Today Is... 📆

[GregRedd]

Good morning!

It is Wednesday, 18 August 2021
(W33 | D230 | 135 rem)

Today is: Bad Poetry Day

Not everybody can be the best writer, lyricist or poet. But don’t let that put a stop to doing it anyway! Bad Poetry Day is the perfect opportunity to read, write and create any type of poetry desired, even if it’s really bad.

Whether using sonnets, limericks, free verse or haiku, poetry certainly has the potential to be beautiful and powerful–but it can also be very, very awful.

Of course it’s true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which probably also means that the judgment of what types of poetry are bad or good are relative based on personal preference. However, in some cases, poetry can just be so bad that everyone agrees that no good can come of it!

Bad Poetry Day was created to feature poetry that is so very bad it simply needs to be paid attention to! Twitter is one platform that many people use to get their bad poetry out into the world so that everyone can enjoy hating it.

Enjoy and celebrate this rather weird day by investing some time in the honor and upholding of bad poetry.

Try these ideas for celebrating this day:
Create Some Bad Poetry
Bad Poetry Day encourages just about anyone to give it a go by putting pen to paper and writing some terrible verse. Sure, maybe it’s not coming from a professional poet, or a talented poet, but who cares? Bad Poetry Day is all about offering to the world a few words on a page, rhyming or not, that can fall under the category of Bad Poetry.

It might be surprising how difficult it is to actually create bad poetry, but today is the day to give it a try!

Learn to Write Haiku–Badly
While Haiku can be a beautiful structure for lovely little pieces of poetry, it also can provide an opportunity to write ridiculously bad lines. Including three lines of five syllables, seven syllables, and then five syllables again, Haiku offers some excellent fodder for developing weird verses that are simply very bad!

Enjoy Some Bad Poetry Jokes
If there ever was a day to tell bad jokes about poetry that will make friends and family groan, this is the day for it! Try out these ridiculous poetry jokes or come up with some other creative ones:

• Question: What did the poet say to Luke Skywalker? Answer: Metaphors be with you.
• Question: What do you get when you combine Robert Frost with James Bond? Answer: The Road Not Shaken But Stirred.
• Question: How do poets say goodbye? Answer: “I’d like to linger a little longer, but it’s getting aliter-ate”
• Question: What is it called when a man keeps walking around his lady reciting various odes to her? Answer: Poetry in Motion

Unfetter the inner poet
Be sated in your joyful repose
*Upon this mid week day! *
Violets are not blue!

---

[DarthMol]

One of the greatest poems:

It is Wednesday
My dudes

[murfle]

Here’s one I came up with as a kid:

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on her tuffet
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider
and sat down beside her
and she ate that too

[Beo]

Sure that wasn’t little Ms. Piggy?

[murfle]

Little Ms. Piggy
Smoking a ciggy
Her habit is each day.
Along came a crackhead
And said “Try this instead”
And she wasted her life away

[DarthMol]

As someone who did an English Major at Varsity I absolutely loved this:

I also have a humorous story about the one poetry test that we had. The test was on Robert Frost’s “Putting in the Seed”. In preparing for the test word spread through the class that the meaning of the poem - what it actually refers to - is sex and its consequence, birth. And so that’s what we all went with when we wrote our essay in the test. To give you an idea of how it went down, here’s the poem:

You come to fetch me from my work to-night
When supper’s on the table, and we’ll see
If I can leave off burying the white
Soft petals fallen from the apple tree.
(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite,
Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;)
And go along with you ere you lose sight
Of what you came for and become like me,
Slave to a springtime passion for the earth.
How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed
On through the watching for that early birth
When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed,

The sturdy seedling with arched body comes
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.

Turns out the poem isn’t really about sex and the English department lecturers and tutors were horrified at our interpretations. One of the comments on my marked essay went something like this: “You do not go into much detail here, but that may not be a bad thing.”

[Deadlypinecone]

This is what came to mind for me:

Oh freddled gruntbuggly,
Thy micturations are to me, (with big yawning)
As plurdled gabbleblotchits, in midsummer morning
On a lurgid bee,
That mordiously hath blurted out,
Its earted jurtles, grumbling
Into a rancid festering confectious organ squealer. [drowned out by moaning and screaming]
Now the jurpling slayjid agrocrustles,
Are slurping hagrilly up the axlegrurts,
And living glupules frart and stipulate,
Like jowling meated liverslime,
Groop, I implore thee, my foonting turlingdromes,
And hooptiously drangle me,
With crinkly bindlewurdles,mashurbitries.
Or else I shall rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon,
See if I don’t!

[murfle]

involuntary convulsing

[GregRedd]

Good morning!

It is Thursday, 19 August 2021
(W33 | D231 | 134 rem)

Today is: World Photography Day

World Photography Day is an annual, worldwide celebration of the art, craft, science and history of photography.

Since the early 19th century, photography has become an ever-increasing medium of personal expression and appreciation for countless people around the world.

A photograph has the ability to capture a place; an experience; an idea; a moment in time. For this reason, it’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Photographs can convey a feeling faster than, and sometimes even more effectively than words can. A photograph can make the viewer see the world the way the photographer sees it.

Photographs even transcend the passing of time - a photo from a hundred years ago can still be as appreciated now, as it was then. A photo taken tomorrow, can still be just as appreciated by others in a hundred years’ time.

World Photo Day originates from the invention of the Daguerreotype, a photographic process developed by Frenchmen Louis Daguerre and Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1837.

On January 9, 1839, the French Academy of Sciences announced the Daguerreotype process. On August 19, the French government purchased the patent and announced the invention as a gift “free to the world”.

Photography Day is a day whereby we pay tribute to the incredible art form that is photography. There are those personal photos that we all love and cherish, but there are also photos that tell a story. They tell us about significant periods in time or enable us to learn more about the planet. After all, they do say that a picture is worth one-thousand words, right?

The photograph originally was made by Nicéphore Niépce, using silver chloride coating a piece of paper. However, the photo would eventually turn fully dark as he knew no way to remove the silver chloride from the paper to preserve the photo.

Photographs got better and better over the years, first with the ‘still camera’, and the ability to take a picture that way. Think the old west in America, and that camera’s differences to the ones of World War 2, then compare them to modern cameras. The major jumps in technology affected photography as much as any other facet of life around the world.

With Nikon, Canon, Pentax and so many other brands out there, it was of no surprise when the market of photography got such a jump, even more so with the military and surveillance capabilities offered as cameras got better, lighter and more easily used.

Yet for all the innovation and creativity, science and even the large amount of art that occurs in the photography realm, not much can beat the simple pleasure of taking your own photos, and sharing them with others.

Take lots of photographs today, pick your favourites and share them with us here. And with the world on social media using the #WorldPhotographyDay hashtag.

Let’s see your snaps from today!

---

Know More:

World Photography Day - Thursday, August 19th, 2021

---

[oltman]

@DarthMol

someone who did an English Major at Varsity

Haha, that e-card almost looks like you with the goatee!

[murfle]

I haven’t done much photography since I arrived in South Africa. I used to carry my DSLR around with me everywhere I went when I lived in Israel.

Here, I would rather not walk around with expensive uninsured equipment. I can’t justify the cost of adding my gear to my all-risks.

Maybe I’ll try to get some pics around the property today…

[Beo]

I regret selling my DSLR, I love my photography and as a hobby of mine I do miss it.

All I have left are my 35mm film cameras which are just too expensive for me to support at the current time. I have a '92 Olympus OM10 and a '72 Yashica Minister III range finder. Still holding out for a deal on a Leica or Pentax.

[murfle]

Whelp, got a bit of wildlife photography in my living room when I got home today

[Beo]

Paraplegic spider?

[murfle]

I’m guessing the geckos got 'im or something. I see lots of 5 legged spiders around the house

[GregRedd]

Good morning!

It is Friday, 20 August 2021
(W33 | D232 | 133 rem)

Today is: World Mosquito Day

You may be wondering why we have a World Mosquito Day when these animals are responsible for the transmission of malaria. Well, that is what this day is all about; raising awareness regarding this, so that more people will be safe and protected. It is also important to recognize that all animals and creatures play an important role in the circle of life, whether they are harmless or not.

World Mosquito Day was created in order to honor the discovery made of the link between humans, malaria, and mosquitoes. This is something that has changed the health industry considerably, ensuring that humans can be protected.

Malaria is a disease that mosquitoes carry, which is caused by a parasite. It is curable and preventable, yet sadly, it still threatens the lives of millions of people across the globe. It is important to note that not all mosquitoes transmit malaria; only infected female anopheles are able to transmit this to humans.

You may be wondering how malaria is transmitted by a mosquito. It is as simple as a bite. If a mosquito bites you and it has been carrying malaria, the parasite is going to be released into your bloodstream, which can infect your entire body. Mosquitos are typically most active at night and dusk, and so they do not usually bite during the day. However, it is important to make sure that your body is protected at all times.

The latest statistics show that approximately 435,000 people die of malaria every year. Not only this, but there is believed to be approximately 219 million cases of malaria every year across the world. These are pretty big statistics, right? A lot of people do not realize just how serious the problem is, especially those that live in areas that are not at risk.

Malaria can be found in over 100 countries. It is a condition that typically impacts the world’s tropical areas. Nevertheless, roughly 70 percent of the malaria burden around the world is concentrated in 11 countries. One being India, and the rest being on the African continent.

If you are going to be travelling to a country that does have a malaria risk, it is imperative that you take the steps to protect yourself against this disease. You should sleep under a mosquito net, use mosquito repellent, and take malaria tablets. Of course, the best thing to do here is to book an appointment with your doctor before you travel so that he or she can make sure that you are prepared and protected.

World Mosquito Day commemorates the day, in 1897, when the link between mosquitoes and malaria transmission was discovered by Sir Ronald Ross. It aims to raise awareness about the causes of malaria and how it can be prevented, as well as fundraising for research into the cure of malaria. It is also a salute to the groundbreaking work of Sir Ross and scientists who have followed him.

Stay safe out there folks, it’s a wild and dangerous world!

---

Know More:

World Mosquito Day

---

[murfle]

Mosquitoes suck.

[FarligOpptreden]

They do!

[murfle]

People in South Africa complain so much about the mosquitoes here… “They’re so bad!” you say.

They aren’t that bad here. I went golfing in the country in Canada. At one point, just in the time it took to run up to the ball in the sand trap, plant my feet, and get my grip in record time, my arms were sleeved in the little blood suckers.

We started to Happy Gilmore our shots just to avoid bites. After the one shot from the sand, I booked it towards the golf cart. I looked behind me, and there was a swarm in my draft. It looked like something out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

As I got close to the golf cart, where my friend was frantically slapping his legs, he stomped on the accelerator, and I had to jump into the moving cart.

[GregRedd]

Good morning!

It is Saturday, 21 August 2021
(W33 | D233 | 132 rem)

Today is: World Honey Bee Day

From one insect that we can do without to one that we can’t do without…

We often take nature for granted. We don’t think about the pivotal role that all of life’s creatures play. However, World Honey Bee Day gives you the perfect opportunity to pay honour to the incredible honey bee and the critical role that honey bees play in our everyday lives.

World Honey Bee Day is an awareness day whereby honey bee enthusiasts, beekeeping associations and clubs, and beekeepers celebrate the honey bee. It is a day to recognize the contribution that honey bees make to our everyday lives, as well as learning about the different steps that we can take in order to protect this vital species. On World Honey Bee Day, we also pay homage to beekeepers. After all, it is their efforts that make sure that there are healthy and well-managed bees to pollinate crops.

Of course, honey bees provide us with honey, and this is one of the many reasons why we should be thankful for them! Honey is a golden, thick liquid, which is produced by bees using the nectar of plants that are flowering.

The kind of flowers that bees visit will impact the texture, smell, and taste of the honey, resulting in different types of honey, including orange blossom, clover, acacia, and manuka honey.

There are a lot of nutritional benefits that are associated with adding a bit of honey to your diet. High-quality honey offers a number of benefits because of the antioxidants that are included. These include phenolic compounds, such as flavonoids, as well as organic acids. The antioxidants that are found in honey have been linked to lowering the risk of strokes, heart attacks, and some forms of cancer. They are also believed to assist in terms of eye health.

There have also been studies that have shown that honey can help to improve your cholesterol levels. If you have high LDL cholesterol levels, then you are going to be at a greater risk of having heart disease. This sort of cholesterol plays a massive role in atherosclerosis, which is the fatty buildup in your arteries that can cause strokes and heart attacks as well.

There are more and more studies that are showing that honey can help to enhance your cholesterol levels. This is because it significantly raises the good HDL cholesterol while lowering the total of bad LDL cholesterol.

Honey doesn’t only benefit you in terms of consuming it, but it has been used for many years as a topical treatment for healing burns and wounds. In fact, this can be dated back to Ancient Egypt. Researchers have concluded that the healing powers of honey come from the anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects it has, as well as its ability to nourish the tissue that surrounds the wounded area.

Bees are critical to our daily living, yet they are in decline on a worldwide scale. This is because they face a number of different threats. The use of toxic pesticides is one of these threats. They are also at risk due to habitat loss, as there has been an increase in invasive farming methods and urban developments, meaning that places that honey bees used to call home do not exist anymore.

World Honey Bee Day, previously known as Honey Bee Awareness Day, is an idea put together by beekeepers in the USA, who petitioned the USDA in 2009 for an official day to honour honey bees and beekeeping.

Be the best being you can be today! Happy Saturday!

---

Know More:

National Honey Bee Day

---