In the grand old days of yore, when Tumblr was still a site worth visiting both because there was porn there and also because of the weird queer subculture that existed which allowed me to flex my blogging muscles long before I knew I would need them, there were two days a year that I both loved and reviled in equal measure. If I told you one of them was April 25th, then I would assume the other one goes without saying. Yes, of course, it’s October 3rd. Two days that exist in the pantheon of cinematic record-keeping in large part because of the ubiquity of reminders that occur on social media anytime they roll around. I would wager to guess there are very few people you might run into who couldn’t tell you what the significance of either date is, whether they’re familiar with the source material or not.
Naturally, on October 3rd, “he asked me what day it was,” and, of course, April 25th is the perfect date, “because it’s not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket.”
I loved and hated these days on Tumblr, and the internet at large, because they turned into competitions to see who could post the requisite memes, gifs, and video clips first. Rarely, if ever, was I first, and as such, I was left to watch other people’s posts accumulate likes and reactions and reblogs, while I sat idly by in an attention-deficient serotonin slump hungry for digital affirmation.
Eventually, for the most part, I outgrew that very unflattering personality trait and ended up settling on disliking both days because it was annoying to have to scroll past thirty-seven identical posts that lacked any kind of originality or independent thought. Who knew it was possible to replace a horrible personality trait with an equally horrible and begrudging outlook on things? Not me until some very deep reflection, it turns out!
Now, I’ve settled somewhere in the middle. Still a bit peeved after clicking through the ninth Instagram story of the day announcing to me that it is, in fact, April 25th, and also kind of endeared by the posts too. At this point, everyone knows it’s not original to share out a Miss Congeniality clip announcing that today’s date is the perfect date, but the fact that it still brings some people joy to do so warms me up inside just a little bit, and that’s nice. The only true downside is that sometimes April 25th is too hot or too cold, and so the clip doesn’t necessarily hold up. As such, I’m curious, was today the perfect date where you are?