Hey, Fools!

…APRIL Fools, that is. And who hasn’t been fooled good at some point or another? We all know WE have at Everything Summer Camp—and I mean, literally, HERE at Everything Summer Camp. With a number of pranksters in the office and an even greater number of those seeking revenge, April Firsts around here seem to escalate every year. Allow me to walk you down a few blocks of memory lane…

For some people, pranks are just part of their personality. For them, it is a must-scratch itch—an unrelenting urge that courses through them like the blood through their veins.

Enter: Matthew Stephen DeMuth—Sales Manager and natural born-prankster.

Looking to cause some fuss one spring, Matt downloaded a Prank Dialer app for his phone. Using this app, Matt was able to make it appear as though people from his phone’s list of Contacts were calling one another. He had Sara call Mark and Mark call Ed, then Ed call Ryan and Ryan call…well, you get the picture.

This prank spanned quite a bit longer than just April First. Matt even went through the trouble of including himself in the prank dials to elude suspicion.

But, despite his efforts, being the desperate pranker that he is, people started to suspect Matt anyway which forced him to take it even further. Having wisely excluded Brian from any of the prank calls, Matt was in a position to frame the mild-mannered Operations Manager. Unfortunately for Matt, nobody bought it.

And, double-unfortunately for Matt, people hadn’t forgotten about his tricks one year later. Taking a note from the office pranks between Jim and Dwight in the hit show, ‘The Office’, Mark and Sara worked together to obtain Matt’s phone and toss it above the ceiling tiles. Then, as Jim did in the show, Mark and Sara proceeded to call Matt’s phone…frequently, which surely drove the much-deserving DeMuth quite crazy.

In other years, Ed—the president of Everything Summer Camp—has dirtied his hands with the best of them in April Fools past. In fact, he’s become rather notorious around the office, actually, for his diabolical pranks and clever deceit. Several years before Matt pulled one over on everyone with his Prank Dialer app, Ed got everybody all at once as well.

Having installed fake security cameras in the break room, Ed created a cacophonous rise out of everybody at lunchtime when they saw the cameras and expressed their unfavorable opinions. The prank was pretty much forced to be revealed very quickly before a mob started.

Ed topped himself in a following year when he disclosed to everybody that the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) released a new law concerning proximity safety. He then explained that OSHA deems our trunk factory to operate too close to the adjoining offices and all office employees must now wear mandatory safety goggles.

You can imagine how stupid everybody with a desk job felt, wearing safety goggles at the computer and taking customer phone calls. Eventually, Ed couldn’t keep it together and put an end to his own prank.

So, as you can see, with our track record around THIS office, today is a day to watch our backs and tread lightly. I recommend the same approach for all of you living or working with prank-prone people. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, you Lazy Loafers!

Don’t worry!—I’m not trying to call you out on it. In fact, I’m here to encourage your laziness today! That’s right. Shove your chores aside! Stretch out! Put the recliner back and the footrest up! Today was meant for anyone and everyone who’s ever been bit by the lazy bug or born with a lazy bone; today is National Lazy Day.

Unlike my sister’s adorable, but lethargic, Chihuahua—Tilly—National Lazy Day comes just once a year for folks like you and me (at least, only once on such an official level as this). So, just for today, let’s all embrace our laziness and live it up like Tilly and all her apathetic Chihuahua friends.

But a day of such lethargy and slothfulness has given me pause and created a dilemma for me. After all, how should a day of such indifference be observed on this Blog? Is it right to advertise and campaign in favor of such languor and inertia? Or does it fly in the face of the very thesis that National Lazy Day stands for?—Inactivity! Inattentiveness! And ABOVE ALL Arrested Productivity!

I apologize…. Allow me to take a step back; I’m getting a little too passionate here for a day like today…

To write today’s post, I first sat down with a focus on the origins of National Lazy Day. I thought we could discover what historical events took place, paving the way for this day to be put into motion. But then, thought, no. That sounds like learning. And learning just sounds like too much work today.

So, then I thought, maybe I’ll compile a list of appropriate ways to display your laziness for today, y’know—sleep in until noon…watch cartoons all day…take a nap. But then I started to worry that lists go hand-in-hand with productivity which is NOT in the spirit of this holiday. I’m here to tell you to relax, not assign you a ‘To-Do’ list (as lazy as it may be).

And so it was that I lazily came to this final conclusion:

There is NOTHING I can say to advocate National Lazy Day without thereby defying it. In other words, enjoy National Lazy Day…y’know…if you feel like it…

As for myself, I’ve decided to simply quit…the Blog, my job, perhaps my personal hygiene—just for today. I’m really gonna do Lazy Day up in style. I’ll seek out the true nature of laziness as Luke Skywalker sought out the ways of The Force from the great, Jedi Master, Yoda.… I’ll pursue an apprenticeship for myself under the Master of True Laze herself…Tilly.

- John

Oh yeah—and, y’know, as always, thanks for reading…I guess..

Hey, 2015ers!

Happy New Year, Everyone! Glad to see that you all found your way back to the Everything Summer Camp Blog! Today is for wringing out the old and ringing in the new. Here we stand, 2014 behind us and an entire, fresh year ahead, just waiting to be explored! From everyone here at Everything Summer Camp, we hope your New Year’s Eve party left nothing to be desired and that you’re having a wonderful start to 2015! New Year’s Day is an interesting holiday since there are no real traditions set in place for “common” celebration. All the typical traditions for celebrating the new year were already enjoyed the night before! So what do people do on a holiday like New Year’s Day?

Well, it’s often made into more or less of a lazy day. Of course, there are some people who get together with extended family, watch the football game on TV, and prepare big meals. But a good number of people do absolutely NOTHING! And when I say ‘nothing’ I mean NOT a THING! It can be nice, enjoying a day in that fashion.

Lots of people take New Year’s Day as a day when it’s okay to stay in your bathrobe until after noon, when everyone in your house takes a mid-afternoon nap, and snacking on treats and junk food is more or less acceptable all throughout your waking hours. In other words, New Year’s Day typically becomes a much needed break from this always-hectic season!

So, kids, New Year’s Day isn’t necessarily the most fun of holidays, but it’s typically one of the most relaxed ones. Enjoy it. And enjoy the last of your days off before winter break is over. Happy New Year once again and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, New Year’s Folks!

Congratulations! We did it! We made it to the end of another year. Tonight we stand on the horizon and look out to the next one. Bye, 2014; 2015, here we come! We celebrate by staying awake until the new year arrives at midnight. What you do in those late hours before twelve o’ clock strikes is up to you and the people you’re celebrating with.

I think lots of families’ New Year’s Eve traditions tend to follow along the same lines: eat some snacks, watch some movies, and countdown to midnight. I know that was MY family’s tradition. We’d have a diabolical spread in the kitchen where we’d all plate up with snack foods:

Summer sausage, three kinds of cheeses, four different brands of crackers, chips, pickles, olives, carrots, broccoli, celery, vegie dip, mini loaves of rye bread for finger sandwiches, shrimp, and COOKIES! Once you were all plated up, we all convened in the living room where we would go back and forth between watching movies and checking in on the party in Times Square.

Brimming with anticipation, we would get a bunch of games going too. Guesstures (the fast-action version of charades) was a family favorite and Scattergories (the letter-specific word association game) got a lot of play as well. But older than these party games, we had Quizzard. Quizzard is a very old trivia game (from the 80′s) with an electronic buzzer so you had to think fast before somebody else buzzed in.

Of course, come 11:59 pm, we’d countdown to the arrival of the new year with the folks in Time Square—all of us except my mother who was typically already asleep at this point. After that, we’d watch old black and white movies starring Bing Crosby like ‘Going My Way,’ ‘The Bells of St. Mary,’ or ‘Holiday Inn’ until we were all sound asleep.

I hope your New Year’s traditions of ringing in the new year will be as fun as they were in my family when I was growing up. Happy New Year, Everybody. Thanks for reading.

- John

Hey there, Holidayers!

Each season provides us with its own specific atmosphere. And this particular season was made to be spent in the warm company of those who are dear to us. Despite the fact that it contains the coldest, darkest day of the year, we brighten the season up with our cheerfulness, our good will, and the company of our loved ones.

Just like I’m sure all of you do, I have plans to get together with my family during this holiday season. I’m taking the next few days off to be with them for our Christmas celebration. My family tends to get pretty into the holiday spirit, so there’s sure to be lots of food, festivities, and gifts!

I know I have all MY gifts wrapped up and ready for their recipients! I can’t wait to see what everyone in my family got for each other!

Every family has their own holiday traditions, and while traditions can be liable to change from time to time, some never will. I have a fairly big family: six siblings (including in-laws), three nieces, one nephew, and my mother. That’s a lot of presents, which is certainly a lot of work. But, despite how much effort is involved, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

In fact, our gift-opening is my favorite part about our Christmas Day traditions. The whole family grabs a cozy seat in the living room with carols playing in the background, we drink hot chocolate, and watch one-by-one as we all open our presents which previously surrounded the tree. It typically takes us about three hours!

From everyone here at Everything Summer Camp, we wish you nothing but the warmest wishes for you and your families’ holiday traditions. Enjoy the festivities and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John