Leap Day Nonsense

Today is February 29, Leap Day! After pondering what I would like to do with an extra February day I decided upon utilizing my superior interwebs research abilities and discovering what is leap day all about and to sort through important questions like:

1. Why is this extra day added on at the end of February and not some other month? ( those jerks, the Romans, did it with their calendar reforms. What were they thinking? They could've added a 32nd day in July, wtf!)
2. Does leap day count as real life? (leap day is day for questionable decisions that otherwise would be reprehensible, so they should not count toward the other boring days on the calendar, duh)
3. If you can't read on February 28, will you be literate on the 29? (obviously, it's science)
4. What's the deal with Europeans and marriage traditions on leap day?

As for question 4, it required some research.  Apparently in some places (by some places, I mean Ireland, crazytown, and Eastern Europe) women are encouraged to propose marriage to men on February 29.  Apparently if the man refuses he has pay the woman off or buy her a dress or 12 pairs of gloves.  This leads me to suspect a Leap Day phenomena of an increased instances of gold digging.  Great job Eastern Europe, lets help out ladies' rights by promoting marriage proposals as means for increasing woman's dress and glove collections.  Follow-up question, who needs 12 pairs of gloves (other than accessorizing furiously)?  Also, what about same sex couples, who is supposed to propose to whom on leap day?  Greece went the complete opposite direction here, saying its unlucky to marry on February 29 (a February wedding? ghastly, woof!).  I see what the Greek women did here, try to pull a fast one and eliminate the opportunity for all the Greek husbands to skip out on 75% of anniversaries.  In Greece's current financial state, couldn't they use a cut back on anniversary floral arrangement and jewelry?  Just saying....  And leap day birthdays (celebrity all-star crew of Taylor Twellman, Ja Rule, and Tony Robbins), don't even get me started (but how awesome would it be to have an actual excuse to act like a 7 year old when  you're 30?)....


Moving on, I recently took trip to Georgia to visit family, B came along for the trip, while it was not my first trip south, we definitely had some highlights:

• We found out what a +30,000 student state school is like when staying in Athens, which is legit college town, as this was the first time I actually stayed downtown (our suite was covered in bulldog/UGA decor).  Lots of cool bars, whole bunch of restaurants and from what I gathered an interesting music scene, not expected out of this trip but fun nonetheless.  UGA is huge, their football stadium is huger, and if you don't like bulldogs go f*** yourself!  Also saw the building where my parents first met, kinda sappy but thanks UGA Psychology Department?
• While visiting my grandparents, we were able to hear quite a few stories from back in the day (credit to B for her skills with the elderly and asking questions), including the gem about my grandfather getting kicked off the bus and walking 4 miles home for throwing the bus driver's broom out the bus window (explanation from my grandfather- "she was a grump")
• Food I ate=Grits, Sausage and Biscuits, Peach French Toast, BBQ, Brunswick stew, Chicken Mull, Country Ham, Sweet Potato candy pie casserole, and many more dishes not found readily in Massachusetts. I also gave into peer pressure and tried a burger with peanut butter on it, not terrible (I was told to go by the name of P.B. Sims).  I am quite certain that I would weigh at least 400lbs should I live in that state.
• I am fairly certain that Habersham County Georgia has a law restricting the number of eateries that can serve salad or non-fried vegetables.  I believe the county has only issued such 3 licences to various eateries.
• Have you seen a coyote carcass? (Those a-holes eat all the barn cats!)  Coyotes down there can get pretty big, almost looked like a wolf...
• Biggest highlight is finding long lost home video footage of my brother and myself from 1989.  Let's just say I wasn't the best at taking direction and my table manners leave a lot to be desired... (video footage hopefully coming soon...)

Oscars: Oscars, you disappoint me.  I like your Cirque du Soliel performance and Borat dumping ashes on Ryan Seacrest, but the I guess I didn't see enough movies this year to pick an Oscars pool correctly.  Also, next year, please note I prefer the motion pictures with the talking, the "talkies" I believe they are referred to.

Picture of cat and bear from 2006

This week in Bear News: A cat the chased a bear up a tree in 2006, was found murdered outside it's New Jersey home.  The suspect, the black bear from the 2006 incident, has been brought in for questioning, but has not been charged.


On a sad note, the co-author of the children's book bear propaganda, the Berenstain Bears, Jan Berenstain, passed away last week.





Countdown to the Olympics: 148 Days until the London Summer Olympics.  Olympic correspondent Royer and I will begin our preparations for covering the shenanigans and hooliganism of these meaningless and breathtaking displays of athleticism, heroism, and world dominance by Home Depot employees.
Today's Pre-Olympic betting odds: # of medals Finland will win for non-shooting events: +/- 1.5