The origins of blogging go further back than the Internet to the days of personal diaries, chronicles and other written forms of personal musings. Today, a blog is considered to be a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual or company. Blogs are typically written in chronological order and displayed in reverse chronological order to the reader. Online media, such as discussion forums and  e-mail lists are also considered to be predecessors to the blog.

The word blog itself is a play on the words Weblog, as most blogs will be displayed in a journal or log entry format, where most are updated daily or more frequently than most Web sites would be. Blogs often reflect the personality of the author or the company employees they represent. To this end the most accurate and fitting evolution of today’s blog comes from online diaries where the diarist would keep an online journal of themselves.

Other popular forms of blogging in business have included updates published by using the finger protocol. This was a widely popular delivery method for online journals in the mid 1990′s — made popular by 3D game developers,  such as id Software and 3DRealms, who used the finger protocol to provide news and interesting details about in-development games to their fans.

September is here, and most Mexican people start talking about parties, especially the evening of September 15th and September 16th honoring Mexican Independence.

Everyone likes to party, but September is a special month. So a friend of mine asked me why Mexican people celebrate on September and not May the Independence Day? So, I had to dig into this matter and explain to her that: Cinco de Mayo is not the celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day.

The “Batalla de Puebla” (Battle of Puebla) or “Cinco de Mayo” (Fifth of May) is the celebration of freedom from an oppressive European empire: France. And this event is celebrated widely in the United States with parties and parades. According to UCLA’s Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture, the holiday was invented in modern-day California in 1863, and has continued to be celebrated in the United States.

But the main celebration for all Mexican people is on the evening of September 15th when all Mexicans celebrate The El Grito de la Independencia (Cry of Independence) The Grito de Dolores (“Cry of Dolores”) also known as El Grito de la Independencia is the event that marks the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence and is the most important national holiday observed in Mexico (in honor of Mexico’s independence from Spanish rule in 1810).

During September, our “Mes de la Patria”, the month of our nation, streets, homes, buildings and cars are decorated everywhere in the country. On every street, there are vendors selling flags, balloons, sombreros charros and rehiletes -shuttlecock, all with the green, white and red, our national colors. Lighted decorations are set up in every city, the most spectacular can be seeing at the Historic Center of Mexico City, which is the Main Plaza or “Zócalo”.

Food is always a very important part of these festivities: restaurants serve traditional Mexican dishes, such as mole poblano, chikles en Nogada, guacamole, and of course our traditional Pozole and tamales.

Hundreds of stands are set up several days before and offer the traditional antojitos, (appetizers) Mexican candies, and ponche; (a drink made of fruits that are in season: guayabas, sugarcane, raisins, cinnamon sticks, hibiscus, tamarind and apples – such a delicious aroma!)

When the President arrives in the zócalo, at 11:00 P.M. to give the Grito, excitement and euphoria reach a crescendo. It is customary for our President to deliver the “Grito” in Mexico City’s Palacio Nacional where the original bell rung by Hidalgo y Costilla is placed. And this is the bell that is rung every 15th of September.

The ceremony reaches the high point when the crowd joins in proudly shouting out the names of the heroes of our Independence, to end with the exciting VIVA MÉXICO! The sky lights up with multicolored fireworks.

The following day, September 16 is Independence Day in Mexico and is considered as Fiesta Patria (holiday of the Fatherland) this day is marked with military parades, patriotic programs, drums and band competitions. This is the moment, September 16th when all Mexican all around the world remember with the pride of knowing that we are a free and Independent Nation.

Amelia Earhart, a pioneering woman to say the least. She was born July 24, 1897 in Kansas and has many firsts to her name:

• First female passenger to cross the Atlantic (June 1928);
• First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (1932)
  • Charles Lindbergh’s historic flight across the Atlantic was in May 1927
• First person to fly solo from Honolulu, HI to Oakland, CA (1935)
• First person to fly solo from Los Angeles, CA to Mexico City (1935)
• First person to fly solo from Mexico City to Newark, NJ (1935)
• Attempted to be the first person to fly around the world at the equator

This map outlines many of Amelia’s routes identified above.

Amelia Earhart disappeared at age 39 on July 2, 1937 flying over the Pacific Ocean en route to Howland Island.