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April 23rd: Celebrate World Book and Copyright Day...

My IT professional brother emailed me this morning to tell me that today is World Book and Copyright Day according to UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (Maybe I should have brought cupcakes to work. Every celebration need cupcakes.)

The UNESCO website says that on this date in 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. April 23rd is also the birthday or death date of other noted authors like Maurice Druon, K. Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

The purpose of World Book and Copyright Day, says UNESCO, is "to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright." Sound good to this editor.


P.S. The theme of Bob Dylan's radio show today: birds--all songs about birds.

P.P.S. My brother just emailed me again to say that it's also National Jelly Bean Day and National Cherry Cheesecake Day. (When is National Cupcake Day?) Apparently my brother is not very busy at work.

The other day I got in the car and my husband said, "...Do you have a new perfume or something?" He did not say this in a "Wow, you smell great" tone of voice.

And I did. I had a new Secret deodorant with a scent of--wait for it--Glacier Mist. Now, how does a glacier smell? I have no idea. But the words Glacier Mist brought to mind crisp, clear, Arctic mornings--very appropriate for here in Minnesota! But when I stopped to smell the armpit, I realized that it was actually a heavy, flowery scent. Ick. I don't like floral scents, in general. That's why I buy things with scents like Glacier Mist and Ocean Breeze and Mountain Air. My hygiene and household products have been to a lot more exciting places than I have!

But it's my own fault. Did I open the deodorant and smell it before I bought it? No. 

Earlier this year, when we were remodeling the bathroom, we had to pick out a paint. My husband found the perfect pale, creamy yellow. But it was called Runnymeade. What the heck is runnymeade? It sounded British, which was fine. But yellow and runny...well, I thought of undercooked eggs or babies' runny noses. Now, the runnymeade looks terrific in the bathroom, but I confess I still think of its name occasionally and wish it had been named something beautiful, Morning Goldenrod or Tahitian Beach or something like that.

I tend to be a circumspect consumer, not falling easily for catchphrases and promises. But I've let my guard down lately. The name of a scent or a color can change the way I approach a product, which of course explains why companies pay copywriters and namers to come up with intriguing names for shades of lipstick and nail polish and laundry detergent and room fresheners.

So, it's back to vanilla-pear deodorant for me.

Anybody else taken in by lovely names of things, only to discover the product isn't really what you wanted?