrested and persecuted, but ALSO, the rights of women, children, and members of the LGBT community are inadequate, and members of minority religions often feel threatened or face persecution.

So, that's the bad news. What's the good news?

Here are just a few of the wonderful things about Iran / Persia:

The desert region is home of the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah.


Even though Iran has a lot of desert, it also has lots of mountains and several ski resorts.



Iran is the largest exporter of caviar, which is considered the most expensive food in the world. Almas caviar, which comes from the eggs of 60- to 100-year-old sturgeon, sells for more than $30,000 per kilogram (each kilogram is a bit more than 2 pounds). It's called "black gold"...and, yeah, that's pretty expensive!!!


Speaking of expensive foods, the spice saffron is also really costly - even more than gold! It's about 40 British pounds per gram (not kilogram)! And Iran is Number 1 in exporting saffron - like, it produces 90% of the world's supply!!!


Persian rugs are beautiful and have the highest reputation - but they are intentionally made to be imperfect! The idea is that "only God is perfect"...







Also on this date: 














Easter and more Easter and even more Easter
































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