[Jayne Osborn]

Hello, all you lovely people.

It's a bit early for many of you, but here in the UK it's nearly 1am, so we're already into 2022.

My husband and I have just had a 360 degree display of fireworks from every window upstairs - our house being the highest point in the town - which I enjoyed watching, along with a glass of fizz!

May I wish you all a very Happy New Year... and let's hope for better things than we've had for the last one.

Keep safe and well, dear friends.

All the best,
Jayne

[Mark McDonnell]

Morning, Jayne!

Sounds fun. We had some back garden fireworks last night. One tipped over and turned into a bit of a rocket-launcher situation, which was a hair-raising start to the year haha. No casualties though, luckily.

Happy New Year to one and all!

Mark

[Allen Tice]

Bye-bye last year!!

[Ann Drysdale]

Good luck, everyone. Deep breath. Eyes shut. Here we go again.

At least I've remembered to put a couple of little "22"s on the next few cheques in the book, lest I forget.

[Sarah-Jane Crowson]

Indeed. I'm steeling myself too.

But let us throw ourselves into this New Year (because imo things are going to get more, not less, shit, as we suffer the economic consequences of COVID-19) with bravado and a tiny pinch of salt, and a tinier pinch of imagination, and a smidgen of hope and wonder.

Either way, my Octopus is now waving at you (ignore the butterfly on a slide, I got carried away and 'ease in - ease -out ' is not the effect that you always want it to be).

Onwards!

[Andrew Frisardi]

Buon anno a tutti. And to paraphrase Ann's post in Italian: Speriamo bene, Let's hope for the best.

[Julie Steiner]

I've screwed up my resolutions already, but no matter--I'll just aim for doing those things on average this year, rather than in a streak.

Best wishes to all for 2022.

[Jim Moonan]

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Sarah-Jane: (because imo things are going to get more, not less, shit, as we suffer the economic consequences of COVID-19)


I don’t know about that, Sarah-Jane. In the short-term, maybe... In the long run, ingenuity and innovation are powerful cohorts of creativity and imagination.

And yes, I’m happy; and no, not because of the new year. I find I’m happier to see each new day than I am any arbitrary new year. (It is still "21" in my head.) Each new dawn is still called dawn and is like an old friend.

— Oh! And we used paper plates all through the holidays!

It is a tradition of ours to have French toast as our First Breakfast. It’s been a year since I opened the jar of Vermont maple syrup that has been stowed away in the fridge since last year (you see how slippery time can be?!) I had to use pliers to free the cap loose of its sugary crust. This year’s bread happened to be sourdough and was full of air holes. She said no to it. I ate alone.

We moved the TV into the bedroom on New Year’s Eve. Our final move of the year. (I get the urge to re-arrange things on a whim.) It turned out to be the right move. We watched a mediocre holy movie and fell asleep. I dreamed it was moving day. It all happened so quickly. Everything was moving. Now I’m here!

This year I resolve to stop trying to make sense (as you can probably see by now) because nothing really does make sense or everything makes sense no matter if you want it to or not; so, I resolve to (stop trying to) make sense. I will reserve the right to revise.

(And no, I do not drink more than two cups of death a day but it will still kill me someday.)

Forward to the present.

Fire

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