Celebrate

Things are horrible these days. The Middle East is in shambles, Britney Spears is in shambles that are at least amusing rather than purely tragic, and I have recently found myself identifying more with "The Nanny" than ever before. So I leave you with the following, an uplifting post about unlikely holidays I observe:

Gay Pride: Missed it this year! But usually, I'm in the middle of the action. I am not gay, and don't believe in being proud or ashamed of who you happen to have been born or which sex you happen to enjoy sleeping with, but the Gay Pride parade makes the Puerto Rican one look positively boring, and so, why not?

Easter: As a kid, I definitely dyed eggs. And to this day, spring for me means Peeps. My family has never celebrated Christmas, but anyone can see that Easter, unlike Christmas, is a holiday devoid of all religious meaning. Any holiday whose official, Biblical significance is going to Walgreens or Duane Reade and purchasing neon-sugar-coated marshmellows cannot possibly have anything to do with any messiah I do not acknowledge.

Shemini Atzeret: This is a Jewish holiday, but an obscure one, at least to a Passover-only Jew like myself. (Mmm, matzo). But I worked at a Jewish organization at the time of the last Shemini Atzeret, and so had the day off. I vaguely remember Googling the holiday, just to make sure "Shemini Atzeret" wasn't just code for, "What the heck, have a nice day!" No, it was not, so if you find yourself needing a day off in the fall, check which day the holiday appears that year, and by all means, have yourself a merry Shemini Atzeret.