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Conversations: April Fool's Day

Yup, I am going to talk to a holiday. Maybe a more appropriate title would be A Discourse on April Fool's Day. Heck, I just keep forgetting to find someone to talk to on Thursdays. I always think about it at the beginning of the week, but then work and college consume my week. Today, one of my co-workers said that I always apologize and act like I don't want to write this blog. Pssh...I never make excuses or complain.

Well, according to Wikipedia -- yes, I said Wikipedia; I can hear all my English teachers weeping; I feel like I am sinning anytime I mention or read Wikipedia, even if it's for useless things like this; Mama said Wikipedia is the devil -- April Fool's Day is first mentioned in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Who knew? Probably Dr. Atchley. (If you're reading this Dr. Atchley, which I know you aren't, but just in case, that is a compliment.)

Anyway, who cares about where it originated or why or anything like that. The point of this blog is that the holiday needs some revamping. I mean, seriously, what was the last good April Fool's Day prank that you heard of? I mean, the same co-worker who thinks I hate my blog apparently told her husband that she was pregnant again (they just had a baby a few [?] months ago). That's just cruel. I would have cried...happy tears, of course.

But, really, isn't April Fool's Day a little too forthcoming/obvious/forward/pushy? (Whatever. Word choice went out the window when I cited Wikipedia.) How are you supposed to pull a good prank when everyone in the world knows it's coming. I mean, I am skeptical of everything on April 1.

Let's consider the two best April Fool's Day jokes I read about this year. First, Google apparently changed its name to Topeka. Something about Topeka, Kansas, renamed itself Google in order to lock up some high-tech job or something; naturally, Google repaid the town by renaming the most used search engine in the world to Topeka in its honor. Blah, blah, blah. Who cares or believes this?

Next, Justin Bieber supposedly bought/took over/hacked/stole Will Ferrell's website Funny or Die and renamed it Bieber or Die. Man, that is so funny. I feel so cheated. I am so fooled. Justin Bieber is my hero. This pranks just fails.

In my opinion, April Fool's Day needs to be on a different day every year, like develop some complex system of the second Thursday one year and the third Saturday or the first Sunday and so on. Or, maybe it can be the first day of a different month ever year. Even making it a random day of the year is fine with me -- anything that makes it a little less predictable.

Now, of course, there's probably some significance to it being in April. If any anyone has any information regarding the history of April Fool's Day or any suggestions as to how to improve it, I'd love to hear from you.

Short blog. Watching Ocean's 11 with some friends. Great movie. See you on Saturday.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
The predictability of this day spoils the fun. Good suggestions by the way. As far as I am concerned, for me everyday is a fool's day because I believe we all are fools in our own right, it's only on who proves it first and to whom:) Goodluck!
April 2, 2010 at 11:48 AM

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