Advice: Check an Actual Calendar


Image result for the great gatsbyI wasn't going to tell you all this. I was going to maintain my pride. But then I thought, perhaps I could save someone else from making the same, quite honestly, ridiculous mistake I made, thus saving you from this same shame. You see, I love The Great Gatsby. I know, a lot of people "love" The Great Gatsby, but I can guarantee you that a very small percentage of these people love it the same way I do. Now, as someone with an obsession with Gatsby, I also remember a lot of random quotes and moments from this book. One of which happens around page 20ish when Nick goes to the Buchanans for dinner. Daisy says, "Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it." To which Jordan says "we should plan something." Now, I'm not going to bore/beguile you with an analysis of this scene, but I will say that every year since I have watched for the longest day of the year, silently celebrating this little scene.


But, this year, I decided I wasn't going to just add whipped cream to my ice cream and call it a solstice celebration as if I actually planned something. Well, this year I did plan something. I had one of the best days. I'm not sure why but this day felt particularly special. Naturally, to celebrate Gatsby, I went to Markham & Fitz with the only other person I've met thus far that loves that book just as much as I. I started my day with chocolate, had a lovely conversation, gifted some macarons that came out pretty ok (and were lemon flavored. True fans will know why.), I even allowed myself to have a chocolate caramel tart for lunch ~healthy~. We spoke in quotes and, unlike Daisy, did not miss the longest day of the year...maybe.

The longest day really felt like the longest day to me. I went straight from chocolate to going to see Les Miserables with my mom. I had been before, but for some reason, the show seemed even better the second time. Was it really better or was it better because I was able to go to one of my favorite shows with my mom? I feel like it was both. 3 hours later and it was still sunny and hot. So sunny and hot that I may have gone to get more chocolate at Markham & Fitz. What can I say? I didn't get my Santo Domingo in the morning.

And then I finished the longest day by rereading that scene and listening to some 20s themed music.

It really was the perfect way to celebrate except for the fact that it was, actually, not the longest day of the year. The next day was the actual longest day of the year. How did I mess this up? It was, and remains to be, a real mystery to me considering the fact that I check and recheck things to a point that borders on obsessive and this was no exception. I googled "when is the longest day of the year" no less than 20 times--you can check my search history. And every time, I was told "Thursday June 20." This checked out since I remembered from astro that solstices and equinoxes are always on the 20th or 21st. Well, yeah, this date would have been correct if I lived in China, but *surprise* I don't. I wouldn't had realized this mistake if it weren't for my lovely friend (you know who you are) that lead me to googling this a 21st time on the 20th at about 11 at night. The solstice was tomorrow. My whole life was a sham! I had failed and dragged at least 3 other people into my fake holiday.

So, I guess I didn't really miss the longest day of the year, but I didn't necessarily celebrate it either, though I did get mocktails the next day as a sort of consolation. Somehow I managed to turn myself into a Daisy, which is the complete opposite of what the novel wants to do. I can also say, that though my wrong day was amazing, the best thing a girl can be is not "beautiful little fool." But now I have a kind of funny, very on-brand English major story. I guess the moral here is, do not use google because it will lie to you until the last second and wants to see you fail, so just look at an actual calendar. You know, since so many of you, I'm sure, ran into a similar summer solstice scenario.

Better luck next year, old sport,
Christina

**I will not make this mistake again next year because it will be 2020; therefore, I will have 20/20 vision**

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