Day 309 - wine and stress and historical American personages

I didn't think there would be much to celebrate today as my list looked a bit bare. When I say bare I mean interesting days to celebrate. For example, it was Benjamin Banneker Day. It's not a name I've ever come across before and I didn't think I'd find anything other than a brief mention on Wikipedia.  Thankfully there was a helpful video about him on YouTube. You can watch it here if you're so inclined. He was a self taught science wiz and grew up in a time when slavery was the norm. I'm surprised that his name isn't better known.

It was also Stress Awareness Day which made it onto the intranet at work. The charity MIND hold an awareness day on the first Wednesday of November every year. Stress used to be about managing it by squeezing rubber toys or breaking stuff. Now it's more about understanding what causes stress and avoiding it before you get there. There are so many pressures which cause stress that it's helpful to take a moment and be aware of them and how they can be managed. There was a good Star Trek episode where the crew were faced with an apparently impossible situation. They thought outside the box and found a solution - there's always another way. That works for stress management too, when things seem impossible it often means that you need to sit back and work out an alternative solution.  Well done Star Trek!  It should be prescribed on the NHS. Relaxing is also a good way to manage stress so I had a bath, always a winner.

There were three food related celebrations to tell you about so stick with me as I think it worked. Healthy Eating Day meant trying to eat healthily. It isn't rocket science but it can be trickier than it sounds. For tea we had aubergine pizza. By that, I mean that the aubergine formed the base and had a low fat cheese topping. It was tastier than it sounds but definately healthy. The aubergine is baked and then grilled with the topping.

Bittersweet Chocolate And Almonds Day meant eating bittersweet chocolate with almonds. It's quite straight forward really. I dug out some dark chocolate and mix it in a bowl with some almonds I found in the cupboard. It was actually a decent mixture which works well together. I'm sure that they're healthy as well.

Finally my good lady wife picked up a bottle of Merlot for me as I found out this morning that it was Merlot Day. Happy days. I like a nice merlot, and this was a nice merlot. I'm not a connoisseur so I have no idea what it tastes of other than red wine.

So there we have it, lots more celebrations and a chance to mention Star Trek. Have a happy Wednesday.

...PS it's also Hug A Bear Day, I nearly forgot! I'm off to bed now and will hug a bear on the way, there are plenty of them around.