Today is International Stop Spam Day, a January 2 holiday that is relevant to the entire world. No, we’re not talking about spam, the processed pork in a can. We’re talking about the millions upon millions of junk texts, emails, and voicemails that bombard our cell phones and email accounts each and every day. It is an international problem, occurring anywhere and everywhere on the planet. Often the spammers come from offshore sites, making them unidentifiable and untouchable.

International Stop Spam Day was created to officially recognize spam texts and emails as one of the greatest scourges of our time, and to do something about it. Spam messages are a total waste of the recipient’s time and there’s seemingly no way to eliminate these time-consuming junk and scam messages from our lives. Spam filters are getting better at identifying spam. The trouble is, many spam messages still get through to your email account. And, junk mail folders sometimes trap real and important messages. That means you still need to spend time scanning the messages in your junk folder, lest you miss an important message.

Today is National Inane Answering Message Day, a January 30 holiday. Many people look at the title of this day and think ….huh!!? Some people think it’s a typo, and the day should read “National Insane Answering Message Day”. That’s because sometimes people leave the weirdest and craziest messages.  

Let’s clarify the meaning of an “inane” answering message. We all get them. An inane message is a senseless or meaningless message, spam, or a prank call. Or, it could be literally an insane message. So, National Inane Answering Message Day is a day to end those numerous annoying messages. The trouble is…….how do you do that? 

Before the arrival of cell phones, most homes had a telephone answering machine. They have disappeared from homes and apartments, too. However, they remain in practically all businesses. Here is a typical message we all had on all answering machines:  “Hello, this is John Doe. I am unable to come to the phone right now. At the sound of the tone, please leave your name and number. I will return your call as soon as I can”.

This is an old holiday that dates back to before cell phones when people had an answering machine attached to their landline telephones. In today’s world, we’re talking about inane voicemail. While technology changes, the messages we receive on our cell phones are as crazy and insane as ever. These machines capture important calls when we are not available. And, they also capture an immense volume of calls that are political, marketing, and scams of all kinds. There’s no shortage of them, and they’re proliferated by mechanized robocalls.  

Today is Houseplant Appreciation Day. This January 10 holiday reminds us to take care of our beloved plants. The holidays are over. The decorations have been put away for another year. Now our homes look a little plain, a little drab. In the drab, gray days of January, your eye catches something in the corner of the room. Why, it’s a houseplant! Funny, but with all of the holiday hullabaloo, you’ve all but forgotten your houseplants.

Today is THE day to get back to tending to and loving your houseplants. And, it’s also a day to appreciate just how special and important they are. They are therapeutic, lifting your mood and outlook. They add warmth and a calming effect. If you are a gardener, houseplants allow you to play in the dirt until spring arrives in the far, distant future.

Generally, growing houseplants is pretty easy. They need a little sunlight, adequate soil moisture levels, occasional nutrients, and a little love. The ideal houseplant thrives in a wide range of growing conditions. But, not every plant thrives has the same environmental needs. For example, Cacti and succulents prefer dry soil, while many other plants grow best in moist soil. So, your challenge as an indoor gardener is to provide each plant with the ideal environment that allows them to grow their best.

More on growing houseplants

Inspire Your Heart With Art Day celebrates art and the effect it can have on your heart. Art is valued and appreciated for all sorts of reasons. Its impact on feelings and the heart is the strongest. On this January 31 holiday, we celebrate and appreciate all forms of art. There are many forms of art. We commonly think of art as drawings, paintings, and sculptures. there are many more, including cinema, literature, music, and theater.

Look at a piece of art and ask yourself: What is is telling me? How does it make me feel? What emotions is it evoking (if any) within me?

A sense of love and romance is one of those feelings and emotions that a piece of artwork can awaken and inspire. Looking to create a little romance with that special someone? Try setting the mood, with an appropriate piece of art.

While the title of this day suggests you inspire “your” heart, we’re guessing you may use today to inspire someone else’s heart…to romantic thoughts….of you. Writing a poem to a loved one sounds like a great way to participate in this day.

National Handwriting Day is today, a January 23 holiday. It is an opportunity to reintroduce yourself to a pen or pencil and a piece of paper. In this day of computers, more and more information, notes, and letters are sent back and forth via a keyboard and sent via cyberspace.

According to the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) website “The purpose of National Handwriting Day is to alert the public to the importance of handwriting. According to WIMA, National Handwriting Day is a chance for all of us to re-explore the purity and power of handwriting.”

Some of the available documentation we read, suggests concern by stationary, paper companies, and pen and pencil manufacturers that the electronic world will shrink demand for their products. But, indeed, statistics show that pen (or pencil) and paper are alive and well, with growing demand.

Participate in National Handwriting Day by writing a note or letter to someone. Love letters are cool. Notes to people who are ill or incapacitated will be well received.

Sending handwritten notes and letters generally means sending them via snail mail. However, you can send the handwritten letter by fax, or pdf. You can also take a picture of it and send it as a JPG.

Now here’s a day that is certain to make you laugh. It’s Global Belly Laugh Day! This January 24 holiday exists to have a few hearty laughs. You can participate by yourself. However, it’s much more fun if you gather a group together for a good chuckle or two.

This is a “feel good” day. It’s so easy and enjoyable to participate in this day. Elaine Helle, the originator has this celebration established down to the minute. Make plans to join the “Belly laugh bounce around the world!” At exactly 1:24 p.m. on your local time, put a big smile on your face, throw your hands into the air, and give a hearty laugh as loud as you can. Let it resonate all the way from your belly. The result is certain to make you and those around you feel better, Yes, your belly laugh should not be performed alone. Rather, do a belly laugh or two in front of others. Better still, get a group of friends together in a public place, and have a pleasurable belly laugh as a group. You will be chuckling about this day for years. Everyone will be glad you did!

Do you find yourself exhausted after a hard day at work? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So, why don’t you let loose and have a little fun while on the job!? Fun at Work Day and International Fun at Work Day are both designed as a day to have fun for once at your workplace. Ideally, work should be fun. But normally, work is not intended to have fun. It’s intended to get work done. You’re a very lucky person if you can get work done and have fun doing it at the same time. The few lucky souls in this situation, love their job.

Unfortunately, most of us are not lucky enough to have a job that’s fun to do. If that’s you, then today is a day just for you! Think of ways to make your job more fun and exciting. Look to do some fun things at work today, even if it takes away from production just a wee bit.

Please Note: If you do fun things today that is counter-productive, or takes you away from the job, make sure you get your boss’ permission first. Better still, get him or her involved. Then, all of you can have fun, and no one will get in trouble.

Today’s Laugher: “Some days the best thing about my job is that the chair spins.” – – Author Unknown

The holidays are over. The decorations are stored away until next Christmas. It’s time to get rid of the last symbol of the Christmas season… the fruitcake. Today is Fruitcake Toss Day, a January 3 holiday. It is your opportunity to finally throw away the old fruitcake. After the holidays are over, it’s time to bring in the new, and toss out the old. So, today is the day that the fruit cake goes….hooray! If you’re not sure how to get rid of it, play the Fruitcake Toss Game. (See instructions for playing below).

There is no one way to toss out the old fruitcake. Why not make a little fun out of it? Gather up a few friends who also are fortunate enough to have received a fruitcake for the holidays. Go out to a field and see who can toss it the farthest. Caution: do not toss the cake at anyone. This weighty steel-like mass of sugar, flour, and fruits could injure someone if they are hit by it.

Fruitcake Tossing runs counter to the tradition of many people to pass the fruitcake around from one person to the next. In this tradition, the person who is holding the fruitcake on New Year must store it away until the next Christmas season. See about Fruitcake 

Interestingly, people are always saying bad things about fruitcakes. If fruitcake is really that bad, why does it appear on store shelves year after year!?

Today is Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day. Use this January 17 holiday to unburden yourself from all those unattainable goals and promises you made on New Year’s Eve. Seventeen days after ringing in the new year with promises to make improvements in your life, it’s time to ditch those seemingly impossible tasks. If there’s a day to celebrate the new year and make resolutions for the upcoming year, then there should be a day to ditch those resolutions. That’s the whole reason for today.

Remember all of those resolutions you made on New Year’s Eve? How are you doing with them? If you haven’t broken or given them all up yet, you’re doing better than most of us. Maybe, you’re well along toward accomplishing them. Perhaps, you are one of the few, who have already checked items off your list. Good for you!

For many more of us, New Year’s resolutions are hanging heavily over our heads. They have become a stressful burden. Perhaps they were not such a good idea after all.

Then…… of course, there are the resolutions that have already been broken.

 If you haven’t accomplished, broken, or given up your New Year’s resolutions, today is your chance to get out from under them.

In our digital and cyberspace world, data privacy is an increasingly important issue. Every day seems to bring another incident of a breach in data security, resulting in the theft of personal data affecting millions of us. Data security and privacy issues are not new. There was a growing concern since the 1970s and 1980s, well before we all logged into the Internet. Data Privacy Day, a January 28 holiday, encourages us to take steps to ensure our data security and personal privacy protection.

Hacking and breaking into corporate and government databases are regular events performed by young kids, cybercrooks, and foreign governments. Our privacy is also affected by companies that sell our personal contact information. That’s one way we get on those snail mail and email mailing lists, resulting in countless amounts of junk mail.

Today is a day for individuals and businesses large and small to make positive and effective efforts, to protect the privacy of their customers and their private personal data. It’s the perfect day for companies to hold forums and meetings to identify and eliminate weaknesses in their security systems.

It is also a day for you to get proactive in pushing both businesses and the government, to do more to protect private personal data and records.  

Data Privacy Day is an international effort.  Many corporations are international. And, many hackers are lurking on the internet from outside the U.S.