Wonderful Weirdos Day

Nothing’s quite as dull as being normal, boring, average or typical. Celebrate being weird, and celebrate the weirdos in the world on Wonderful Weirdos Day!

History of Wonderful Weirdos Day

Of course, there is no exact way to prove this, but it is likely that weirdos have been around as long as humans have. All it really takes is one person to be a little bit different than everyone else and, just like that, a weirdo appears! But weirdos haven’t always been considered by everyone to be wonderful.

It wasn’t until the year 2000, when a handful of citizens of the US city of Austin, Texas, decided that there should be a day for the celebration of the wonderfulness of people who are exceptional, strange, bizarre, unusual and… weird. It first started out with the theme of “Keep Austin Weird” and, admittedly, the citizens of this city have been known for having just a bit more than their fair share of weirdos. The day was sponsored by Tom Roy, which has only added to its charm and delightfulness.

Eventually, this day dedicated to celebrating weird people caught on and now Wonderful Weirdos Day is enjoyed and appreciated all over the United States as well as other places on the globe. 

Now it’s time to celebrate Wonderful Weirdos Day! 

How to Celebrate Wonderful Weirdos Day

Enjoying this special day is particularly fun for those whose sense of “normal” is slightly unique! Try these ideas for celebrating Wonderful Weirdos Day, or come up with some other creative (even weird!) ideas to make this day interesting:

Embrace That Inner Weirdo 

Make an effort to be weird by dressing weirdly, doing weird things and encouraging weirdness with friends, family or in the workplace! Memorize a weird poem to recite, speak in a weird language (like pig-latin) or, instead of walking, make it a priority to sashay or gallop to destinations on this day.

Dress Like a Weirdo

In enjoying the wonderfulness that is related to weirdos, a great way to celebrate is to dress the part. Whether a person is a year-round weirdo or just on this day, try wearing something that is unique and different. Pair a striped skirt with a polka dotted top. Or dress in a vintage outfit that channels that inner hippie, rockstar or comic book character. Whatever is weirdest!

Watch a Movie About Weirdos 

No one understands weird people quite like the filmmakers of Hollywood! Take a bit of time to watch these movies that feature weirdos, paying homage to the weirdos in these films:

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). No one is surprised that one of Johnny Depp’s characters would make it onto the list of weirdos. In this film he plays a very strange version of Willy Wonka, a role that was first made famous by Gene Wilder.
• Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985). It’s hard to imagine anyone weirder than Pee Wee Herman. This strange character evolved from a television show and made his way onto the big screen as one of the weirdest characters of the eighties, played by Paul Ruebens.
• The Addams Family (1991). What could be better than a whole family full of weirdos?! With Mother Morticia and Father Gomez, Brother Puggsley and Sister Wednesday, this family wouldn’t be complete without Uncle Fester, Cousin Itt, Lurch and “Thing”.
• The Dark Knight (2008). Comic book characters have a tendency to be weird in general. But none is likely quite as weird as Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker from this Batman series film.

Appreciate Other Weirdos

In an effort to keep the celebration going, don’t forget to identify other weirdos on this day and make sure they understand that they are appreciated by the world for their uniqueness. Send a card to that favorite weirdo, write it on a post-it note at work, or take out a billboard in appreciation of all of the weirdos on this day.

Listen to Weird Music (By Weird Musicians, of course!) 

Some musicians are weird on purpose. For others, it just seems to happen naturally. Consider creating a playlist by these weird musicians or with these weird songs that can be the perfect background soundtrack for Wonderful Weirdos Day:

• Weird Al Yankovic. This guy is basically the essence of weird, and he even has it in his name. In his early career he did a lot of spoofs on pop songs such as “Eat It” from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, or “Like a Surgeon” from Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”.
• They Might Be Giants. Made up of two guys named John (Flansburgh and Linnell), this alternative rock band was formed in 1982 and has been offering slightly weird songs to the world ever since. They played songs with lyrics like “ Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul”. Or the song “Istanbul” which has lyrics that talk about the fact that Istanbul, Turkey used to be called Constantinople.
• Jonathan Coulton. Known by his fans as JoCo, this artist produces music specifically meant to benefit the “geek culture”. A graduate of Yale, Coulton was part of a couple of different bands previously, including The Spizzwinks and the Yale Whiffenpoofs.

Try Some Weird Foods 

Wonderful Weirdos day can be appreciated by making sure to enjoy those foods that stand out as weirdos in their own food culture. Of course, “weird” is relative based on location and culture, so what is weird or exotic one place might not be weird someplace else. Try some of these interesting ideas for food in honor of the day:

• Haggis. Served in Scotland, haggis consists of sheep’s heart, lungs and liver that are ground up with onions and flavorings and served inside of the sheep’s stomach. 
• Spam. This little canned ‘meat’ can be found on the shelves of American grocery stores and was especially popular toward the end of the Great Depression. It’s made from chopped pork shoulder and ham, potato starch and other somewhat mysterious ingredients. 
• Century Egg. Hailing from China, this egg isn’t really a hundred years old. But it is still rather rotten. It’s an egg that has been preserved in ash and clay for several months until the yolk turns green or black and becomes rather slimy.