Friday, April 1, 2011

A-Z Blog-O-Rama!! APRIL FOOLS...

Link 2 other particiants
And so it begins...the A-Z Blogging experience. I'm psyched to be a part of such a cyberspace presence. And yes, I will not avoid the avoidable: using too many 'A's and/or 'A' words...at least for today.

I'd like to welcome any new visitors participating in the A-Z Challenge to the Alleyway! Here, I explore the art of writing and journey of writers. I'm a children's author, writing young adult, middle grade, and picture books. There's also the characteristics of me being a hair-raising mom of 4 humanoids and the dog, but we'll save that for later. I blog on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, so I will observe those letters during those days.

Celebrating the letter A could not have come on a better day: APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!

~ Did you know that April Fool's Day is also known as All Fools Day? AND no, no one seems to know why.

~ Did you know that April Fool's Day has no official day in history that can pinpoint its start? And no, I'm not making this up.

~ Did you know that some believe April Fool's Day was begun in humor, taunting the goodbyes of winter? AND no, no one is really sure of that, either.

Do we know anything about April Fool's Day?? Well, yes, a few facts as they might be known.

There is some correlation between several cultures celebrating the first day of Spring and April Fool's Day. Apparently, the need to breakthrough the doldrums of winter gave many the 'crazies'. Not paranormal speaking, just ants-in-your-pants kind of feeling.

Before Charles IX, the New Year was celebrated on April 1st. Prior to this and somewhere around the year 1582, New Year's Day celebrations started on March 25th, ending with major festivities on...you guessed it, April 1st. But after the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, the start of each new year was moved to January 1st, leaving April 1st lonely and longing for some attention.

Attention she got.

Back then, messages traveled by foot so many didn't receive the announcement until years later--yes, we are all bowing to technology and cyberspace right now. To top off the lack of communication, once people did hear of the change, some shunned it, refusing to conform. They chose to celebrate the New Year on April 1st anyway. This lead so-called leaders and yuppies of the day to label these folks as 'quacks' or better known to us all--Fools.

It was commonplace to single these people out, sending them on 'fool's errands' or simply poking fun at them. (Apparently bullying has existed since the beginning of time.) By sometime within the eighteenth century, exchanging pranks between family, friends, and of course strangers was becoming customary.

Over the years, peoples of all cultures have joined in the fun, coming up with some humorous practical jokes.

In France, French children tape a picture of a fish on their classmates backs. Once the kid figures out they're carrying around a fish on their back, others yell, "Poisson d'Avril!" (April Fish)

Scotland has a great prank which focuses on the 'butt end' of the prankee. Believe it or not, the 'Kick-Me' sign we all went through junior high fearing, the one sometimes taped to the back of a friend originated from Scotland's April Fool's gags.

There are literally hundreds of pranks out there under the guidance of amazing pranksters. Calendars have been changed in someone's Daytimer, and alarm clocks reset to stir and frazzle the recipient--usually some poor college roommate. (I never did that.) Hot sauce and all sorts of food pranks are known all over the world.

FAMILY FUN has a great batch of recipes if you're looking to fool someone special. *wink* They also have crafts and activities you can do with the kids, harmlessly involving them in the day's events.

Let me leave you with a few quotes specifically geared to this most tomfoolery of days.

~ However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him. Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux
~ Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed. Mark Twain
~ He who lives without folly, isn't so wise as he thinks. Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld

And my favorite: It is better to be a fool than to be dead. Stevenson

Do you know a fact about APRIL FOOL'S DAY I've yet to mention? Please tell us. Shout it A-loud!!

46 comments:

  1. Wow! You did a lot of research for this post. I didn't know any of that stuff. Thanks.

    And I think your design is new. I like how it's brighter and your side borders with the ribbon is unique.

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  2. What a very informative post! You're off to a great start. I live in fear of 4/1 because I'm pretty gullible and have to keep reminding myself on this day that half the people who talk to me are trying to punk me.

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  3. Happy April Fool's Sheri! It's snowing here in southeast PA, and my district did NOT call in a 2-hour delay, so that's our joke for the day.

    Love the facts about April -- and I especially love the Mark Twain quote!

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  4. Nice to meet you and looking forward to seeing what the letter B has in store :) April fools day is not very big here in Norway but that is because there is too much viking still running through the veins of most Norwegians :)

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  5. Hi
    Very interesting. Looking forward to what you dig up about April 2nd (now that would be a challenge).
    regards
    mood
    Moody Writing Blog

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  6. I just heard that story about New Year's being celebrated on April 1st this morning from my kids. I'd never heard that before. And I love your last quote, too. :)

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  7. thanks for the fun fool facts! I pretty much came up with the same results. But in french. Lol. HAppy A-Z!

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  8. Great beginning to A-Z. Thanks for stopping by my blog to comment...would love to read more of your work!

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  9. very informative! I have learned something new

    http://baygirl32.blogspot.com

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  10. hi miss sheri! wow that was a cool post and i learned lots bout april fools day. now i gotta go do some april fools jokes on my brothers and my sister. :)
    ...hugs from lenny

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  11. So either you spent hours researching April Fools or this whole post is an April Fools joke and you made it all up. :)

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  12. Wow, this is a great post Sheri! I had no idea!

    You've changed your background! It's great! =D

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  13. Great post Sheri! So informative you are

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  14. I actually wrote an article on the history of April Fools Day for Super Teacher Worksheets. All the different theories are really interesting. It was a fun article to write.

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  15. I feel very educated now -- thank you!!!
    Frankly, I'm just hoping to make it through the day without any heart-stopping pranks.

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  16. Sheri, wow, thanks for all the info about April Fools. I had no idea! :)
    I guess I won't worry about being a fool today...
    Good luck with the blog challenge. :)

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  17. Wonderful beginning to the challenge, a pleasure to read, will be back for more.

    Thanks for your comment much appreciated,

    Yvonne.

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  18. So that's the origin of a fool's errand. Cool stuff. I've been on a few of those myself.

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  19. April first has had quite the chequered past. Very interesting information, much of which I didn't know.

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  20. haha. I looked up all this information last year. It's pretty interesting, huh? Love your new layout, btw!!!

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  21. I know a lot of newspapers etc do a hoax story on April Fools - my morning paper had a story saying they were switching to edible paper! Love little jokes like that. :)

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  22. Fun facts and Happy Spring on APRIL 1...

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  23. I've heard these facts before, except for the Kick-me joke.

    Of course, I've forgotten all about them. So thanks, now I can tell my brother about it. (We were talking about it today.)

    ;-)

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  24. Fun fun post! I woke up this morning resolved not to believe anything anyone said to me and to peek around corners with a mirror, hahaha. So far I haven't been pranked (or done any pranks in fear of retaliation, lol!) But the day is still young!

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  25. You're my surprise stop on the A2Z - so I'm following! Being that it is April Fools, I can't help but wonder if some of the facts are "made" for fools ... like me!

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  26. Waving hello to a fellow hockeymom, as well as an A to Z Challenge blogger. What a great way to start the challenge - very interesting stuff about April 1st. Can't wait to read more!

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  27. Wow, you have told me more about April Fools than I have ever learned. It's all true, right?

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  28. Wow. What an Awesome post. I didn't know half the things you talked about!

    Ellie Garratt

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  29. Wow! Some great April Fools Day facts there. I was always told that April Fools Day only lasted till midday. Not sure why, but that's my fact for the day. LOL.

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  30. Happy Aprils fools day! Very informative!! And great background on your blog here, very nice.

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  31. Did you know, all of that info about April Fool's is totally fun. Have a great day. =D

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  32. I was totally going to write on April Fool's Day, but glad I didn't. Your post is perfect. Happy blogging!

    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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  33. Yes this is a great challenge! Thanks for the warm welcome and all those facts about April Fools...

    Check out my first post:

    Duncan In Kuantan

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  34. Wow, this is awesome. I never realized April Fool's Day had such a rich history behind it to go along with the merriment of pranking. Great info!

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  35. Hey, I'd much rather be a fool than dead. Which makes me wonder why so many people die a foolish death. Maybe I'm kinda smart after all.

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  36. Nice to meet you; I'm from Maine, transplanted to North Carolina, via Naval husband!~ No, this isn't an April Fool ;-D Informative, fun post~ I love Family Fun, though my youngest is 15. I still love glancing at all the magic! We made a lot of their creations!

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  37. Great start to the challenge, nice to meet you Sheri (with 1 R) :) Hard to believe there are 1150 bloggers now registered for the challenge!

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  38. Great post on the holiday! I didn't know all that stuff - and found myself wondering if you were just fooling us with some of it... April Fish? Really?

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  39. I'm not fooling when I tell you I liked this!
    Jan Morrison

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  40. Amazing point, I learned something new.

    MM the Queen of Engish
    A-Z Challengee

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  41. I had no idea that there was that much information about April Fools Day. Thanks for posting.


    Sheila Staley : Reviewer & Writer
    Book reviews and Author Interviews at my blog at http://whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot.com/

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  42. Very cool! Lots of new info about April Fools I didn't know before. Thanks for sharing :)

    Sarah Allen
    (my creative writing blog: B is for Bowie)

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  43. Interesting - I had no idea how it come about! Thanks!

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  44. I just got to your post today and am so glad I did. Loved the A post. Now I have to catch up but I will. Very well done, interesting, and I love the tongue in cheek humor. Look forward to following all the way up to Z.

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  45. I'm so behind on my blog reading. This is fascinating stuff.

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  46. Great interview! C. Lee wasn't on my radar until now. Eager to check out her stuff.

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