It's a new year.... whoooopeeee (=|)

That is my "sarcasticon" in case you were wondering.

First. I'll be up-front with you guys. I do not "celebrate" the New Year as some sort of magical time when the whole world gets a clean new slate and everything is once again possible. This is not to say that I do not believe in making a clean start or trying to get past some limitation or other, but over the past few years, I have taken an interest in the history of time-keeping and calendars.

In ancient Rome, the year began in March. This is where we get the names for September, October, November and December. Those were the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth months in the old Roman year. Then during the Middle Ages, depending on what part of the Christian world you lived in, the New Year coincided with one of several important feast days, such as Annunciation, or Circumcision, or Easter?  Yes, you can imagine how associating the turning of the year with a movable feast must have added a whole new level of joy to record-keeping. And then just when it seemed that things were getting sorted out, along came the Gregorian calendar and overturned the applecart again. If you think that extra day in February every four years messes with your head, imagine how many Medieval peasants took up arms when the Pope suggested that they "lose" ten whole days.. If your birthday was Friday, 5th October, 1582, you were (as they say in the vernacular) "S-O-L!" But at least the weekday cycle went unbroken, so those poor 16th century Joe-Punchclocks did not lose the weekend and cut straight ahead to another Monday.

Suffice to say, people do not, and never have liked having their holidays meddled with. It is funny how quickly such things become "tradition". I can only imagine what riots would ensue today if suddenly all those Bowl games got pushed ahead ten days and we had to completely miss the observation of the birth of Elvis.

So, I spent my New Years Eve listening to the neighbors shoot off bottle rockets and roman candles while I finished up my calendar. (More on that later).  Yes, I actually took a bit of time when the clock turned 12 to think about the year and all that had happened.  The strange truth was that aside from the loss of Pooky's mother, there were no real unfortunate events. yes, there were disappointments, and yes there were setbacks, but I would not go so far as to say the year was a complete bummer. As a matter of fact plenty of nice things happened too. We both have treated ourselves to a few nice mini-holidays and we have both managed to save up and buy ourselves a few things we have been wanting. Both of us have been relatively healthy all year, and we both have made new friends both in the face-to-face world and on the internet.

I do not believe in resolutions. Most often they are spoken on New Years Day by the penitent and the hung-over and therefore tend to lack sincerity.

Soon, President-elect Obama will be in the White House and Hillary Clinton will be Secretary of State. There is talk of a new round of tax rebates forthcoming, and gasoline prices keep going down. These factors are all giving me "reason to believe that maybe this year could be better than the last"  (Name that tune, anybody?). Pooky and I are one paycheck away from paying off a huge home-improvement loan, and four months away from being able to cash in some stock shares he earned a few years back. I also just found out last week I now have a pension plan at work..not much..but better than nawt. There are also some oppertunities opening up for he and I both to get our various projects published, and we have some exciting plans for a vacation this April up in Indiana and maybe something even betterer in the fall. Also, I turn 40!  Wow, I never thought I would live to be that ... old? 

Let me rephrase. I never thought I would live to be so alive. :D
 
But.. like I mentioned earlier, I make calendars..this year not being the exception.

The image link below will take you to a site called Lulu.com that is a print-on-demand publisher and free resource that every author should be aware of. It is free to self-publishers, and you can sell printed or electronic media you create, or if you prefer, use Lulu to share PDF files..which is what I am doing here.

It's my 2009 orcs, ogres, trolls and goblins "beefcake" calendar. It's a free 2.5 MB PDF download that can be printed on standard letter sized paper. It shows major US holidays and observances as well as major Christian and Jewish holy days. Also this year I added in moon phases.

I wanted to put on more holidays, but in the end I went with "less is more"http://www.lulu.com/content/5549304. 

So...since it's not listed under 4 January... .HAPPY WORLD BRAILLE DAY!

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