Today is one of my favorite days — National Chopsticks Day. Throughout the year, we eat with chopsticks when Claire makes Asian dishes, and we always use chopsticks at Chinese, or Asian type restaurants.
Chopsticks, or Kuaizi in Chinese, are a pair of small equal-length tapered sticks, usually made of wood, used for eating Asian food. The first chopsticks were probably developed over 5,000 years ago in China. Chopsticks play an important role in Chinese food culture. Chinese chopsticks are usually 9 to 10 inches long and rectangular with a blunt end. They are round on the eating end which symbolizes heaven, and the other end is square which symbolizes Earth. They are shaped this way because maintaining an adequate food supply is the greatest concern between heaven and Earth.
Eventually, chopstick use spread to what is now Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. In Japan, chopsticks were originally considered precious and were used exclusively for religious ceremonies. Japanese chopsticks differ in design from Chinese chopsticks in that they are rounded and come to a point — they are also shorter.The Japanese usually made their chopsticks out of wood and were the first to create disposable wooden chopsticks (called wari-hashi.) In Japanese, chopsticks are called hashi.
The english word “chopstick” was apparently derived from the Chinese Pidgin English words “chop chop” —which means fast. Chopsticks are traditionally held in the right hand, even by left-handed people. Although chopsticks may now be deployed by either hand, left-handed chopstick use is considered improper. Using the right hans prevents a left-handed chopstick user from accidentally elbowing a right-handed user seated nearby. It is a huge breach of chopstick etiquette to impale a piece of food with a chopstick. There is an old Chinese custom making chopsticks part of a girl’s dowry, since the pronunciation of kuaizi is similar to the words for “quick” and “son.”
So toss your knives and forks today — no matter what you’re having, eat it with chopsticks. Happy Chopsticks Day! — 30 —
Since we’re into the new (Chinese) year and it’s the year of the Tiger which is my Chinese Zodiac sign and I’m married to Claire whose zodiac sign is the Dog, we should probably check to see if we’re compatible. Actually, we knew the answer years ago before we got married, but I thought I should share the results with everyone.
There are twelve zodiac animal signs in Chinese astrology and in the Chinese calendar and people born under each animal sign all have totally different personality traits. Chinese compatibility reveals who you are a good match with and even offers you some extra relationship insight. The twelve animals are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.
Chinese astrology is a fascinating tool that can be used to reveal lots of information on who our perfect love matches are as well as who we should avoid in relationships.
I was born in the year of the Tiger and Claire was born in the year of the Dog — here’s what what Chinese astrology says about our relationship:
“Tiger (Male) and Dog (Female) This will be a sweet and mutually affectionate couple. They will work hard together and both be dedicated to their family. The woman will be very gentle and kind, which Tiger admires and treasures. Tiger will have a can-do attitude with a compassionate heart, which makes Dog willing to invest in the relationship without fear. They will be very attracted to each other while also able to respect each other’s privacy. Together, this pairing will spur each other to reach their potential.”
If you check the Internet you can find several (probably more than several) compatibility calculators, based on Chinese astrology. I used one yesterday — you type the day, month and year that you both were born and the calculator computes how compatible the two of you are. Here’s the results for us: “You are a wonderful pair Your match score is 90%”
So there you have it — it was written in the stars, or at least the Chinese zodiac, we were made for each other…. — 30 —
Well, the Super Bowl LXI teams have been decided. Both the conference “favorites” lost last weekend. The Los Angeles Rams will play the Cincinnati Bengals.
I don’t know what the odds-makers are saying, but Cincinnati has surprised a lot of people this year and I’m thinking it just may be their year. In fact, it may be written in the stars — The Lunar, or Chinese New Year began on February 1st and it’s the Chinese Year of the Tiger. If I’m not mistaken, the Bengals mascot is a Tiger. Coincidence? Maybe, but maybe not — the Vince Lombardi Trophy may just end up in Ohio this month. — 30 —
Today, 2/2/22 is a the day we’ve all been waiting for. Yea, it’s Groundhog Day, but today is the day we find out the new name of the Washington Football Team, previously known as the Redskins! The excitement has been building for the past couple of weeks, and — finally — today’s the day.
But even on an important and historic day like today, we can’t forget that in most years, February 2 would just be another day on the calendar if it wasn’t for the great Punxsutawney Phil. Will he see his shadow? Will he not see his shadow? Can he really predict the weather? Why do we care?
Punxsutawney Phil may be the most famous, but supposedly all groundhogs can predict the weather. But not with their shadow — because groundhogs hibernate every winter, the fact that they bother to leave their hideaway is a natural sign that spring is coming.
Even though we refer to the Pennsylvania groundhog as Punxsutawney Phil, he has a ridiculously long official name. His full name is “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary.” The National Climatic Data Center compared U.S. national temperatures to determine the accuracy of Phil’s predictions — he’s only been correct 39% of the time. That’s significantly worse than chance.
One true fact about groundhogs has led to a popular joke: What do groundhogs have in common with sleazy construction workers? Answer: They both whistle at potential mates. Because of this groundhog trait, they are also known as “whistle-pigs” (lecherous day laborers are known simply as “pigs.”)
Designated animal weathermen vary from culture to culture. Medieval cults favored bears, holding parties by their dens, dressed up in grizzly costumes and waiting for a bear to lumber out from hibernation and check the weather. But we’ve got Phil and loyal fans swear by his predictions — that he’s been making since 1886 — so don’t believe that bit that groundhogs only live up to six years. And even though the Washington Football Team is stealing Phil’s thunder today, it’s still Phil’s day….
Update: The Washington Football Team is now the Commanders — and — there will be six more weeks of winter. Both about equally surprising, I guess. — 30 —
Today is Chinese New Year — a day that we always celebrate in our house. Every year I discuss some aspects of Chinese New Year here, so if you’re interested, you can check the archives for previous year entries.
Chinese New Year can fall any time between January 21 and February 21 — it falls on the second new Moon after the winter solstice. In 2022, that’s today, February 1. The new year marks the transition between zodiac signs. Last year (2021) was the year of the Ox — this year (2022) is the year of the Tiger. I’m very excited because I was born in the year of the Tiger, so I figure this must be my year — except for the dreaded Ben Ming Nian.
The Chinese New Year is often referred to as the Lunar New Year and it’s actually a 15 day festival marking the start of a new year. The celebrations start with the Little Year, during which the preparations for the new year begin. This is a span of eight days, which fall between January 24 and January 31 this year. Next is the Spring Festival, which lasts for 11 days, from February 1 through February 11, and finally, the Lantern Festival, which is four days between February 12 and February 15. Even though many in China keep up with all the traditions for the duration of the Chinese New Year, only the first seven days — starting (this year) with New Year’s Eve on January 31 are considered a public holiday.
As I mentioned, the Chinese New Year doesn’t follow the Gregorian calendar but uses the lunisolar Chinese calendar, which is based for the most part on the movement of the Moon. Just like the Gregorian calendar, days begin and end at midnight — but in a lunisolar calendar, the months start on the second or third new Moon after the winter solstice.
While most people in China and elsewhere in Asia use the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese calendar is an important part of Asian culture that determines many of the region’s largest holidays and other important events.People often use the Chinese calendar to pick dates for weddings, funerals, starting a business, moving to a new home, etc.
Each year of the Chinese calendar is represented by one of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs — the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig, in that order. Then they start over.
I mentioned that I was born in the year of the Tiger. It seems like being born during the year of the current animal year should be lucky, but the opposite is actually true. In Chinese astrology, the year that lines up with your zodiac sign is your Ben Ming Nian, a term that refers to a person’s zodiac being the same as the current year’s zodiac. Chinese astrology says that when it is your sign’s Ben Ming Nian, it will be your year of Fan Tai Sui.”Fan Tai Sui” means that you are offending Tai Sui, who is the guardian god for the year. This all boils down to a way of saying beware — there may be bad luck ahead. But luckily, for us Tigers, Chinese mythology has a few remedies to help ward off bad luck, like: Praying to the Tai Sui early in the year for protection and peace. Wearing an ornament or piece of jewelry to protect against the effects of Tai Sui. Befriending people who are favored by the current year’s reigning Tai Sui — for 2022, that would be people under the Pig zodiac sign. Doing good deeds and behaving with love and kindness, especially to elders and the needy, which helps gain the favor of the Tai Sui. Worshiping the Tai Sui, often by setting up a shrine in your home to make offerings to both the god and the year’s zodiac animal. Wearing red, which is said to help improve your fortunes and ward off Fan Tai Sui since it is considered a joyous and auspicious color. So just to be safe, I’m going to follow all these remedies in 2022 — especially being nice to Pig people.
Even though Chinese New Year has lot of superstitions and traditions associated with it, some of them make good sense for all of us…. here’s some you may find useful. Housecleaning should be done before the Chinese New Year’s Day to sweep away bad luck from the previous year. No sweeping or dusting is allowed on New Year’s Day so that good fortune will not be swept away. Precedents are set on New Year’s Day. Nothing should be loaned on this day, or else the lender will be loaning all year. Mischievous children are never spanked on this day to avoid tears destined to last the whole year through. Do not use references to death or the past, or use foul language and unlucky words, or the telling of ghost stories — all those are taboo on New Year’s Day. Hair washing is forbidden. Leave your hair as it is on the first day of the New Year. The Chinese character for hair is the same first character in the word prosper. This means washing your hair is seen as washing your fortune away and dramatically reduces your chances for prosperity and good fortune in the year.
The New Year celebration is a time to worship ancestors, exorcise evil spirits and pray for a good harvest. Basically the celebration is centered around removing the bad and old, and welcoming the new and the good. Happy New Year to all….. — 30 —
Today is the last day of January — tomorrow we get into the shortest month of the year, but there’s a lot going on in February. I’ll be blogging about a lot of February’s special days throughout the month, but we shouldn’t forget that February has been designated Black History Month. Seems like racism is making a comeback in the United States, so I think we should take a few minutes to reflect on what the month is intended to honor — the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history.
We’re all at least aware of prominent figures like George Washington Carver, Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm, Jackie Robinson and Oprah Winfrey but there a many, many more that probably don’t get the recognition they deserve.
The celebration of Black History Month began as “Negro History Week” and was created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, a noted African American historian, scholar, educator and publisher. It became a month-long celebration in 1976. The month of February was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
The Quakers were the first to protest against slavery. They were famously known as “The Society of Friends.” Four Quakers from Germantown, Pa. wrote the first protest against slavery in 1699. Drawing inspiration from the Golden Rule, the peace-loving men wrote, “Pray, what thing in the world can be done worse towards us, than if men should rob or steal us away, and sell us for slaves to strange countries, separating husbands from their wives and children….” This rare document was rediscovered in 2005 and is now part of the Haverford College Special Collections.
We should all be proud of our heritage, and a number of maybe not so well-known African Americans achieved a lot of “firsts: Jack Johnson became the first African American to hold the World Heavyweight Championship boxing title. John Mercer Langston was the first Black man to become a lawyer when he passed the bar in Ohio. Thurgood Marshall was the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court. Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate (from Mississippi.) Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to the House of Representatives. Hattie McDaniel was the first African American performer to win an Academy Award (for the Movie Gone With the Wind.) Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Robert Johnson became the first African American billionaire. Barack Obama was the first Black President of the United States Kamala Harris is the first woman of African or Asian descent to become Vice President of the U.S.
If your knowledge of cowboys comes from the movies or TV, you may not know that a quarter (25%) of (real) cowboys were black. After the Civil War ended, the old “wild west” attracted lots of newly freed slaves seeking freedom and paid work. These “cowboys” did find a demand for their skills and freedom, but they had to contend with many physical dangers while sleeping under the stars and “riding them horses” — like inclement weather, reckless outlaws and rattlesnakes.
On February 12, 1909 a group of African American leaders joined together to form a new permanent civil rights organization — the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP.) That organization will celebrate their 113the anniversary on February 12. The organization was formed on February 12, 1909 because it was the centennial anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.
We’ll probably hear a lot about Black History Month over the next few weeks — we should pay attention. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from our past. No one should be proud of some of our past, but it isn’t were we came from, it’s where we’re headed that counts…. — 30 —
Well, we’re almost through the first month of the new year and past the date we can officially ditch our resolutions for the year. Only one more month of (probably) crappy weather before we can start looking forward to spring.
But even though January is really one of my least favorite months, lots of important things have happened during the month of January over the years, such as…. The Catholic Church adopted January 1, instead of March 25, as the beginning of the New Year (1622) During the American Revolution, George Washington unveiled the Grand Union Flag, the first national flag in America (1776) China and the U.S. established diplomatic relations, 30 years after the founding of the People’s Republic (1979) Alaska was admitted as the 49th state (1959) President George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address (1790) Winston Churchill died (1965) The Pontiac was introduced by General Motors (1926) The March of Dimes Foundation was created (1938) Nancy Pelosi was elected first female Speaker of the United States Congress (2007) Work began on the Golden Gate Bridge across San Francisco Bay. (1933) The Yankees brought Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox (1920) The “Today” program began on NBC (1952) Flight 1549 crashed in the Hudson River (2009) The US launched the world’s first atomic submarine, the Nautilus (1954) The Apple Macintosh computer was first displayed during the Super Bowl (1984) First canned beer was sold (1935) Honeymoon Bridge across Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada collapsed (1938) The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded (1986) Iceland became the first country to legalize abortion (1935) The USS Pueblo was seized by North Koreans in the Sea of Japan (1968) The first use of a donkey to symbolize the Democratic Party in America appeared in a cartoon in Harper’s Weekly, criticizing former secretary of war Edwin Stanton with the caption, “A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion.” (1870)
Even though some people would just like to remove January from the calendar and have and extra July instead, there’s still a lot of stuff happens during the month so we should probably keep it around even if January is the “Monday” of the months. — 30 —
There’s been a lot in the news lately (actually, for a long time) about the havoc that the Corona virus is causing in our schools. There’s the mask debate of masks or no masks and the difference of opinions over the pros and cons of “virtual learning.” Like it or not, there’s probably going to some amount of virtually learning, periodically, for the foreseeable future. So I guess it’s something we all just have to deal with. Luckily, it looks like Rory and Ellie are taking it in stride…. — 30 —
Almost a year ago one of my blog entries discussed redundancies, and while that particular blog didn’t specifically discuss oxymorons, it did address the subject of using two incompatible words together in one expression.
Well, for no particular reason, I thought it might be good to explore the subject of oxymorons. I suppose I should point out that I just used a technically incorrect term by using oxymorons. If you’re referring to more than one oxymoron, they’re not called oxymorons, so what do you call them? The correct plural form of the word is oxymora.You may, or may not, have even ever heard of that word. Over the years, so many people have been saying oxymorons that — even though technically incorrect — the term is so widespread that it’s now considered an acceptable usage by most language scholars. But — if you want to be precise (and correct,) oxymora is the word to use.
We’ve all heard people use terms like old news, pretty ugly and serious fun without thinking much about it, but these expressions are all oxymorons. In fact we all use them in our speech and writings all the time, without ever thinking about it.
Just because I thought it would be interesting, and I didn’t have much to do, I took a little time and flipped through an issue of AARP magazine, the Smithsonian magazine and a couple of on-line news articles and just wrote down expressions that I would consider to be oxymorons. Surprisingly, there were more than I expected and they weren’t hard to spot.
[While I was browsing, it occurred to me that some of the articles contained what I’d call self-contradictory words and terms, such as almost (is is all or most?) aircraft black box (it’s painted orange.) and broker (this is a guy that’s suppose to be investing our money.)]
But back to oxymorons/oxymora — these are some that I found that I’d consider to be incompatible words used together…. paid volunteer, friendly takeover, authentic reproduction, small crowd, clearly misunderstood, continuing resolution, United States (think about that,) graduate student, experienced novice and only choice. And — one that jumped out at me that I’m sure I wouldn’t have run across a couple of years ago — social distancing. — 30 —
The ampersand (&) is an often over-used abbreviation for the word “and.” It seems like I’ve seen it used incorrectly a lot recently — maybe it gets more use because with all the texting, people tend to abbreviate everything.
From what I think I was taught years ago, its use should be limited…. like when space is very limited, maybe in a table that has a lot of text, or certain company names, such as “Smith & Sons, Inc.,” or when it’s used in a logo or something that artistic considerations dictate its use. An ampersand should never be used in general writing just to abbreviate the word and.
It’s interesting to note that the shape of the ampersand character varies from font to font. All computers have numerous fonts already installed and you can download hundreds from the Internet. Some of them are very stylish — if you’d like to use an old or unusual style ampersand in your writing (it might make your writing more sophisticated) experiment with setting a regular ampersand in italics. In some fonts (e.g. Garamond) this produces an old-style ampersand. The one I’ve shown at the left is from the Garamond Premier Pro font family.
If you look at it and use your imagination, you see the letters e and t. This is because the ampersand character is a stylized form of the Latin word er, which means and. Is that cool, or what? Aren’t you glad you checked this blog today? — 30 —
