Happy New Year’s Day
Today I’m trying to relax. I don’t have a hangover because I don’t drink, although I had my customary thimbleful of champagne last night. I don’t have any resolutions because I’ve learned over the years that I break them quickly. So why make a liar out of myself?
But it’s nice to have that fresh clean slate anyway. January 1st!
May you, may we all, be blessed in the coming year.
And death to tyrants.
Perhaps I’m out of sync, but I’m always deeply relieved on New Year’s Day that the holidays are over and life will return to normal.
huxley, I sympathize with that position to a considerable degree. Trying to get my choir members together for rehearsals these last several weeks has been an exercise in futility. And now 2/3 of my altos are doing the snowbird thing in FL. It does frustrate, to be sure.
However, for me, since I’m more involved in the liturgical cycle, the “holidays” don’t really end until Epiphany, which is one of my favorite points in the church year. After that we get a bit of a break.
I usually do not enjoy much the transition to a new year but it’s different this time. I have a tiny sliver of hope for our country. A year ago I felt despair.
And I do not like champagne but we were gifted with a bottle from South Africa and I quite liked it and managed a glass or two. Tasted like bubbly with a touch of honey. Didn’t see it coming but enjoyed very much.
Happy New Years to dear Neo and the crazy smart and erudite commenters here. This is what a blog should be.
Re: Choir/altos
Philip Sells:
I’ve posted this before, but perhaps you missed it.
_______________________________________________
THE CHOIR BELONGS TO US
Lyrics – Alina Trowbridge
Music – “The Future Belongs To Us” (from film, “Cabaret”)
1. Sopranoes are scarcer than snowflakes in June.
There’s only one bass at each mass.
The tenors must dance to the altos’ tune.
THE CHOIR BELONGS TO US.
(Refrain)
Oh, sing alto nation,
Sing low and sing proud.
We’re leaving the score in the dust.
It may be all D’s but at least it’s loud.
THE CHOIR BELONGS TO US.
THE CHOIR BELONGS TO US
2. Oh, don’t be distracted whatever you do.
It may take a while to adjust.
We’ll sing through our parts, then sing your parts too.
THE CHOIR BELONGS TO US.
Not sure why, but yesterday and today, I’ve been watching WW2 YouTubes and “The Winds of War” miniseries from 1983.
I’ve seen “Winds” before and it holds up well. I miss those big middle-brow historical pieces which used to be common enough. But other than woke attempts at history, not much has been shaking lately.
WW2 was so huge and important.
My daughter told me Happy New Year today and I told her we must all work our best to have this New Year the best year ever. Forget all the bad stuff because it is everywhere so we all, all of us, are on on the same level playing field and we can work with what we have in this new year to do our best and we can come through better be no matter what we have to deal with.
We are thankful for all we have now and we will work to to make gains in the New Year while we take care our our families and end up once more better than last year. Lots of bad and annoying crap is going on but, so what, that’s life, the hand we have been dealt is what we have to work with so, let’s make the best of it.
Happy F’n New Year, now all you all, go to work and do all you can to make this one the best years ever because, at least now you have another year to work with. Blessings for all of us and may we all pass on as easily as the lovely Betty White when our time comes, what a way to go !
@ OldTexan > this other old Texan echoes your sentiments, and adds a bit from the Celtic side of the family:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
To the choir folk on the board (and, yes, altos RULE):
We sang this benediction in high school choir after every concert, and as a mealtime grace when on the road, back when all the other customers in the Furr’s or Luby’s cafeteria would sit silently, and even bow their heads until we were done.
Hearing the amens is not as good as singing them, but they still comfort me.
The Westminster Choir performs Lutkin’s “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” Benediction in Princeton, NJ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4C9zVg5X_A
Some years ago when I went to one of our Stephens Ministry group weekend retreats we stopped at a Cracker Barrel place and before we ate our group of over 30 people stood up and sang the grace prayer, in that part of Texas others stood, bowed heads and joined in.
Texas, there are a lot of us and bless the Lord, it ain’t over till it’s over, Happy New Year !
Now that I look back on it, I think I’ve had a hangover (albeit alcohol-free) practically every day, starting from Nov. 4, 2020.
(Or maybe it was just a vast hollowness that blossomed into a debilitating funk.)
Still, I thought maybe I’d be able to put it behind me, gradually, but…
damn it, I’ve just experienced a humungous flashback, thanks to a coolly enraged Bernie Kerik (and sinister sister Nancy Pelosi, of course):
“STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
GIULIANI PRESIDENTIAL LEGAL DEFENSE TEAM”
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017e-132a-dca7-a1ff-b33b8afd0000
https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1477078535860797442
H/T Jeff Carlson twitter feed.
https://twitter.com/themarketswork
When all is said and down (and lied about with unceasing ease) the preposterous Pelosi may well get precisely what she’s been fantasizing about all this time: Armageddon D.C.
…Fortunately, whenever it was time to “hit the bottle” (which was all too often), there was always a preferable “drug of choice” available: Solomoni Rossi 1622 (a resonant vintage)…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=5y5aE1320uk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6sXCJH6BhA
Gearing up for 1.6.22….
“And so begins a commemoration and celebration of the oligarchy’s despicable lies, kicked off by what used to be known as the paper of record, before it became a leading platform for information operations targeting the US public.”
https://twitter.com/LeeSmithDC/status/1477414653558984709
– – – – – – – –
BTW, that Robert Malone interview that was on Zerohedge and then made unavailable and then back on is currently unavailable (again).
My New Year’s Resolution each year is not to make any resolutions.
I call it my New Year’s Paradox
Aesop
Wrt Lutkin and….relevance. Apparently the Jollies were making the rounds, paying their respects and encountered the Chester County Voices Abroad at the site.
You want to be good and wish good for the guys at the sharp end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJBdVIRqmUI
You can’t relax! No one can relax! Life on Earth is threatened by global warming!!!
I posted three reviews on Yelp noting that the liberals that own these businesses haven’t purchased carbon credits. They are destroying the planet!
Rules for Radicals recommends this technique.
Happy New Year, Neo & commenters.
My resolutions – 1) write more about good intellectual ideas that I read
2) continue putting effort into being a good husband and father … and soon a grandfather
3) forgive myself when I don’t meet my own high hopes. So:
Hope for the Best. Expect the Worst.
4) Enjoy life, enjoy each day.
Neo remains the most honest blogger I can find that seems oriented towards the truth, tho I’m open to others. Lots of others.
I’m still doing huge amounts of reading from Arnold Kling’s Fantasy Intellectual Teams (April & May seasons).
I’m planning to do more Gabs on Gab – hoping to help create a conservative/ Christian/ Republican parallel economy, at least with some Gab not FB nor Twitter. Tho I’ll still use FB for family …
And read Twitter when there’s a good link.
Increasingly the links to great posts will be going to substack.com,
like for Bari Weiss, Glenn Loury, and even Arnold Kling (FITs)
https://tomgrey.substack.com/p/good-list-of-2021-essays-bari-weisss
I’ll also work more on my own critiques of intellectuals.
One of the good things is that more of the elite folk are talking about changing their minds on issues.
See:
https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/how-we-changed-our-minds-in-2021
also linked by Rod Dreher:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/flip-flops-of-2021/
Of course, for those who don’t know how hard it is to change minds, the best is nearby, and worth a read or two:
https://www.thenewneo.com/category/a-mind-is-a-difficult-thing-to-change/
A fashionably late Happy New Year to All.
2 books I read in 2021 that stayed with me throughout the year – both mercifully non political. Fiction: Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz. Non fiction: Ilana Kurshan’s If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir.
My resolutions always revolve around books – reading all the works of a particular author (usually mysteries) – and always as a goal and not as a requirement.
Neo even day after New Years day is a day to relax, it’s going to be a bumpy ride this year, praying it’s the end of the tunnel in November but it’s not for sure.
I doubt 2022 will be “Happy”, but it sure will be interesting.
Enjoy the woke decline!
I am fortunate enough to own two homes. Traditionally I leave the cold one January one, and arrive at the warm one after 5 or 6 days travel. But this year weather-related problems forced me to delay my departure a week, so I am anxious to get going! Wish me luck in my travels!
Safe travels, Ray Van Dune!
Many thanks to you, Rufus!
Both of my major roadblocks fell today, BTW, and I am on my way at 0-dark-thirty Saturday!