The lei, a symbol of aloha we often take for granted here, has been showing up all over the map lately.

And May Day is way past. Ditto, Memorial Day and graduation season, when florists and make-your-own-leimakers have been plenty busy.

But on TLC, while Jon and Kate Gosselin, of "Jon & Kate Plus 8," may be bickering, they have donned local-style garlands and have been photographed with lei around their necks in entertainment mags. Their kids, too. Jon is seen decked in maile on the cover of the family's Season 4 DVD.

And lei have been readily hanging 'round the necks of some notables in recent films.

Like Sean Penn, who won an Oscar earlier this year, playing gay San Francisco icon Harvey Milk, in the award-winning "Milk." There were scenes in which Milk had lei, and he had no Island ties.

Of course, Jason Segel also was lei-decked when he had clothes on, in the Hawai'i-filmed "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which has transited from movie theaters to TV to DVD.

Even Miley Cyrus, whose movie biggie this past April was "Hannah Montana: The Movie," had a scene in which she was garlanded.

Which sorta indicates that the lei no longer is exclusively Hawai'i's treasure.

And arf, arf! A VIP canine was lei-draped at his coming-out party. Remember when first dog Bo, the Portuguese water dog, was introduced to the world? Too bad his lei was one of those tacky plastic multicolored fakes.

Still, it was a lei.

Don't know if the First Family got wind of the Celebrate Hawai'i event last weekend at the National Museum of the American Indian, where the Brothers Cazimero gave a performance. Of course, lei made the journey to the Smithsonian Institution site — a ritual practiced by every Hawaiian act or halau entertaining out of town.

Locally, you always see Gov. Linda Lingle and Mayor Mufi Hannemann with some kind of floral nicety draped on their shoulders, most often bestowed at press briefings or conferences.

During Kamehameha Day festivities last week, the iconic statue of King Kamehameha was draped with oodles of overlong lei. This tradition is one of the most-photographed by visitors — the statue of the king in a sea of color and strands.

And when Honolulu City Council member Duke Bainum died last week, his desk and chair were bedecked with lei, expressing aloha and condolences the Hawaiian way.

Well, turns out every day is lei day in Hawai'i.