It's Leap Day!

     Happy Leap Day! What a wonderful holiday Leap Day is. It's rare and there are no presents involved! It's probably not really a holiday at all. It's a day for science, really. It's the opposite of those made up Hallmark holidays that exist only to make money and make single people feel shitty. Leap day wasn't made up at all, it was calculated by scientists.

     The sad part about leap day is that by mid-March, we'll probably forget it even existed. For the two months leading up to it we think "Ohhh, this is a leap year! What possibilities!" And then February 29th comes and goes and we carry on, not caring about that extra day we had this year. A co-worker will ask "is next year a leap year? Or was it this year? How often are they?" Oh poor leap day, how we take advantage of you.

     It's an extra day and perhaps we should embrace it! "Real Life is for March!" We get an extra day. In addition to allowing ladies to propose to their men, it can be a day for metaphorical leaps and trying new things. OR, for sleeping in and drinking wine because it's a free day so nobody will notice. Man, wouldn't it be great if everyone got their own private leap day? Just an extra 24 hours tucked away somewhere where nobody could find you. It'd be like going on vacation in a wormhole. Oooooh, wormholes. 

     I also wish the Leap Day William movie that 30 Rock made was real. Jim Carrey? Andie MacDowell? The basic plot of Groundhogs Day and Liar Liar wrapped into one? Yes, please! And while we're talking about Leap Day William, who wore it best?

Jim Carey in (the fake) Leap Day William

Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) as Leap Day William

   








   
Here's wishing you a day of leaps and science! Happy Leap Day to us all!

Leap Year

     This year is a leap year! It's pretty common knowledge as to why leap years exist--science and calendars didn't quite line up.  A year is actually 365.25 days long (actually, 265.242190). That fraction of a day has to go somewhere.  After four years, a quarter of a day at the end of each year is basically an entire day. So February gets an extra day every four years to even everything out.  Clearly, it's more scientific than that, but that's the gist.
     Leap Year is also a 2010 movie starring Amy Adams where she goes to Ireland on Leap Day to win magical powers. I forgot the movie existed until I Googled leap year and it popped up. Why was it released in 2010, which was not a leap year? Why was it released at all? Also, further IMDb searches reveal that there was another movie titled Leap Year also released in 2010. It's unclear if this movie took place during a leap year, or on a leap day, or if it's about frogs or Amy Adam's magical powers.
     I'm being sarcastic about the magical powers, but leap years seem magical to a certain degree. Leap years are the years of Summer Olympics and presidential elections. They're full of hope, promise, ambition, and sweat. Sweet presidential sweat.
    After February 29th passes and we're done thinking about the poor people born on that day--are they lucky to be unique or cursed to be freaks?--the thoughts of the extra time starts to fade. Subway will probably do some soul searching.  Did they realize there would be extra day during Februany? Any footlong sub for $5 for an extra day! They might've lost their shirts.
     The leap day in February makes the month seem more hopeful and less dreary.  February by itself is not great.  It's right in the middle of winter; the year isn't new anymore and spring looks so far away. What is there to look forward to? In a leap year, there's the leap day--an entire extra day; a gift of time! Hope is restored.