Hey, Phone Fans!

John isn’t in right now, but if you leave your name and number at the beep, he’ll be sure to get back to you. *BEEP*

Seriously though, today is a good day to record a funny, pranking, or absurd answering machine message since it’s National Inane Answering Machine Message Day. Depending on what generation you’re from, you may be more familiar with the (more-or-less) synonymous term, ‘voicemail message’ since cell phones no longer require answering machines that are separate from the phone.

While cell/smartphones certainly seem to be phasing out the landline home phone, many families still own landline telephones and use an answering machine as the phone’s trusty sidekick. Answering machine messages can be as simple as,

“Leave a message and we’ll return your call as soon as we can,”

or as elaborate as,

“Hello! You’ve reached the Wattersons. We’re sorry none of us were able to come to the phone right now, but leave a message for Sharon and David, Michael, Bobby, Sarah, or Sue—*Woof Woof* Haha! OR Spot—and we’ll be sure to return your call as soon as possible.” A good prank—and one that’s gotten me more than a couple times—is ‘answering the phone’ within the voicemail message. For instance, you record for your message, “Hello?….Who is this?….How did you get this number?” The idea is that, if it’s done well, the caller will start talking to the voicemail message. I know I’VE responded to these messages more than once!

I’ve creatively crafted my own voicemail message to lead people to think that I’m much more important than I actually am. It goes something like this: “John knows what devastating disappointment it must cause you to learn that he is unavailable to come to the phone right now. But if you leave your name and number, he will know that you have called.”

Maybe you ought to rerecord your voicemail or answering machine message today to give it a little flare! Happy Inane Answering Machine Message Day! As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Writers!

Chances are, assuming you’re older than a three-year-old, you’ve already written something today. Whether it was your name on a quiz at school, mailing information on an envelope, or a love poem for your sweetie, writing is definitely a staple art form in the world today. That’s why today is National Handwriting Day.

Of course, HANDwriting isn’t nearly as common as it used to be since modern technology has provided us with a speedier alternative to generate “written” words. Yes, the Qwerty keyboard and texting certainly gives the written word (*ahem*—HANDwritten word) a run for its money, however, handwriting is indeed, an art form and one that the world will be hanging on to for a while, I think.

After all, being a writer myself, I can certainly attest to the fact that there is a very different feeling between typing words out and scratching your pen against paper as it leaves a trail of your inky thoughts behind. It’s an intimate feeling shared by just you the pen and the paper without some bright, white, electronic page staring you down.

Of course, I appreciate the efficiency and speed of computers—I’m typing right now! At the same time, I hope that our modern technology doesn’t stop people from writing by hand altogether. It would be a horrible loss. Signatures would lose their flare. The callous would go away on the side of your middle finger. Stock in Bic would plummet.

But most importantly, we would lose an extremely unique way of expressing ourselves. Did you know that you can learn a lot about a person just by looking at their handwriting?

It’s called Graphology. By studying how big or small you write your letters, how much space you leave between your words, how much of an angle you give your letters, and more, you can tell whether a person is organized or not, shy or outgoing, punctual or a born-procrastinator, and much, much more.

Put a pen to some paper and enjoy analyzing your own handwriting today! For now, I'll thank you all for reading today's post and end it there. Till next time, Camp Folks!

- John

Hey, Penguin People!

Penguins are a popular bird—probably an easy favorite for most people. With so many fans, it only makes sense that we have a day dedicated to penguins. And, actually, our love for these flightless birds runs even deeper as there are two days throughout the year that we’ve dedicated to penguins!

Today is Penguin Awareness Day, which consistently lands on January 20 (not to be confused with World Penguin Day—which consistently lands on April 25). There are 17 different species of penguins—all of which live in the southern hemisphere of the world (unless they live in the zoo). Penguins are naturally found in Antarctica, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and Peru, as well as the Falkland and Galapagos Islands.

The biggest of the 17 species of penguins is the Emperor penguin. Reaching an average of 4’ in height, and weighing anywhere from 50 to 100 lbs, Emperor Penguins are quite a big bird, but I know of a penguin that was even bigger! It may surprise you to discover that the cute, waddling penguins that we know and love today would have, at one point, towered over the majority of modern man!

Along with the end of the dinosaurs, the era of mammals brought drastic changes to life on this planet as well as this big bird that stood 6’ 7” tall. Yep, you read that right: these cute, blubbery birds stood much taller 37 million years ago than they do today. It’s been called ‘The Colossus Penguin’ (also known as Mega Penguin) and they came around at the same time as the world’s first horses, whales, and monkeys.

While the penguin may have arrived in the era of mammals, they cannot be exclusively classified as such because they live both on land and in the water. This bird is classified not only as a mammal, but as a fish and an amphibian as well. It’s no wonder that we find these creatures so fascinating! Happy Penguin Awareness Day, Everyone! You can learn more about our feathered friends here. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Winter Fans!

Snow. Snow. Snow. It’s cold, wet, white, and we LOVE the stuff! What other type of precipitation allows you to throw it at one another, mold it into a man, or make angelic impressions in it? Snow is, indeed, one unique, white wonder of our wintry world. It only makes sense that we have a day inspired by this soft, white stuff.

Today is Cutout Snowflakes Day! You know what’s amazing about snowflakes is that, despite the fact that there are billions upon billions of them that fall every year (a ‘septillion’ to be more-or-less specific—which, written out, would look like this: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000), no two are ever exactly identical!

Cutting snowflakes from paper is more than just something you do for decoration or a quick, craft time activity. To cut out a beautiful design that imitates the creations of Nature herself, that’s an art! It takes skill, coordination, and reliable know-how in order to make something as beautifully crafted as the freshly fallen snow.

While the activity is referred to as making ‘snowflake cutouts’, the actual cutting is a surprisingly minimal part of the job. What’s even more important than the cutting is the FOLDING. It’s nothing overly fancy like some kind of complicated origami swan—it’s just folding in halves and thirds. Despite its simplicity, even just folding in thirds and halves can be a little confusing. 

Once you’ve made a bunch of your snowflake cutouts, you can decorate your home. Hang them from the ceiling above your bed or tape them to the window so you can watch a blizzard falling every time you look outside. Have fun with this craft project today and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Chocolate Chasers!

If you’re really THAT crazy about chocolate, then there’s a good chance that you already know what tomorrow is: Cover Anything in Chocolate Day. And when I say, ‘anything’, I mean ANYthing! Because chocolate, you see, is a surprisingly versatile food.

For those of you who are able to boast a matured palette, you may have already experienced the explosive spiciness of a salsa that bears one surprising ingredient which is the most intensely desired superfood of them all…you got that right, chocolate.

I’ve talked a lot about chocolate on this Blog in the past. I’ve talked about Hot Chocolate Day and the history of Chocolate, I’ve talked about Chocolate Ice Cream Day, Chocolate Cake Day, Chocolate CUPcake Day, S’mores Day, Chocolate Mint Day, and I’m positive that I’ve, at least casually, mentioned Chocolate in other posts. Well, I’m not about to stop now!

If Cover Anything in Chocolate Day is tomorrow, then why am I posting about it today? Why, to give you some time to prepare your chocolate-covered treats, of course. It takes a little time to go through such a process. Here’s how you do it.

Once you make the chocolate, you’re ready to cover your snacks. What you’ll be covering in chocolate is completely up to you. My advice is to not be afraid of the unknown. You can find that, just like the chocolate in salsa, chocolate and many other flavors pair up nicely. Get wild and wacky with the things you choclify today. Some people cover GRASSHOPPERS in chocolate!

Here are some weird and extraordinarily intriguing ideas:
•    Cheddar Cheese
•    Saltines
•    Licorice
•    Grapes
•    Dried Apple
•    Gummy Worms
•    Popcorn
•    Banana Chips
•    Orange Slices
•    (And the one I find most interesting) Bacon

You never know until you try it, folks. So melt some tasty chocolate and wrap it around some of your favorite snacks for a world you’ve yet to discover! And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John