Coffee Break with Liz and Kate

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Crank up the music and let’s get this week’s holidays started with Eight-Track Tape Day, which is April 11.

I remember the eight-track player I had – a canary yellow square with a t-handle that changed the music from track to track when you pushed down on it, as if you were setting off dynamite. Seems like there were usually four songs per track, and 4 tracks per tape, which totals 16 by my calculations, leaving me uncertain – and unsympathetic – to why they were called eight-tracks.

If memory serves, one of the first Eagles’ albums I owned was on eight-track. And I remember playing Elvis Presley, too. More than the music itself, though, I recall the transition from eight-tracks to cassettes, then CDs. Today, an eight-track tape or player is about as difficult to find as a dodo bird. What a difference a few decades makes.

Visiting the other end of the holiday spectrum, April 13 is not only my oldest child’s birthday, it’s also Blame Someone Else Day. I was immediately reminded of my youngest brother. As a tyke, Ben had a Jack Frost doll made from pre-printed material – one of those cut-and-sew jobs.

Anywho, he always seemed to be in trouble – not for bad things, just typical boy things. Everytime he got in trouble, he blamed Jack Frost. It wasn’t long before  the rest of us took his cue. Suffice it to say, that doll got blamed for everything. It is for these reasons that I believe my brother started this holiday. I doubt he’d own up to it, but it has his name written all over it. Or maybe that’s Jack Frost’s name.

April 14 is Ex-Spouse Day. It’s also International Moment of Laughter Day. Kinda makes ya wonder which came first, doesn’t it?

We’ll wrap things up with Rubber Eraser Day. Remember the first day of school when you’d take that Pink Pearl eraser out of the package? Remember how good it smelled? It was kinda like those dark brown bottles of rubber cement, but without all the brain-rotting fumes. Who could resist smelling either? Not me. To this day, I love the ol’ Pink Pearl erasers. My guess is they’ll be around for quite some time – at least as long as there are pencils and pencil handlers who make mistakes. Fate, of course, was not as kind to the Dynamite 8 and the dodo bird, who will just have to keep each other company for now.

Until next week, get your party on!

-Liz

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