Hoist the Jolly Roger!
Silliness is underrated!
I felt a little bit like Ebenezer Scrooge this morning. I awoke from my sleep, checked my computer, and realized, after seeing THIS article, that I had not missed it!
Missed what?
“International Talk Like a Pirate Day,” of course! Every September 19 (Saturday this year) is the day that all of us get to indulge our “inner pirate” and say things like: “Avast ye swabs!” and “Them that dies will be the lucky ones!” 
I wrote about International Talk Like a Pirate Day last year at about this time and had the opportunity to link THAT blog entry to the song, “Pirates at the Gas Pump” by the Parrot Island Band. (Worth a listen… especially since those Big Oil Pirates at the Gas Pump are back in full force with all their friends). One of the members of the band was kind enough to comment on my post, after noting all of the traffic referred from my site to their song!
This year, I got to “corrupt the minds of innocent youth” (just kidding ) by introducing a group of first graders to the silly holiday of International Talk Like a Pirate Day! It did not help that one of the kids had a black hat (called a “stocking cap” [aka Tuque] in most other places in North America, but called a “beanie” [no, it is not a beanie, with or without propeller] in California [yes, we are a bit odd here]) with a Jolly Roger on it! Arrrrrgh!
International Talk Like a Pirate Day was born in 1995 on an Albany, Oregon YMCA racquetball court when John “Ol’ Chumbucket” Baur (54, old enough to know better) and his friend, Mark “Cap’n Slappy” Summers (46, young enough to be led astray) began to exchange insults as pirates might! They chose September 19, the birthday of Summers’ ex-wife, which was stuck in his head. Summers says that he was not going to “do anything with it <the date> anymore.”
It was not long until humorist Dave Barry caught wind of the idea and set sail with a September 2002 Miami Herald column about the holiday. Barry said that, “there are so many practical benefits <of the holiday> that I can’t even begin to list them all!”
So read the CNN column about International Talk Lke a Pirate Day. You can see why all of the Pirates of Silicon Valley and their shipmates latched onto the holiday.
And after all of the contributions of Captain Jack Sparrow, it’s so easy to “get onboard…!”
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Apparel and other gifts decorated with some of our most popular photos can be ordered from the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Store on CafePress®. Both Shutterfly™ and CafePress® ship to most international locations worldwide! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.
