Day 107 - hand slapping and recreational drugs

Weirdness was afoot today. I didn't  celebrate as much as I wanted to but I did learn some interesting stuff which I will attempt to impart to you.

First up on my list was Bicycle Day. I assumed, as I'm sure that you did when reading that, that it was a day about celebrating bicycles. And you, like I, would be wrong.  It is actually the anniversary of the death of the man who first discovered/invented/ took LSD.  He is said to have taken a tablet, not knowing what it would do, and then went on a very long bike ride. Much like yesterday my available time didn't allow for a bike ride, nor to pop some acid, and having a very sick daughter generally got in the way of most celebrations this evening. Son 2 needs to learn to cycle properly so I think that we'll celebrate the non-drug element on the weekend.

What do you do think Hanging Out Day is all about? Sitting about with your mates? Nope. It's about hanging your clothes out.  I look forward to not using the clothes dryer each year, and as it was the hottest April since 1949 it seemed sensible to get the washing out. So that's what I did. Sadly however Son 1 managed to get both pairs of school shorts dirty so they needed to go in the dryer. Boo.

Rice Ball Day was confusing. My good lady wife bought some ingredients to make Italian rice balls but we then found out that the day is meant to celebrate a certain type of Japanese balls. They are made from sushi rice and are often filled with meat or fish, the rice preserves the filling so they can be made and kept for a long time. I tried to buy some sushi vinegar but they didn't have any in any of the shops in town. Instead I had to make do with some sushi rolls which wasn't quite the same but it was better than nothing.

Ask An Atheist Day was a little confusing. I took to Twitter to see what type of questions were being asked. A work experience student was running the Twitter account for a train line a few months ago and he asked people to ask him questions. Instead of questions about trains he was asked all sorts of random stuff so I hoped that maybe ask an atheist day would be the same. There were a number of people offering to answer questions but I didn't say any being asked. I did however see one comment which shared an Independent article stating that in some countries, being an atheist is punishable by death! The comments suggested that this is theoretical but some people also said that atheists are targeted with violence and the authorities turn a blind eye. Whatever the situation is it doesn't sound good. I've heard of religious violence towards people for being disrespectful but I hadn't come across violence simply for a lack of belief. That sounds quite mediaeval.

So far today hasn't been very celebratory. It was High Five Day so I gave out a few high fives,  obviously. I resisted the fist bump which has become more popular these days. There isn't much more to say on that one.

I had planned on buying some Disaranno to celebrate Amaretto Day but decided to save my money for Record Store Day instead.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more successful although I doubt that I'll be able to give Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day the attention it deserves.