Yeah I’m shouting. This is my annual me-festival, one of the made-up holidays that I celebrate because I find the standard palette of holidays uninspiring, though I do enjoy many of them.
The idea, which started sometime before my blog, is that Virgos are uptight and overly analytical and so they need to take some time off and chill out, regularly. I think my friend Anne and I thought this up, or maybe it was her idea alone. In any case, I’ve run with it and made some sort of mention of it online every year. I also attempt to unwind and pay special attention to my stress levels and try to moderate them as best I can. The punch line is that the Virgo month is also the beginning of school and all sorts of crazy things happen [9/11 happened, Jet Blue does a special sale that I’m always tempted to buy in to, I’m frequently in transit, school is starting, this month there is a lot of paperwork that I’m dying to be done with] and it’s usually the very opposite of relaxing and haw haw, the stereotype is correct after all.
So, to recap, the Virgo Month of Leisure started today. It’s been slow going so far–I was interviewed in the Montpelier ACLU office for a cable access project about privacy and then I had a delicious dinner with pie–but I expect it to ramp up. Here, because it’s funny, is a linked list of the last fourteen years of Month of Leisure failures.
- 2011: OK so far!
- 2010: Finished writing a book
- 2009: Several trips including one out of the country
- 2008: Turned 40, got a fancy picture-taking bicycle, moved
- 2007: Became a lifeguard
- 2006: Incoming terrible roommate & trip to Maine and later North Dakota, Mom in hospital
- 2005: trip to New York, trip to Indiana
- 2004: Slow month, possibly the first since this all started.
- 2003: I move to Vermont full-time, I start a new job.
- 2002: Working on a book.
- 2001: I start a postcard project, we know what happened after that.
- 2000: Burning Man followed by the hospital
- 1999: driving cross-country & my barn roof blows off
- 1998: in Guatemala
- 1997: Bought a house
I’ve also created an event on facebook. If you’re a facebooker, you can sign up to “attend” over there. My birthday is on September 5th. I’m hoping it’s a good one.