The Day After

My desk calendar is hardly a forward thinker. It features no Buddhist wisdom or Zen images. Every quote is taken from A Song of Ice and Fire—I might be sour on the TV show, but I remain a loyal fan of the novels. Sometimes the saying is relevant, sometimes not, and it doesn’t really matter beyond the date. Each morning, I tear away the previous day’s page and flip it over to see the bonus feature. Mazes, word searches, sudoku puzzles, household hints, terrible puns, and the dumbest feature of all: the unknown holiday.

This would be a genuine bonus if it appeared on the back of the page before the date. Among other gems, I have missed Ice Cream Day, Name Your Car Day, Do Nothing Day, and the worst omission of all—Book Lover’s Day. This bibliophilic nod falls on August 10, but I didn’t know about it until August 11.

That August 10 also happened to be Duran Duran Appreciation Day is of little comfort. I am a ferocious book lover, perhaps even more than I am a Durannie, and while one might argue that every day can be Book Lover’s Day, it struck me as absurd that the notification was placed so as to be missed until after the occasion.

Doof.

The main purpose of a calendar, I believe, is to mark special dates ahead of time … though I recall a friend’s amusement at the notion of a Zen calendar. “A timeless watch,” he said quietly, poking fun with love at an attempt to incorporate some serenity into a crazy environment.

I’m a Virgo and it’s cheating to turn a page before the one you’re on is finished. I suppose it would be worse if the surprise holidays were statutory days off, but I’d have enjoyed the excuse to hit the ice cream shop on that day back in July … if I’d known about it at the time.