If one were to give honest consideration to the relative importance of holidays, I'm not certain New Year's Day would rate very highly. It's somewhat akin to being the Seinfeld of holidays- a holiday about nothing. I'll grant you that the date does have usefulness: it tells how old someone (or something is), and it tells accountants and other number crunchers that its time to reset their counters to zero. But its value as a holiday is pretty much a zero. Here's a brief rundown of some holidays celebrated in the United States; I'll let you be the judge of how New Year's Day stacks up.
1/19/2014- Martin Luther King Day**
2/14/2014- Valentine's Day
2/16/2014- President's Day**
3/4/2014- Mardi Gras
3/17/2014- St. Patrick's Day
4/20/2014- Easter Sunday
5/26/2014- Memorial Day**
6/14/2014- Flag Day
7/4/2014- Independence Day
*I think in August we just sweat
9/1/2014- Labor Day**
10/31/2014- Halloween
11/27/2014- Thanksgiving
12/25/2014- Christmas
**These are Federal holidays and are observed on a Monday, so the dates move.
Looking at this list, I say that New Year's Day is pale and insignificant. Of course, that's just my opinion. How am I celebrating it? Well, I get to go to work tonight. Although the presses are shutting down in the late afternoon, a few hardy coworkers and yours truly will keep the fluorescent lights burning in Data Services, staying ahead of the proverbial curve and some time around midnight we're calling it a day. I'll probably put the finishing touches on this blog (proofreading and rewriting), and then work on the database (or, maybe start work on the fitness workbook that I've been threatening myself with for months- Ryan and I have a plan which we roughed out last night), and maybe play a bit of Civilization V. As far as celebration goes, I'm going to whoop it up, taking down the 2013 Lego calendar, and unwrapping and hanging up the 2014 Lego calendar. Yes, we certainly know how to properly observe the flipping of a calendar page here in the Secret Underground Lair. I almost forgot- I've got some pickled herring in the fridge...in the immortal words of Abe Lincoln (as uttered in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure)-
"Party on, Dudes!"
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
*The End-Of-Year-Addendum (not quite like The End Of Days or anything like That)
Okay, I admit to writing everything above this on the 31st of December. Its now officially January 1st, so its time for hoopla and stuff. First of all, Happy New Year. I think you got my ideas on New Year from what I wrote above, but if you're a big New Years fan, Happy Day! As some of you may be what are known as "resolutioners"- that would be those who want to get in shape in the New Year, might I suggest Iron Sanctuary. This is a weight lifting site dedicated to strength and overall wellness. If you like lifting, this is a great site.
Lastly, here (in no particular order) are the Top 5 blogs of 2013- I hope you enjoy and share them!
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-2k.html
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2013/02/normal-is-town-in-illinois.html
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2013/01/something-new.html
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2013/01/like-data-we-are-in-it-sense-fully.html
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2013/01/who-does-that-anyway.html
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