What Shall We Do With An Extra Day?
By Michele Lenni in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 29, 2012 8:45PM
Lo and behold today is one of the most hallowed and celebrated days on the Gregorian calendar: LEAP DAY! What does that mean? It means it's time to pull out your big boy pants and make today count!
Today is some wacky kind of wormhole in time that only exists for 24-hours every four years. If we are to believe last week's episode of 30 Rock, anything that happens on this sacred day doesn't count a bit! So it's time for some shenanigans on a epic level! Go and do the things that you've been dreaming of doing on this day for the past four years like hugging a stranger on the street, manning a golf cart on the freeway or taking the time to bleach your no-no hole for that special someone! Ladies, propose marriage to your men! If you happen to give birth, enroll your babe in The Honor society of Leap Year Day Babies!
But if you're in Scotland or Greece immediately cease and desist! In Scotland, it used to be considered unlucky for someone to be born on Leap Day, just like Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day by many. In Greece, marrying in a leap year alone is unlucky, let alone Leap Day.
We here at Chicagoist take this holiday very seriously and wanted to share with you what we will be doing during this whimsical influx of time.
Chuck Sudo: It's simply enough for me on this day of amazing weather to work in my home office with the windows open while I enjoy the silence of an apartment with no running humidifiers. I'm also hanging four pounds of homemade harissa-spiced guanciale under my kitchen sink to cure.
Samantha Abernethy: Leap Day is like emptying out a savings account that you’ve been filling for four years. I probably won’t do anything differently, but I enjoy the novelty of it. I like holidays that have no meaning.
Prescott Carlson: I used the opportunity to try and convince my gullible kids that people born on leap day only have birthdays once every four years, and hence live four times as long as the average person. Had my younger one going there for a bit with that.
Michelle Meywes: I plan to go to work, go home, eat dinner, go to bed and get up in the morning and do it all over again. Are we sure this isn’t Groundhog Day?
Paul Schnieder: Have you been outside? There’s only one thing I could imagine doing today: getting out on the soccer field.
Michele Lenni: Well, like any good Leap Day I intend to give candy and cigarettes to crying children, dance in the middle of Michigan Ave. with a crack whore and top it all off with some delicious Leap Day cake, which is of course made in part of the tears of the crying children.
What do you intend to do with your Leap Day?