Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“That’s the great thing about the future, nobody knows what’s going to happen. That’s what makes it all exciting.”– somebody named Joe
On March 27th National Joe Day encourages everyone to enjoy a cup of joe with all of your friends that are named Joe, Jo, Joey, Joseph, and Josephine. While you’re at it, don’t forget Joette, Jody, Johanna, Jodie, Dolly Parton’s Jolene or any other variant of the name Joe. It seems that quite a few nicknames can be created from this one name.
The origin of this day is unknown but we know that the name Joe or Jo refers to an everyday name deriving from phrases like ‘‘Lucky Joe’’, or ‘‘Average Joe.’’ It can also refer to a hot cup of coffee, even though I don’t drink coffee. The phrase ‘‘cup of Joe’’ became popular sometime around 1940 when a Navy admiral tried to discourage sailors from drinking alcohol and instead promoted then to consume coffee. Or so the legend goes…. Since then, the phrase “cup of joe” stuck and became the name for the everyday activity of drinking coffee .
About my Ai Portrait: The image at right is my first and last attempt at working with Ai software. The image is based on a snapshot that Barry Staver made of me while we were enjoying some donuts at Dunkin’. Podcast number 9 of the Pixels. Grain & Cookies podcast is now on-line on my YouTube channel. In this episode, among other topics, Barry and I talk about Ai and it’s effect on contemporary photography, Check it out when you have time.
Lot’s of Joe’s
According to the Social Security Administration, from 1893 to 1899 the name Joseph was ranked No. 6 behind John, William, James, George, and Charles. In 1910, it moved to No. 5. From 1911 to 2005 it was ranked No. 12 or lower. Nowadays, Joe is ranked as the 103rd most popular given name in the United States placing it in the 99th percentile, which means that nearly 99% of all the other first names are more popular. Yikes!
Famous Joes include baseball players Shoeless Joe Jackson and Joe DiMaggio, actors Joe Pesci, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jodie Foster, singer Joe Cocker and football players Joe Montana and Joe Namath along with photographers Joseph Rosenthal ,Joe McNally, Joe Stern, Joe DiFlorio and Josef Sudek.
How To Observe National Joe Day. During their research, the National Day Calendar found this day has a few different versions, especially as to how it’s celebrated. Here’s a few suggestion from them, including one from me:
- Honor all people with the name “Joe.”
- Read the science fiction novella Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson
- Rent/Buy/Watch the 1943 Spencer Tracy film A Guy Named Joe. DO NOT watch Steven Spielberg’s 1989 film Always that is a terrible remake of A Guy Named Joe
- Another way to celebrate the day is by telling stories about friends and family that are/were about someone named Joe, like my late Dad, Joe Sr. We all know someone from our past or present who made our lives just a little bit better just by being the Joe or Jo that they are.
Be sure to use #NationalJoeDay to post on social media
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to buy me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50,) please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.