Extra day on the calendar cause for joy for some, nothing special for others

If you've ever been so exasperated, frustrated or frazzled that you were known to mutter the words "If I only had an extra day..." your time has come: Feb. 29.

Now that the day is here, what will you do with those extra 24 hours?

Entertainer Frank Marino plans to stuff his face with pizza.

"I made the New Year's resolution to stay on a strict diet and exercise program for one year, which is 365 days," Marino says. "Since this year will have 366 days, I won't even be breaking my resolution. That one extra day is like a little gift from God to people like me who make these stupid resolutions each year."

Ventriloquist Ronn Lucas says he'll spend the day hiding.

"My puppets and I enjoy hiding in the dark and jumping on people because it is a leap year," he says with seriousness.

No. Really?

"Not really. It's a sad day because it's one extra day I have to pay interest on my mortgage," Lucas adds.

It's safe to say most people will go about their usual business, as some don't even know 2008 is a leap year and many don't know what that means. That's why astronomer Dale Etheridge covers the calendar in his astronomy classes at the College of Southern Nevada.

Jayla Hart, 7, a second grader at Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, has yet to learn about leap year from teacher Sarah Pellett. But she has a good guess for its purpose.

"To celebrate the goodness," Hart says, then on impulse adds "of Black History month."

She wants to watch television, go to the park and play Nintendo with her brother. Since it's a Friday, she'll be in school.

Classmate Jared Holmes, 7, thinks leap year has some meaning in its name; he wants to flip off of his bed. He will be in class, too.

Leap year is, essentially, an extra day that comes around once every four years to keep the months aligned with the seasons. It comes in years divisible by four unless it's a century year; and then if it's divisble by 400 it is a leap year, says Etheridge, also the director of CSN's Planetarium. That means 2000 had a leap year but 1900 didn't.

The Gregorian calendar used today was first adopted in 1582 by Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. England followed in 1752, but the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian lost 11 days, which caused rioting in the streets, he says. Laws were passed so that landlords couldn't collect a full month's rent for a shortened September.

Despite its rare occurrence, it's not a special day, Etheridge says. He plans to work.

Astrologist Stacey Dean says leap year day, Feb. 29, has no significance to the reading of the stars, either. But just in case, she checked her ephemeris, which shows the positions of astronomical bodies in the sky and made a guess as to what Friday holds.

"We have what we call universal aspects, and this is the energy that everyone will be experiencing," Dean explains.

The moon will be in Sagittarius at the beginning of the day, meaning the universal aspects look good. But between 10 a.m. and noon, the moon clears Uranus, which "usually brings about some sort of unusual, unexpected event that can be problematic for the public," Dean says.

Other than that, everything looks good, she adds.

Her forecast likely won't keep Dean from engaging in what she calls a life-long ritual: manifesting.

"I will be writing out things that I want to have happen over the next four-year period. I feel that leap day is a very special day and doesn't come often, so I will use the energy wisely," Dean says.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-4564.