As a citizen of this planet who is intimately familiar with this particular date, I nominate July 21st to be National Crazy Day.
In 2009, I celebrated National Crazy Day with a Total Eclipse of the Sun, not to be confused with Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart or the literal version of the same song (both links are provided provided).
I would have liked for Ernest Hemingway to have been the Grand Master of Ceremonies for that first National Crazy Day – he was born on this date in 1899 – but he is dead. However, his spirit lives on through his writings, which have nothing at all to do with this article.
Other celebrated dignitaries might include others born on this day – Don Knotts (1924), Steven Demetre Georgiou, aka Yusuf Islam, aka Cat Stevens (1948), Jon Lovits (1957), Ken Starr (1946), Kay Starr (1922), and Janet Reno (1938), one of whom, like Hemingway, is dead; some of whom might only appear to be dead.
And then there’s cutie pie Josh Hartnett (1978) who, like everybody else, was born on July 21st, but unlike everybody else, is connected to Scarlett Johansson through the movie, Black Dahlia. Ms. Johansson was not born on July 21st, so – not crazy – but she does appear next to my son in the grainy photo above (he is on HER left), taken when she visited the troops in Iraq in 2008 (sweet sweet Scarlett).
No, my son and Scarlett Johansson are not dating. He is engaged to another beautiful woman. And, unlike his mother, my son is not crazy; hence, his Marine status.
But the Grand Pubic, I mean Pooh-bah for the event has to be Robin Williams. Why? Because the man was an enigma – nobody knew the year he was born – was it 1951? 1952? until he died last year. Men and women will no longer debate this question because, as I said, we now know that he and I shared the same birthday.
Having learned that he was born in 1951 on the same day in the same general area as I was, I have reasoned that he must be my twin. I alone will carry on in this life until the day I die, knowing that his daughter, my spiritual niece, has my birthdate tattooed on her arm.
And now, may I suggest the following song as the anthem for National Crazy Day – Total Eclipse of the Mind (sung to the tune of Total Eclipse of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler):
(Turn away)
Every now and then
I get a little bit crazy
cause I know you’re watching me
(Turn away)
Every now and then
I get a little bit weird
About the voices that I hear in my head
(Turn away)
Every now and then
I get a little bit crazy
Cause the voices are not coming from me
(Turn away)
Every now and then
I get a little bit terrified
and then I see you looking at me
(Turn away, bug eyes)
Sorry, I’m just falling all apart
(Turn away, bug eyes)
Every now and then I need to fart
(Turn away)
Every now and then I get a little
bit jumpy and I dream that I can fly
(Turn away)
Every now and then I get a little bit
helpless and I’m jumping off a cliff in your arms
(Turn away)
Every now and then I get a little bit spiteful
Cause you drop me but I never know why
(Turn away)
Every now and then I get a little bit terrified
and then I see the look in your eyes
(Turn away, bug eyes)
And then I realize I’m scared of you
(Turn away, bug eyes)
I mean it – I am really scared of you.
And I need my meds tonight
And I need them more than ever
And if they’d only work tonight
I’d be feeling fine forever
Psychotropics make me feel all right
They can make me sane forever
We can jump into the shadows of time
Your sanity will hold me – do not drop me this time
I don’t know what to do – I fear they will not work
I need a cup of coffee, yes, the kind that you perk
I really need it tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
Forever is a long long time
Once upon a time I was perfectly sane
But now I’m only partially so
There’s nothing I can do
My pills just don’t work anymore
Once upon a time I could jump off of cliffs
But now I jump when I hear a pun.
July 21st –
The total eclipse of the sun.
I think that I’m losing my mind.
A lost cause – it’s already gone
La la la la la la la…
To everybody who shares a July 21st birthday with me, especially Gary Moore, author of, Playing With The Enema, I mean, Playing With the Enemy (phenomenal story – click the link), who is probably telling everybody, “I have no idea who this crazy woman is,” I wish you a Joyous Birthday and a Happy Crazy Day.
I don’t think this is fair. In fact, I don’t think this is fair at all, at all. If we only have one crazy day per year, the other days are going to be massively jealous and that’s just not kool. Can we reverse this and have on un-crazy day per year? I know, the other days would get jealous but it would make my life a hell of a lot easier.
The voices in my head said, no, Bill. Sorry. The others will just have to deal with their jealousy and move on 😉
You’re still a Cancer, though, and as we all know, Cancerians by nature are a little bit crazy!
Now I love that song even more. I was born on July 14th, missing the critical date by *that much*.