This Sunday is Father’s Day. So what better subject for this Friday’s Fun Facts than the men in our lives we honor that day, right? Whether you call yours “Dad”, “Pops”, “Papa”, or maybe some kooky nickname, he’ll always be one half of a pair that made it possible for you to enjoy
life as you know it on this earth. If you’re like me, with divorced parents, you may have two fathers. Although I like to call one “the sperm donor” and the other “Dad”. While I thank “the sperm donor” for my decent genes and his little swimmers for making it possible for me to even be here, I thank my “Dad” for coming into my life when I was a pre-teen and making me feel as if I were his own child. For giving me the love and acceptance I needed during that time in my life, and helping my mother guide me through some rough teen years, and beyond, to become the adult I am today. Plus, there’s the fact that he makes my mom, who is also my best friend, happy. And to me, that means the world. Now, I know that my Friday Fun Facts are usually full of smart-ass commentary with a little humor scattered throughout, but I feel like this Friday’s edition needs to have some heartfelt mushiness sprinkled on top. So get your eye-rolling reflex ready and deal with it.

1) Modern Father’s Day was invented by a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd. Her decision to establish Father’s Day was inspired by a church sermon in which the newly recognized Mother’s Day was mentioned. Sonora held her father in high esteem because he had raised his six children by himself after his wife died during the birth of the sixth child. She wanted to honor him for such a feat. Although she initially suggested June 5th, which was her father’s birthday, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June. With a celebration held in Spokane, Washington, the first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910. However, a permanent national observance of the holiday on the third Sunday of June each year wasn’t established until 1972, when President Nixon made it so. I know this isn’t a huge doozy of a fact, but it’s an interesting bit of information for people such as myself, who did not know where and when Father’s Day originated. Props to Sonora, and the love and admiration she had for her father!

2) The current oldest living father is a man by the name of Nanu Ram Jogi. He fathered a child in 2007 at the age of 90(!). He set the world record for his feat. And that isn’t the only thing this guy should be given props for. He’s been married four times, and from what he can remember, has 21 children and 20 grandchildren. This man can certainly lend truth to that whole saying that love and lots of sex can make you live longer. However, it may not have been real kind to his mind or memory, obviously.

3) The current youngest living father is a boy by the name of Sean Stewart from England. He fathered a child in 1998 with his then 15-year-old girlfriend, at the age of 11. Just reading this as a parent, scares the hell out of me. I cannot fathom a boy of that age having any clue as to how to be a parent. Most grown men I know, husband included, STILL act like they are 11 or 12 years old. And, they’ll readily admit it! YIKES.

4) The most popular type of Father’s Day cards are “To Father from Daughter”. This one made me giggle because being a chick, I LOVE to buy cards for everyone for just about any occasion. Sometimes just because. Yes, I’m one of “those” people. I know that most guys don’t particular dig cards too much. Whether it be the whole “too much to read/waste of time” thing or because most just chunk ‘em in the trash right after they open and read them (actually reading them is wishful thinking with some). This has been explained to me by my male family members numerous times. But you know what? I still buy cards and send them to them. Know why? Partly because my more sinister side knows it irritates the hell out of them, and I enjoy that. But mostly because sometimes I can’t find the words to verbally say what I want to, and damn if Hallmark doesn’t have some great card writers! Plus, they produce over 800 card designs for Father’s Day. There’s BOUND to be something that I want to say with the help of a stranger’s writing skills. That’s heartfelt right there!

5) According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there is an estimated 70.1 million fathers across the nation. That’s a massive amount of Dads to celebrate! Meaning there’s going to be a WHOLE lot of barbecuing, beer drinking and belching going on this Sunday….well, more than usual anyways. And rightfully so! Of those 70.1 million, an estimated 1.8 million are single fathers, and an estimated 154,000 are stay-at-home dads. Let’s hear it for all the men who step up and take part in their children’s lives!

In closing, I’ll leave you with a few fun facts about my Dad. Why? Because I want to share some of the little details that make him, him. Some of those little details that I love about him so much. He rides a Harley and one of his favorite things to say is “Let’s Ride”. Always accompanied with an enthusiastic, toothy grin, of course. He loves NASCAR and devotes every Sunday afternoon he can to sitting in front of the TV, yelling at the drivers while eating my Mom’s homemade hot wings. He loves hot sauce. Mostly Tabasco, which clears most tables around ours at any restaurant we take him to when he comes to town. (Kind of fun to watch, if you ask me!) He loves my Mom, my sisters, myself, the men we’ve married and the families of our own that we’ve created, unconditionally. He’ll always have our backs. And we all love him for that, along with so many other reasons. That’s one of the best facts of all!

So remember to celebrate and appreciate the man you call “Dad” this Father’s Day. No matter if he has that title by blood, or because he stepped up and took the position with pride, even though he didn’t have to. May all of my wonderful friends who are fathers, both inside and outside The Monk’s House, have a relaxing day crammed full of man-friendly activities this Sunday! Your loving presence in your children’s lives is more crucial than you may ever realize!

After a whirlwind of a last few weeks in my ”normal” life, I couldn’t wait to get back to my fluff writing for The Monk’s House. So, I sat down, put fingers to laptop keys and….nothing. Damnit. How the hell could I have writer’s block after literally weeks of not getting to put some of my random thoughts down here? Seriously. All I could think about at that moment was how great it would be to sit in my backyard with a nice cold beer (or ANYTHING alcoholic really), watching the sunset and just chill for a bit. Then, as luck would have it, my adorable (and by adorable, I mean ridiculously annoying) next door neighbors dropkick me back to reality with their nightly serenade of arguing and screaming at each other with every window in their house open. All set to the wonderful (and by wonderful, I mean SUPER ridiculously annoying) soundtrack of their three non-stop barking dogs and four screaming kids ramming their bikes into the garage door. So, since it was evident there would be no chill time at that moment (and it probably wouldn’t be right of me to devote an entire post to detailing out my plan to place all of my speakers in every open window facing said neighbor’s house and play every Disturbed or Static-X album, start to finish, at max volume), I decided to do something productive with my thoughts and sat myself down to research some fun facts for everyone this Friday. Subject? A little well-known beverage called beer. Ready? Of course you’re ready! Friday, beer AND fun, new information to fill some of that space left behind from the last time you had a real good tangle with a bit too much beer. Okay, AND his friends Jose Cuervo and Jack Daniels….details, details. Sheesh.

1)  One titillating beer I’ve never heard of is called “Tutankhamen”. This particular beer is prepared according to the recipe recovered from Queen Nefertiti’s Temple of the Sun in Egypt by a group of University of Cambridge archaeologists. Also known as “one old ass recipe”, this beauty will cost you $52 a bottle. Each bottle is numbered and from a limited production of the recipe.

2)  In China, you can buy beer in a plastic bag. Really? I can think of so many things that could go wrong with that. My first thought was “How do you drink it?”. You’re supposed to punch a straw through the side of the bag to do so. Awesome. Can you sit your beer down, or is this strictly a “to go” scenario? I can only imagine it would be the latter. Apparently in the city of Qingdao, where this bagged beer is brewed, it is a common sight to see street vendors measuring out and weighing bags of beer for customers. No thanks. I think I’ll stick to good ol’ bottles, cans and mugs. I mean, who wants to risk wasting any of their precious beer by clumsily drinking it from a bag? Not me. Although, it does give me a whole new view on what a grown up version of Capri Sun would be like. Maybe they should start putting the beer in silver foil bags with tropical paradise scenes printed on them. Maybe it’ll be more appealing? Just a thought.

3)  Germany serves popsicles made from beer ice cream. (YAY!) Although, the alcohol content is less than that of a “classic” beer. (BOOOOOOO! Just had to go and ruin it. Damnit.) Regardless, beer and ice cream together is definitely on my “have to try” list. Two of my favorite things. I feel a musical number coming on, ala The Sound of Music. Yikes.

4)  One of the reasons the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock instead of continuing on to Virginia was because they ran out of beer. Apparently, beer was a common dietary inclusion, although lacking the same amount of alcohol we find in our beer today. It was much safer than water readily available, too, since it had been boiled. It also had the advantage of keeping longer than other food. This is one that fascinates me. I never heard of it until now. I cannot believe that my history teachers in school neglected to share this little gem. It might’ve made me stay awake during their daily ramblings if there were some little tid bits like this sprinkled in here and there.

5)  As a little nod to The Monk’s House, I’ll leave you with this last fact – monks brew and drink beer. Yep, you read that right. It’s a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages for the Trappist monks, who are still famous for their brewing tradition. Their most famous brewery is Chamy in Belgium, but there are 11 more monasteries in Belgium and 1 in the Netherlands that are still actively brewing the Trappist beer. Quality comes first, which makes this a very alluring beer to many. And, now you also have a small clue as to why the writers here at The Monk’s House are a little quirky, and a whole lot random. Let’s just say we keep tradition alive and well around here. *hiccup*