I learned a couple things today that make me happy, and I thought I’d share.

First, today is D.E.A.R. Day.

D.E.A.R. stands for “Drop Everything and Read” and occurs on April 12 in honor of Beverly Cleary’s birthday. Her first book was published in 1950, and today, more than 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. (Learn more about her and her books on The World of Beverly Clearly.)

I am a huge fan of the Ms. Clearly’s Ramona books. (Who isn’t?!) And so I’m all for dropping everything and reading.

In fact, had I known about D.E.A.R. Day before I arriving at work, I might have called into work and gone to the library instead. (I’m sure “library emergency” is a good excuse, right? If not, it should be.)

I personally think all book days should be national holidays anyway. Which is better—going to the library to read for the day and learning something or grilling meat and drinking beer with loads of store sales? Clearly reading wins. And we desperately need some more national holidays. I mean, c’mon, we don’t have any holiday days off in March, April, June, and August.

Think about it.

Second, I learned that April is National Letter Writing Month.  (It really isn’t NaLetWriMo, I just had a bit of fun there playing off of NaNoWriMo.)

And then I learned that February is International Correspondence Writing Month—who knew?! (And now I totally need an overseas pen pal.)

How I never knew that April was National Letter Writing Month before today is a mystery.

I’ve previously mentioned my great love of all things pen. So celebrating National Letter Writing Month is a win-win for me, as any excuse to get fancy paper and use my lovely turquoise Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen (fine nib, of course) makes me happy. Or, I could go wild with colors and use Uni-ball Signo Gel pens. Plus, I just picked up a book on learning calligraphy, so I foresee a weekend of ink-filled fun.

And for those of you who might have lost the skill of letter writing or need a refresher, there’s probably an app for that. But sans app, I did find a great guide on The Art of Letter Writing from JetPens.com. And of course, Pinterest, my favorite site where I lose too many hours, has many, many ideas on letters and letter writing. Or check out this article on the Art of Letter Writing from Little Coffee Fox.

So that’s why this weekend, I shall be writing some letters. Because who doesn’t like to get mail that isn’t bills or junk, circulars, flyers, etc.? I personally love getting non-junk mail.

If you also like mail, why not send a friend a postcard or a short note? Letter writing doesn’t have to involve reams of paper. A simple “I’m thinking of you” or “Hope you’re having a beautiful day,” in my opinion, is always nice to receive. And if you get a letter, then be kind and respond. If you don’t have a pen pal, send me your address (via the contact page, please don’t put your address in the comments) and I’ll send you a fun letter.

Either way, enjoy reading or writing letters or both. Or go crazy and write about the fantastic books you read.

And have a Happy D.E.A.R. Day.