So, where, oh, where, do all these ideas for blog posts come from anyway, you might ask?
Well, when you work for an institution that nominally acts as a portal of all human knowledge, how hard can it really be? I thought I might talk about what I’m reading currently, a volume of poetry and travel writings by the Japanese master poet, Basho, or the graphic novel V for Vendetta by the modern master of the (comic) universe, Alan Moore, or an obscure volume of gothic short stories by the Welsh master of the macabre, Arthur Machen. But since I haven’t finished any of those (grist for future posts!), I thought I’d take a look-see if there has been anything notable about today, August 25th, historically speaking. And indeed there is. So without any further muss, fuss or babble, here’s a list of things we can celebrate today via materials in the library’s rich treasure trove of goods:
- 90th birthday anniversary of composer/conductor, Leonard Bernstein
- Anniversary of the release of the film The Wizard of Oz
- Birthday of tennis legend, Althea Gibson
- Birthday of American short story impresario, Bret Harte
- Anniversary of the liberation of Paris, August 25th, 1944
- 95th birthday anniversary of Pogo creator and satirist, Walt Kelly
- Birthday of modern film director, Tim Burton
- The start of Be Kind to Humankind Week
- Birthday of cooking maven, Rachel Ray
So, if you are suffering from blogger’s dilemma (aka what will I post about today), how exactly do you find all this stuff out? In the spirit of disclosure (although running directly counter to one of the Wizard of Oz’s most remembered lines, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!“), you simply go to or call your local library and ask for the annual Chase’s Calendar of Events, an encyclopedia size tome listing all of the above (and much, much more) for every single day of the year.
Don
PS If you want that obscure volume by Arthur Machen, interlibrary loan is the way to go.
Eleventh Stack 