Summer Solstice

It's officially summer. Today marks the summer solstice and the longest day of the year here in NY. If we were in Scandinavia right now, we would decorate our homes with birch leaves and dance in the sunlight at 3am. In New York, it just means that we sweat more.

Well, it also means rooftop dinners and street fairs and lazy days at the park and my boss surprising me with frozen yogurt most days of the week. It means concerts and outdoor movies and irresponsible Sunday afternoons. I spent the majority of this past weekend sweating and dancing like a crazy person-- first at a concert on Saturday night and then on a FILM SHOOT last night where I was asked to play a dancing extra for a friend of mine. (I giggled the entire time and most likely won't be asked back, but LORDY it was fun.) Hello, Summertime, I love you so.

There is a fantastic episode of the West Wing about the Summer Solstice and the myth that you can stand an egg on it's head at the exact moment of the Summer Solstice (wait, was it the summer equinox? Shoot.) and only at that moment. CJ is positive of this news and swears that she's seen it, while Toby (always the downer), Josh, and Sam mock her relentlessly for believing so. The entire episode is a metaphor for blind faith and it's really quite wonderful.

I tried to find a clip for you all, in honor of the Summer Solstice, but it doesn't seem to have made the Internets yet, so in its place I give you another worthy clip from an episode about maps. Well, its an episode about democracy in its rawest of forms, a day when Leo sends his staff to meet with fringe special interest groups who are not usually heard from at the White House. C.J. and Josh are assigned the Cartographers for Social Equality, and it's awesome. That's all. Enjoy the solstice :)

(If the video isn't showing up for you, like it isn't on my stupid Droid, here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8zBC2dvERM)