KEEP EXPECTATIONS MANAGEABLE

Happy Positive Thinking Day! If you're anything like me, adopting a positive mindset — about anything — can be challenging, so in the spirit of giving this random holiday the ol' pre-school try I'll at least wear the above shirt and attempt to start each day this week with the hope that maybe today won't be as bad as yesterday was. That counts as positive thinking, right? Right?!

*grumbles* FINE, Biggie. I'll do it for YOU, but I'm not gonna like it!

 Today is also Roald Dahl Day for all you children's literature aficionados, National Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day for all you aspiring gastronomes, International Programmers Day for all you binary bandits, and National Peanut Day for all you peanut buttah lovahs.

Oh, it's also Celiac Disease Awareness Day. I am aware that I love gluten and am glad to take it off the hands of my celiac-having brothers and sisters. 

Finally, the first Monday after Labor Day is National Boss/Employee Exchange Day, wherein bosses and employees are encouraged to swap jobs for the day so they can experience a work day in one another's shoes. Today should be an interesting day at Boredwalk HQ...

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Unfortunately there is no Boredwalk Community Q&A this week, as I got so busy putting out fires around the office last week that I wasn't able to send questions to volunteers until Saturday morning, and it usually takes a few days for them to graciously find time in their schedule to reply. Hopefully we'll be able to resume our weekly Q&A segment next Monday! If you'd like to be featured, just reply to this email and let me know!

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 Alright, birthday time! Let's see whose existence we should be honoring today, shall we? We have a TON of birthday persons to celebrate, so I've grouped them thusly:

Stars of Stage & Screen: Actor/Filmmaker Tyler Perry (1969), actress Jean Smart (1951), actor Ben Savage (1980), talk show host Tavis Smiley (1964), and singer/actress Nell Carter (1948)

Stars of Stage & Recording Studio: Singer Mel Tormé (1925), heavy metal singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine (1961), singer-songwriter Fiona Apple (1977), and rapper/producer Swizz Beatz (1978)

Stars of the Printed Word: author and screenwriter Roald Dahl (1916) and etiquette expert and columnist Judith Martin, aka Miss Manners (1938)

OK! Assuming I don't die before then, I'll be back in your inbox on Wednesday morning with links to fun distractions! Again, if you'd like to be featured in an upcoming email, reply to this and let me know! If you're looking to do some early holiday shopping this week, be sure to use the code SUMMER10 at checkout to save 10% on orders of $75 or more! Until next time...

Peace, love, and positivity,

Matt