There's a lot of focus on the Seppos' independence day today, but let's not forget that today is also the birthday of the Queen of Norway

My traditions for this very special day include:

• Seeing every government building flying giant flags, and thinking, "Oh, today's a flag day? I completely forgot! What is it this time? ...Oh it's probably just some royal's birthday, isn't it?"
• Looking up the list of official flag days in Norway, seeing that it's the queen's birthday, and saying, "Yup, of course."
• 
  -ing at the small number of private individuals who have gone out of their way to commemorate a stranger's birthday just because she married a state-mandated celebrity with an inherited position of political power.
• Forget that July 4 is the queen's birthday by tomorrow morning, thus allowing me to repeat these traditions year after year.