Reasons to Celebrate on January 5

I always feel a little down during the first week of January. After a month-and-a-half of paid holidays, family gatherings, free food, seasonal decorations, and assorted celebrations, returning to the humdrum of the five-day work week (sans decorations and free food) always has been difficult for me. So this year I've decided to find some reasons to get excited about the single-digit days in January. Here are some things we can celebrate today, January 5, 2010:

• Today is the fifth anniversary of the discovery of the dwarf planet Eris. The discovery of Eris largely was responsible for the reclassification of Pluto. Astronomers said (and I'm paraphrasing), "This thing is bigger than Pluto, but we're not really comfortable calling it a planet. But if this thing isn't a planet, Pluto can't be a planet either." (I say "this thing," because Eris did not become "Eris" until September 2006.)


• Today is the seventieth anniversary of FM radio being demonstrated to the FCC for the first time. FM would be approved one year later. And people still listen to FM radio today (when they forget to charge their iPods (and if they don't have satellite radio)).


• Today is the eighty-fifth anniversary of Nellie Tayloe Ross being elected governor of Wyoming and becoming the first female governor in the United States.

Have a happy January 5, 2010.