Holidays

I am a fan of obscure holidays. And by obscure, I mean the "National Eat a Banana with your Feet" kind of obscure. Not obscure like Veteran's Day (which should definitely NOT be obscure, thank you kindly), which is a very real and significant and beautiful day of commemoration that we are just callous enough to ignore, unless we happen to be in retail and need an excuse for a sale (no offense to retailers--I appreciate sales).

No, I am referring to those holidays that you think, "That's a real holiday? You made that up." Because, most likely, someone did, but somehow it became "official." My theory is these holidays didn't exist before the internet--I mean, how on earth would you communicate with people that March 22nd is wear mismatching socks and a funky hat day? There was no Google search, and it would take way too much time to lobby the calendar companies to add it to their calendars. But, lo, the power of the internet--random and obscure holidays at our fingertips. It's a beautiful thing.

So what got me thinking about this? Well, someone casually mentioned that I had missed National Squirrel Appreciation Day (January 21st), which got me thinking about my favorite squirrel-obsessed dog, Penny (I have a serious case of puppy love for this animal, who is watching for squirrels in this photo, by the by). So then I had to see if this was a legit holiday, via our trusty friend Google. And, it was. Which made me wonder if I could send my brother a card for National Squirrel Appreciation Day, as a joke, (he is the boy that belongs to the dog). Which led to the discovery of Chocolate Cake Day on January 27th--yes, you can send e-cards for this wonderful day. Well, far be it from me to ignore a perfectly legitimate reason for eating chocolate cake (I made some delicious chocolate cupcakes--glorious--and shared with my co-workers)!

All of this led to serious contemplation (i.e. the topic flitted through my jumbled thoughts on the walk to my car after class) of this type of celebration. My thoughts were (roughly) as follows:

Man it is freezing. Chocolate Cake Day. You know, I think people make up holidays to justify doing something that they feel guilty about--like eating chocolate cake. It gives them an excuse. Assuming, of course, that you need an excuse to eat chocolate cake. But I guess it is a reason to do it guilt-free. Or maybe we have them so that we do something we know we should, but don't. Like appreciate squirrels. Or at least pay attention to them. It is so cold! This would be a fun blog post. Oh, I need to remember to mail that check. And I have that assignment due tomorrow. Mmmm, chocolate cake. What holiday would I create if I were to create a holiday? Pizza day? Nah. What do I like to eat, but always feel guilty about? Or like to do? Stay at home and read all day and wear pajamas--lounge day. There you go. Or I could make Send a Letter Day, so that I'd finally write a letter to Grandma. Why is it I never have time? It's not like I'm spending that much time with school--I could, of course. I should. My toes are freezing! Thank heavens for scarves. Scarf Day! I wonder what other days are coming up...."

As you can see, it was a very lively conversation. I'm sure you wish you could have been there to participate. Although, the conversation doesn't really have to end there.

And, meanwhile, if you are wondering what holidays are coming up, here are some links you can check out: (I make no promises about how good they are--besides, you can google too, right?)
http://www.brownielocks.com/february.html
http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/february.htm
http://familycrafts.about.com/library/spdays/blfebdayslong.htm - (Please note that today is the founding of Hershey's, which just calls for a chocolate bar, right? And the irony of it also being Toothache day...Seriously? Was this planned?)

Happy celebrating!

Credits
the fella who brought squirrel appreciation day to my attention
Squirrels--especially the fat ones on campus
Penny the Squirrel Hunter
Richard, the boy who raised the Squirrel Hunter
Chocolate Cake
Google, the guru of all it knows and provider of such wonderful resources (like blogspot!)
cold weather and parking permits I'm too cheap to buy, the inspiration for my mental conversations
SI, just because here I am
Procrastination, without which I would be diligently doing homework rather than blogging