Today I Learned: Franksgiving

Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday of November until 1939 when a five Thursday November threatened to damage the already depressed economy by shortening the lucrative holiday shopping season—it was considered tacky to display Christmas decoration or advertise Christmas sales before Thanksgiving—so Franklin Roosevelt declared Thanksgiving would be observed a week earlier. 

Detractors objected and the actual date Thanksgiving was observed varied based on political party lines—Democrats on the penultimate Thursday and Republicans on the last. This practice was dubbed "Franksgiving" and continued until 1941 when Congress passed legislation to officially declare Thanksgiving a national holiday occurring on the fourth Thursday of November, thus settling the ambiguity of the appropriate date. 

Incidentally, Thanksgiving was only celebrated in New England as a regional holiday until Abraham Lincoln declared it a national holiday at the request of a women's recipe magazine editor in 1863. 

Today I Learned: Edison and Göbel

Thomas Edison didn't invent the lightbulb. A man named Heinrich Göbel asked Edison to partner with him on an electric lamp so he could raise money to care for his failing health, but Edison insisted it was a stupid and useless idea.

When Göbel died Edison bought the rights to the invention from his widow for a paltry sum and then filed a patent as his own.

Today I learned: What Time Do You Have?

The world didn't agree on a singular reference for time until 1880 when the establishment of strict railway schedules mandated it. Instead of asking someone "What time is it," the question “What time do you have?” was more common, since the expectation was that everyone’s watch would have a different one. Clocks and watches at the time were used like egg timers. They gave you a sense of when you had to be somewhere, but there was zero expectation that they would all reflect a single time. 

These are the words that saved my life

Last December I set about getting my affairs in order and making preparations to end my own life. 

I had the implements, I'd made arrangements for my body to be discovered by a pragmatic acquaintance instead of a close friend or family member, and I spent all night agonizing over a note to leave to Sabrina, my long ago ex who I counted as my best friend. I'd already had a will and advanced directive drafted by an attorney and even cleaned up my room and liquidated most of my possessions. 

Out of nowhere in the very early hours of the morning I received a text message from Sabrina. It arrived randomly and without any preface—I hadn't talked to her in a few days. She must have written it when she got up for some reason. I hadn't shared with her my plans, but surely she sensed something wrong.

These are the words that saved my life, and I've never told her so now I'm putting it where everyone can see it and know what she did.

12/12/13, 5:29am From Sabrina

Dear friend, I know you are you hurting, especially this time of year. I can't imagine the loss and the pain the holidays brings to you. I know this angers you, but I will keep you in my prayers that you find comfort, so you can carry on with the future and enjoy friends and family that you have in the present. Peace is a hard thing to have when your heart is hurting. I pray that you have strength and love to enjoy life, bc it is so fleeting. You do a lot for people that is kind and generous. And it doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated. I know God will bless you for the things you do selflessly for others. Don't let anger and pain blind you. Take pride in who you are. Your intelligence, love, unselfishness are evident but don't let darkness cloud the eyes of your heart. I love you very much

Today I learned: Mimic Octupus

The best camouflage in the world belongs to the mimic octopus. It can imitate over 15 other species through a characteristic that's incredibly rare in the animal kingdom called active mimicry. Most species rely on passive mimicry, which means that they have no choice in what they resemble—the disguise has just been handed to them through millions of years of evolution. The mimic octopus doesn’t just camouflage itself—it does dead-on impersonations. And lest one think that it’s easy to fool fish because they’re stupid, the mimic octopus is so good at disguising itself that humanity didn’t even officially recognize it as an existing species until 1998.

Today I learned: Anagnorisis

Anagnorisis vs. Ephiphany

An epiphany is a sudden realization, unconnected to any previous understanding and often accounted to divine inspiration. Anagnorisis is the culmination of information that has slowly been revealed beforehand, often as a way of providing clues to involve the audience.

Today I learned: Diegetic Sound

Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film is called Diegetic Sound

The way Guardians of the Galaxy features Star Lord's Walkman and the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 cassette from his mother which he listens to and which also provides the bulk of the movie's soundtrack as well as the Creedence playing on The Dude's tape deck when he wrecks into the dumpster are both examples diegetic sound. 

The term also encompasses voices of characters and sounds made by objects in the story but it's the use of  music represented as coming from instruments or devices in the story space as opposed to the background score to which we're accustomed that calls for differentiation.