A Book of Days AKA The (New) Old Farmer's Almanac
Well, last time I wrote "The future is so yesterday!"
Now, I'm writing to say that I have oft been inspired by old almanacs,
which I have a small but treasured collection of. (Yeah, you can end a sentence with a preposition,
or as a writer much more famous than me once said, "A sentence that ends with a preposition is something up
with which I cannot put"...to show the absurdity of always adhering to formal grammar.)
Just in the nick of time for the new year, I published Mimi & Papa's Everyday Amazing Almamac.
I actually wrote it about this time last year (off and on for months) at my drawing board surrounded by all
my favorite old almanacs. Actually my version is known as a "Book of Days" since it usable any year, eg,
dated, but not year-dated. Make sense? Over the holidays I met a woman who says her father still plants according to the OFM (Old Farmer's Almanac), and I am sure he is not the only one. My grandmother always spot-on diagnosed our family illnesses by referring to that body in the OFM. Lord help us, she then consulted the old-time remedies which often ended up with my sister or I getting plastered with a mustard plaster. The history of almanacs dates back to pre-Biblical days, as I recall. You can tell 'cause it's been spelled almanack, and almost every other assorted way. As we all recall, Benjamin Franklin, AKA "Poor Richard" was a fellow almanacaholic.
Outside of my personal interest and addiction to all things almanac/almanack, etc. and books of days, I had reason and purpose to do an almanac an entire year ago for the digital educational market. Sounds like a real loser product, hey? I care not. I just respond to the Muse. This lively "Daily Dozen" (which usually refers to exercises, and actually these are exercises for the brain), has been a big hit. Think about it: enter the darkened classroom early, exhausted, perhaps hungry, and the dog ate your homework (hey, it happens—ask Grant)...to encounter yet another cadaverous gray and white mimeographed worksheet, or...DAH DAH DA DAT DA DUM!...a giant electronic whiteboard ablaze with
sock monkeys and 12 fun things to read, do or take a silly quiz on. Hey, you choose.
Teachers wowed us with their responses to this digital almanac, turning the early morning fun ("They race into my classroom now!") into extended lesson plans, connections to current events, the world, and the rest of their (dare I say it, "boring" studies. Well, who can resist a sock money? Or a Funky Forecast? Or, 11 other audacious facts, riddles, etc.?
Writing them sure kept me on my toes. Like Forest Gump's box o' candy...darn if you can just eat one!
Which brings me to my conclusion: If the OFM can now be a virtual global digital experience, yeah, as I said last time:
The future is so yesterday. Which leaves us exactly where? Oh, maybe in the hands of excellent teachers and
invigorated, enthused, morning learning riotous students.
Gotta get back to work. This whatever comes next is just too dang exciting!
Well, last time I wrote "The future is so yesterday!"
Now, I'm writing to say that I have oft been inspired by old almanacs,
which I have a small but treasured collection of. (Yeah, you can end a sentence with a preposition,
or as a writer much more famous than me once said, "A sentence that ends with a preposition is something up
with which I cannot put"...to show the absurdity of always adhering to formal grammar.)
Just in the nick of time for the new year, I published Mimi & Papa's Everyday Amazing Almamac.
I actually wrote it about this time last year (off and on for months) at my drawing board surrounded by all
my favorite old almanacs. Actually my version is known as a "Book of Days" since it usable any year, eg,
dated, but not year-dated. Make sense? Over the holidays I met a woman who says her father still plants according to the OFM (Old Farmer's Almanac), and I am sure he is not the only one. My grandmother always spot-on diagnosed our family illnesses by referring to that body in the OFM. Lord help us, she then consulted the old-time remedies which often ended up with my sister or I getting plastered with a mustard plaster. The history of almanacs dates back to pre-Biblical days, as I recall. You can tell 'cause it's been spelled almanack, and almost every other assorted way. As we all recall, Benjamin Franklin, AKA "Poor Richard" was a fellow almanacaholic.
Outside of my personal interest and addiction to all things almanac/almanack, etc. and books of days, I had reason and purpose to do an almanac an entire year ago for the digital educational market. Sounds like a real loser product, hey? I care not. I just respond to the Muse. This lively "Daily Dozen" (which usually refers to exercises, and actually these are exercises for the brain), has been a big hit. Think about it: enter the darkened classroom early, exhausted, perhaps hungry, and the dog ate your homework (hey, it happens—ask Grant)...to encounter yet another cadaverous gray and white mimeographed worksheet, or...DAH DAH DA DAT DA DUM!...a giant electronic whiteboard ablaze with
sock monkeys and 12 fun things to read, do or take a silly quiz on. Hey, you choose.
Teachers wowed us with their responses to this digital almanac, turning the early morning fun ("They race into my classroom now!") into extended lesson plans, connections to current events, the world, and the rest of their (dare I say it, "boring" studies. Well, who can resist a sock money? Or a Funky Forecast? Or, 11 other audacious facts, riddles, etc.?
Writing them sure kept me on my toes. Like Forest Gump's box o' candy...darn if you can just eat one!
Which brings me to my conclusion: If the OFM can now be a virtual global digital experience, yeah, as I said last time:
The future is so yesterday. Which leaves us exactly where? Oh, maybe in the hands of excellent teachers and
invigorated, enthused, morning learning riotous students.
Gotta get back to work. This whatever comes next is just too dang exciting!
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