Holidays

Today is National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day. I know this because my QlownTown Holiday calendar hangs on the wall across from my desk, and it lists a different holiday or birthday for every day of 2010. It was a lot of work getting the dates together, but the result was so successful that I'm already starting to plan the 2011 calendar. (By the way, not to put in a plug or anything, but copies of this year's calendar are still available online for $10 each. There are still 282 dates to read about in 2010.)

But getting back to today's holiday: I don't particularly like chocolate covered raisins, but I'm glad that people who do have their own holiday. Holidays are generally fun, except for those few religious holidays that are all about atonement, forgiveness, or mourning--but even a little officially-sanctioned sorrow can be good for the soul, too. They're a good excuse to celebrate when nothing in your everyday life warrants it.

I was looking ahead a few days and saw that this coming Friday is Make Up Your Own Holiday Day, and no, I didn't make that up. I read it online so it must be true. I encourage anyone who reads this to send in your own suggestions for a holiday that you've made up. If it's a good one, I may even put it on next year's calendar. Of course, I'm not going to add new holidays willy nilly, because the purpose of the calendar is to provide information---mostly useless information, but information nonetheless---about real holidays. But one or two really good ones might find their way into 2011. If there's a particular date one which you think it should appear, include that too, with an explanation if applicable. The best way is to visit the blog and add your idea under Comments. (This blog also appears in my Facebook page and maybe elsewhere.) If you email dsmith-weiss@qlowntown.com, I can transfer your suggestion to the blog, but it's more efficient to go right to the source.

Tomorrow is Letting Go of Stuff Day. Ironically, it's also Maundy Thursday, which always reminds of the old joke "How can it be Maundy if it's Thursday?", but I digress. So we have a holiday that, every year, mourns a horrible event in Jesus's life which is also a day to stop worrying about things. But there are plenty of other things to let go of; for example, $10 plus shipping for a 2010 QlownTown Holiday calendar--not that I'm plugging anything. You could let go of a grudge you're holding, or let go of some old clothes that don't fit or are out of style, or let go of some anger you're feeling. And Passover is coming up next week, so if you're thinking of getting new stuff to replace the stuff you let go of, just Pass over it. Your life will just get cluttered again.

I tend to forget to look at the calendar every day, and I just discovered that I missed celebrating International Goof-Off Day two days ago. I worked Monday, and now I learn I wasn't supposed to. I guess I'd better pay closer attention to the calendar from now on.