Putting it all together for 2011

July 5 events -

1971 Monday - 26th Amendment to the Constitution ratified. It lowered the voting age to 18.
1989 Wednesday - Rod Stewart bangs head on stage during a concert and it knocks him out.
1989 Wednesday -  The Premier episode of Seinfeld. It ran until Thursday May 14, 1998.
      Tonight as my wife and I were watching fireworks I remembered the past few times we saw fireworks. The last time was on Monday November 29, 2010 at Disney World. Then on Friday October 1, 2010 we saw a magnificent display at Niagara Falls. Then the previous two New Year Eve's in Ocean City as part of their First Night activities. Many people have asked me if having Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory is a burden due to remembering all the bad things. It has been in the past but I have learned to cope and make it a good thing. There will be more on that in future blogs. The corrollary of that is that having a good memory is good because I remember all the good times with more clarity than most people. This example of the fireworks is an example. I go to the beach and watch fireworks and have pleasant flashbacks of past vacations and fun nights.
      Two blogs ago you practiced chanting sequences of numbers. One eight fifteen twenty two twenty nine etc.  Today we are going to combine yesterdays images with the chants to quickly calculate any day in 2011.
To prove that this really works, let's prove that today July 5 is a Tuesday. Out image for July is fireworks. We had the fireworks turn into a frying pan, the symbol for Friday. Now we know that the first day of July is a Friday. Any day in the first week of the month is simple addition. If the first is a Friday, the second is a Saturday,  the third is a SUnday, fourth Monday, and fifth Tuesday.
       Labor Day is the first Monday in September. For September we have a student carrying a three as if it was their school book So September 1 is a Thursday, 2nd Friday 3rd Saturday 4th Sunday 5th Monday. Labor Day is a Monday.
        Halloween October 31. For this calculation, The fastest way would be to remember November 1, the next day. We have a turkey that multiplies in two. November 1 is a Tuesday so Halloween, the day before is a Monday. Let's now use the same November image to calculate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November. Since we have established that November begins on a Tuesday we can reason that the first Thursday is the 3rd. Then we chant three ten seventeen twenty four. Thanksgiving will be the twenty fourth.
       Finally, let's calculate Christmas. For December we have Santa multiplying by three. The month begins on a Thursday. The Thursdays are then one eight fifteen twenty two. If the twenty second is a Thursday then the twenty third is a Friday, twenty fourth is a Saturday, and the Twenty Fifth is a Sunday.
       If you would like to practice this more. Calculate when your birthday is this year. The birthdays in your family, your friends or randomly generate some dates and calculate them.

       Try these randomly generated dates.

       January 27

       February 18

       March 12

       April 24

       May 21

       June 14

       July 27

       August 15

       September 26

       October 14

       November 7

       December 31

     I encourage you to practice this. It can be a boost of confidence to know that after a little practice you know the date of every day for this year. There are many tricks to come in future blogs.