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National Buy a Book Day

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National Buy a Book Day Worldwide Weird Holidays

Today is National Buy a Book Day, created in 2010 by author Philip Athans to support bookstores, writers and the publishing industry. He chose September 7 as the date of its observance because it falls on his birthday.

Athans described his inspiration in science fiction/fantasy blog Grasping at the Wind:

It started with a tweet, which warned of more layoffs ahead at Borders. I know a few people there, and one of them told me, “I’m only speculating, but I really think that unless Borders has a huge holiday sales run, they’ll be looking at bankruptcy by the early part of next year. I hope I’m wrong. And unless things change, it wouldn’t surprise me if B&N shares the same fate in a few years.”

As we now know, Borders did indeed file for bankruptcy protection on February 16, 2011. The next day it began to liquidate 226 of 511 stores, laying off 6,000 employees. On July 19, 2011, it announced layoffs of 10,700 and liquidation of the remaining 399 stores; the last closed on September 18, 2011.

David Magee of the International Business Times had this to say in 2011:

So many customers liked to flip through some books, maybe even buying one every now and then. But Borders stores occupied 25,000 square feet on average, and it’s hard to make a profit renting some of America’s prime real estate at that level when people primarily enjoy looking at the only product you have to sell.

In other words, bookstores in America have become more park-like for many consumers than action-oriented book buying spots…The stores would have been great if they were truly park-like, with government subsidies filling in for the lack of profit…

It’s sad, yes. It’s also the reality of this day. Bookstores have become park-like for many, a place to relax and look. But active buying is required to keep them open.

These gentlemen’s dire predictions edge ever closer to becoming reality. Get out there today, find a store that sells books: paperbacks, hardcovers, even books of daily affirmations will do, if you must. Athans suggests buying a book written by a living author so they can profit from the sale.

Feel free to post the title of the book you bought—or the book you’ve written—in the comments. We’re lacing up our sneakers now to embark on our own quest.

International Bacon Day

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international bacon day

Today is International Bacon Day, celebrated on the first Saturday of September since 2009. Although we can’t suss out who created this holiday for carnivores, we can provide you with helpful translations for the globetrotting bacon lover:

English – Can I have some Bacon?
Dutch – Kan ik wat Bacon hebben?
French – Est-ce que je peux prendre du lard ?
German – Kann ich etwas Speck haben?
Greek – Μπορώ να έχω κάποιο μπέϊκον;
Italian – Posso avere certa pancetta affumicata?
Japanese – 私はベーコンを食べてもいいか。
Korean – 나는 약간 베이컨이 있어서 좋은가?
Portuguese – Posso eu ter algum bacon?
Russian – Могу я иметь некоторый бекон?
Spanish – ¿Puedo tener un poco de tocino?

Perhaps the ultimate celebration would involve preparation of the Bacon Explosion: a pound of basket-woven bacon wrapped around two pounds of sausage, which are stuffed with a pound of fried bacon crumbles. Not in the mood to cook? Order it directly from BBQ Addicts and have a happy International Bacon Day!

Fight Procrastination Day

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fight procrastination day

It took us an hour to find this image.

Today is Fight Procrastination Day, created by an unknown person at an indeterminate point in human history. We’ve been unable to track down the source of this important, unofficial holiday.

Procrastination is no joke, according to two of the world’s leading experts: Joseph Ferrari, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at De Paul University in Chicago, Illinois, and Timothy Pychyl, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. (This comes from an August 2003 interview in Psychology Today, so we can’t say with absolute certainty that they’re still leading experts.) From the article:

Procrastinators tell lies to themselves. Such as, “I’ll feel more like doing this tomorrow.” Or “I work best under pressure.” But in fact they do not get the urge the next day or work best under pressure. In addition, they protect their sense of self by saying “this isn’t important.” Another big lie procrastinators indulge is that time pressure makes them more creative. Unfortunately they do not turn out to be more creative; they only feel that way. They squander their resources.

We need to confess something. We first wrote about Fight Procrastination Day on September 7, 2016, the day after the holiday. After realizing the dire implications of our inaction, we learned our lesson and—

Just kidding! We recycled this post, updating the words you’re reading now. In our defense, it’s called Fight Procrastination Day. It doesn’t say anything about winning.

Eat an Extra Dessert Day

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Today is Eat an Extra Dessert Day, always celebrated on September 4th. We don’t know who started it or when, but we sincerely hope it will go on forever because, let’s face it, the only thing better than one dessert is two.

Eat an Extra Dessert Day

We’re neither mathematicians nor philosophers, but we wonder: Is there such a thing as half a dessert? To paraphrase Yoda, there is only dessert and no dessert. Wouldn’t that apply here, too? If eaten at once, there can be only one dessert. (We’re throwing in a little Highlander here, too. Please pardon our mixed movie metaphors.)

Theoretically, one dessert could last forever. Perhaps the purpose of Eat an Extra Dessert Day is to allow us a moment to escape the sweet-time continuum. It may be the only chance we’ll get all year.

Good luck, and when you come back to the table, please bring the chocolate sauce. There’s work to be done.