August is traditionally known as the ‘silly’ season because of the more light-hearted and off-beat news stories which often appear in the press during this time (August is typically a quiet time for news). Even though you may not be a journalist looking for something more frivolous to write about, there are, however, great opportunities for researching and writing about some of the bizarre and unusual ‘special’ days which happen throughout the year. Great for those of you who are stuck for ideas.
Some special days
You may not know, for instance that in August there is an International Left Handers Day and in September there is an International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Pretend To Be a Time Traveller Day in December, could be a great source of ideas for an article or story. The idea is to pretend to be a time traveller (from the past or from the future) and imagine you are seeing everything in the present day for the first time (definitely some potential for articles or stories here).
In July you can celebrate Take Your Houseplant For a Walk Day – the day when you can show off your plants to your neighbours or acquaint your plant with its immediate environment (yes seriously). If you are into musical instruments put the Uncommon Instrument Awareness Day in July in your calendar. This is the day to celebrate unusual and experimental musical instruments. How about the Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee or the Stoessel-laute for starters.
If you fancy letting your hair down and doing whatever you want without caring what other people think, then Walking On Your Wild Side Day in April is definitely for you. Lumpy Rug Day in May I think could be a favourite of mine. I have a couple of rugs with irritating kinks and so I can’t wait to smooth them out or perhaps even celebrate with a new rug. “Lumpy Rug Day reminds us that smooth, plush rugs are wonderful for the feet, but lumpy rugs are an unfortunate thing indeed.”
And, to get your mouth watering, how about Sachertorte Day in December. This delicious and world-famous cake was created by an apprentice chef called Franz Sacher for the guests of the Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich in 1832.
Look online
Now you may think this is all a bit silly, but if you do a quick search on the internet you will find an abundance of light hearted and more serious ‘special’ days which will provide some great writing material. There are a surprising number of websites about special and unusual days but take a look at Days of the year and National Day Calendar for starters (my main sources for this blog).
Have some fun
If you decide to take any of these special days seriously (and why not) you will not only have some fun but you will also never be short of ideas for articles or stories. As I write, I note that today is Chicken Dance Day. On the Days of the Year website it says “we’ve all seen it, it’s utterly ridiculous and usually performed in a bout of intoxicant driven lunacy. You tuck your hands into your arm-pits to make ‘wings’, and then you flap like an idiot in time with some particularly unfortunate music.”
