Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Slovenia, Boy Scouts, And Black History Month. All Of These Things Are Not Like The Other

Happy Slovenian Culture Day! Also known as Preseren Day, this is a holiday to honor the death of national poet France Preseren and honor achievements in Slovenian culture. Alright, I'm not lying when I say I've never heard of one of Slovenia's "well known" artists/writers/scholars. Maybe I'm not cultured (Get it? Cultured) or worldly enough but this is a country that just recently invented soup as a part of its cuisine. Seriously? Soup? You're a central European nation that just got into soup. What is wrong with these people? I'm not too sure how to celebrate Culture Day. Much of their cuisine is closely related to neighboring countries and being that Hungary is one of those, and I'm Hungarian, maybe I can work in something. But it's a little hard to come across klobasa living in New Mexico. I'm fucked. Maybe I'll paint a flag or...oh fuck, I don't know.
It's Boy Scout Day! Yay! I guess. You can't be an atheist or agnostic. You can't be openly homosexual. You can't be Romulan. Oh, it also helps (like, a lot) if you're a Christian even though they "recognize" 38 other faith groups. (28 of those being varieties of Christianity) I'll make a fire today, with sticks, or maybe a lighter. Go Girl Scouts!
Our final celebration today is Black History Month Observance Day! Starting out as Negro History Week in 1926, it was put in place to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, and in 1976 it was expanded to become Black History Month. I was a little perplexed (as I am with all three holidays today) how to celebrate Black History Month but I've decided I can just read. We should all just read. Read about the amendments that improved African American life, read about the efforts of Frederick Douglass and the abolitionist movement, or simply read a poem from Maya Angelou, Arna Bontemps or Langston Hughes. Educate yourself and surprise yourself with what you'll learn.

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