WHAT WILL BE THE LAST THING YOU DO THIS NEW YEAR'S EVE?

What will be the last thing you do this New Year's Eve?

Or if it has passed, what was it?

What will be, or was, the last meal for you in 2016?

STRANGE NEW YEAR'S EVE BELIEFS

1.) IF YOU DON'T KISS SOMEONE AT MIDNIGHT, YOU WILL BE UNLUCKY IN LOVE ALL YEAR


2.) EMPTY CUPBOARDS MEAN THEY WILL STAY EMPTY ALL YEAR

I wonder if that goes for empty heads as well -- which would explain the politics of this last year!


3.) OPEN ALL THE DOORS JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT
 
That is to let out the Old Year and let in the New Year will all its promise.

All the Democrats across America are not only flinging open all their doors tonight, but their windows, too!


4.) EAT 12 GRAPES AT MIDNIGHT

One for each month -- that is just in case you do not like cabbage and black-eyed peas!


5.) NO LOANS TONIGHT

A full wallet seems to give promise for a full bank account during the New Year!


6.) NO TEARS AT MIDNIGHT

Lest you have a year full of sadness.

HERE IS MY WISH 

FOR ALL OF YOU TO HAVE 

MORE SMILES THAN TEARS 

THIS NEW YEAR!

WHOSE FOOT?

The shades of years past watch us.We, of the modern age, stumble and bumble our way,
sure of our sophistication and education.

But what if there are principles of which we are unaware that take no notice of our ignorance of them ...

only chastise us when we break them.

After all, gravity takes no breaks ...

it only gives them

Take "First Foot,"



a custom concerning the first visitor of the New Year to a home.

His function is to bring prosperity and good fortune for the ensuing 12 months to those he visits.



He comes just as soon as possible after midnight, bringing gifts which symbolize plentiful food, health, and wealth. Sometimes he carries an evergreen branch as a symbol of continuing life.

Strict rules govern the choice of First Foot:



Male always for he symbolizes the New Year.



No redheads need apply.

The luckiest representative is a dark-haired stranger, symbolizing a new year full of undiscovered mysteries.

An old form of First Foot has the visitor entering silently, greeted by none.



He goes straight to the hearth, laying the evergreen branch on the fire and a sprig of mistletoe on the mantle above.



Then, he turns and greets those living in the home, and festivities ensue.


I wonder what thought first visited the homes of our minds last year?

Did it symbolize the atmosphere, the temper of our thoughts for the remaining 12 months?

What thought do you think should first visit your mind this New Year? What First Foot will be your physical first visitor?


Can you remember who first entered your home last January? Did he or she reflect the luck and temper of the following 12 months?

Just thought it would be fun to think on these questions, Roland

THE OLD YEAR WAS DYING

The old year was dying,

the tolling bells ringing out its dirge in the night.

Alice squeezed my hand tight,

her death-cold fingers reminding me that I had someone to be strong for.

Shadows were heavy in the LaPrete Mansion's upper dining room.

Of all the places I wanted to spend New Year's Eve with the ghoul of my dreams --

this was the very last.

Cezar Prodanescu, wheezing the prelude to his death rattle, spoke from the oak chair at the head of the dining table.

"Victor Standish, you and your ghoul cost me. That building was going to be my last project."

I shook my head. "The thousands of Katrina orphans needed that place."

"You made the buyers think it was haunted!"

"What can I tell you? My mother's good at making ghosts."

Cezar's son scowled at me. "Because of you we have been made to endure this tedious Romanian ritual."

His wife, sitting beside him, patted his hand. "Andrei, remember your blood pressure."

Cezar snorted, "All you care about, Andreea, is the million dollar bearer bond right beside that New Year's Eve Mask."

Her daughter whined, "Grandpapa, must I wear this mask, too?"

He flashed a dying wolf's smile at her.

"If you want your own bearer bond, Doina, yes.

Besides, I made yours a faerie princess. And you only have to wear the mask until the bells stop."

Her brother glowered at the mask on the table before him. It bore an uncanny resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman.


"Look at what he wants me to wear!"

Cezar snorted, "Then, don't wear it, Gavril. But you will receive nothing!"

Reluctantly, Gavril put it on.

Andreea looked with disgust at her own mask in the shape of a wrinkled old shrew. She fondled the bearer bond.

She put on the mask.

Andrei flicked dead eyes to the pig mask and barked an insult of a laugh.

"You have made me wear so many masks, Father. What is one more?"

He put it on.

Cezar pointed to the braying donkey mask in front of me.

"Wear it and I will call off my lawyers from delaying that orphanage."

I shook my head. "The deal was you would do it if I showed up."

His smile reminded me of a snake's - but without as much humanity. "The deal has changed."

I shook my head. "My word hasn't. I've showed up. No jumping through hoops."

Alice lightly touched her mask on the table top done up like a snake's face. "Victor, the orphans."

Cezar turned to her. "Don your mask, and I will still call off my lawyers."

She took her hand from mine. She picked up the mask, slowly bringing it to her face.

I went cold.

Something was brewing, but I knew Alice. If I told her not to, she would do it out of spite.

Cezar looked nothing so much as a vulture as he watched her, then turned to me.

"Tell her not to, boy. You want to."

"I - I love Alice too much to take away her right to choose."

Alice's eyes rimmed in black tears. "So I choose ... you."

She placed the mask down.

Cezar scowled and put his skull mask on.

He slid Alice's mask to Doina. "Wear it, and you will receive ten bearer bonds."

"T-Ten?" She tore off the faerie mask, putting on the snake one.

The tolling bells were reaching the end of their countdown.

The Prodanescu clan glared at their patriarch. Alice smiled softly and took up my hand again.

The tolling died away.


Andreea wrenched her mask off. Doina screamed wetly. I felt like screaming myself.

The mother's face was an exact copy of her mask.

Andrei ripped his mask off.

A wet pig's snout quivered at me.


Doina sprang from her chair, sending it to the carpet.

She raced to the ornate mirror. A snake's face stared slit-eyed back at her.


She started screaming in peals I knew would never stop until her last breath.

Gavril just sat shivering in his chair. Alice slowly, slowly reached out to Cezar's mask.

As soon as her fingers touched the mask, the rubber band crumbled to ash.

Cezar's skull mask dropped.

Andreea began to titter in gibbering madness.

Though dead, Cezar looked merely asleep.

I turned to Alice. "Next New Year's Eve? No parties."
***

POST-CHRISTMAS DEPRESSION?

"Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were."
 - Samuel McCord


"We don't receive wisdom.  We must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us but ourselves."
- Oscar Wilde

Many Americans are experiencing Post-Christmas Depression.


They feel like a dead Christmas Tree tossed on the side of the road.


Often we have a loopy, taffy-twisted vision of what Christmas should be like.


It doesn't mean everyone has to pretend to be happy when they're not.


Geez, that can be depressing all by itself.




Sometimes we remember the Christmases of our childhood through time-fogged glasses. 


As older adults, we see more clearly the social dynamics going on all around us.


Take heart if you are currently suffering from it. 


Post-holiday depression generally only lasts for a short period of time.

STEPS TO TAKE TO TACKLE THOSE BLUES

1.) CREATE SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO


That movie you've been wanting to see.  Make time to see it -- hopefully it will be a comedy.


Start counting down the days to when you can do that special something.  It will help.

2.) THE FUNNY BONE IS REALLY A MUSCLE


Remember what I said about that movie comedy?  Rent that DVD all your friends are talking about like CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE with the Rock and Kevin Hart.


Exercise that funny bone of yours and you will feel better.

3.) DON'T PAY TO BE DEPRESSED!


There are books, TV shows, and movies that leave you feeling depressed even if you weren't before the experience of viewing them!


Viv of ZEN & THE ART OF TIGHTROPE WALKING:
https://zenandtheartoftightropewalking.wordpress.com/2016/12/28/comfort-literature-the-new-trend-for-2017/


writes that she


"would like to see trending in the new year a literature that comforts.


Not schmaltzy, saccharine candy-fluff books that pretend everything is nice and rosy


but books that have a strong core of something special, something strong and real and comforting."


Me, too.


COMFORT LITERATURE she calls it.

4.) GET A MOVE AND YOUR GROOVE ON


A buildup of carbon dioxide in your blood (from shallow breathing) is a natural depressant --


as is alcohol (so drinking to feel better is an emotional oxymoron.)


So although feeling glum is unlikely to put you in the mood to exercise,


getting up and active is actually one of the best things you can do.


Jog, walk, or dance (by yourself if need be) each day. 


You will find yourself in a far better mood at the end of those steps!

5.) YOU FEEL WHAT YOU EAT


While it may be tempting to bury your sorrows under piles of junk food,


a healthy diet is actually much more effective at helping you feel good.


Some mood-boosting foods to stock up on are those containing B vitamins


(which help the brain produce serotonin)


such as wholegrains, nuts and marmite, and those containing Omega-3 fatty acids


(which can help lift depression), such as oily fish or flaxseeds.

6.) LOOK OUTSIDE YOURSELF


In our world are those who could do with just an unexpected small kindness. 


Be a distributor of random acts of kindness.


A cat or dog rescued from the pound could be the very thing to turn your mood completely around.

Just research the personality types of the different breeds, trying to match them to your own.

HAPPIEST OF NEW YEARS,

MY FRIENDS!!

SUPERSTITIONS OF NEW YEAR'S EVE

Although many of us do not admit to it, we do believe or follow some superstition at one time or another.

Knock on wood?  

I do, usually have to resort to knocking on my head, the universality of plastics you know.

Have you known people to stop a dog from howling to prevent death or 

to get married on a rainy day to insure a long and happy marriage?

 New Year’s Eve also has its fair share of strange myths and weird superstitions 

that are followed by many around the world. 

Here are a few:

1. No sweeping on New Year’s day.  

They say that it is an ominous act and can sweep away the good luck of the entire family.

Well, why not? Anything that keeps you from the nasty chore of cleaning is welcome, right?


 2. Wearing new clothes on New Year's Eve.

 They believe that it ensures a constant supply of new clothes for the whole year to jazz up the wardrobe.


 3. No empty pockets
 
There are people who insist that one should take care to avoid wearing a dress with empty pockets on New Year’s Eve 

since it may be a sign of very low or no income in the year to come.


4. Say no to chicken
 
If you cook any chicken dish on New Year’s day, you will have monetary troubles for the rest of the year.
 
So now you know who is responsible for all your financial troubles this year… 

Colonel Sanders!


5. Don’t do laundry
 
They say that if you do your laundry, you will certainly wash off your luck or will face a year of hard work. 

Even more ominous, doing laundry on this day is also associated with facing a family member’s death.
 
What can I say? These myths sound like work-relieving fun to me!


6. Don’t cry, honey!
 
The wise men (and women) say that one should not be miserable on this day and neither should one cry because that depression will follow you in the year to come.

So, wipe away those tears and be happy! After all, it is a new beginning.

  
7. Be Scrooge on New Year's Eve!

You should not give your cash, ornaments, precious items or other valuable things to anyone

 on the first day of the year because it may be a sign that wealth will be flowing out in the entire year. 

So, hang on to your cash until January 2nd!

  
8. Make noise and hang a lemon at New Year's Eve.

Have you ever wondered why there are fireworks on New Year’s Eve? 

It is to scare away the evil spirits and evil thoughts. 

Even hanging a lemon in the doorway helps in warding off bad spirits.

* The First Foot of New Year has a whole post coming soon here. 

Do you know of any New Year's Eve superstitions?

NOW SHE BECOMES LEGEND

There are times when words are inadequate:

( Thanks to Jeremy Hawkins for the photo)

And I miss Kenny Baker, too.

HOW BAD WAS 2016 FOR YOU?

It has not been a year filled with wonder, has it?  

Unless you are wondering how it all got this crazy.

But time is not an episodic TV program.  

It flows from one season to the next without pause or commercial break.

The Calendar Year is not some sort of Cosmic Etch-A-Sketch 

that gets shaken blank by the final descent of the Glowing Ball over Time's Square.

The whole world will stay as much a war zone as it was during 2016.

Remember when 2015 was the worst year ever, according to everyone in your Twitter timeline? 

How about 2014? 

Here’s the thing: 

Each year is the sum of hundreds, if not thousands, of years 

of oppression, class conflict, and geo-political maneuvering. 

Horrible things are going to happen regardless of the calendar year. 

We look into the mirror of our memories from the past year and see not an objective representation of what was ...

but a reflection of who we were and who we became. 

 On this day in 1936, Clare Boothe Luce's The Women opened on Broadway, 

the first of its record-breaking 657 performances.

The play was attacked by harsh criticisms, but Boothe rose above it all.

The Women brought first-fame to Luce, and opportunities 

which her beauty, considerable ambition and adequate talent would not waste.

 Her writings extended from drama and screen scenarios to fiction, journalism, and war reportage. 

She became the wife of Henry Luce, publisher of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated.

Clare Boothe Luce became the first American woman 

appointed to a major ambassadorial post abroad. (Italy)

What am I saying?

Life is an unknown, dusty road winding in surprising, often unpleasant ways.

I choose to look at the moments of this past year filled with kindness, compassion, and beauty, 

leaving the thorns behind for they have drawn as much blood as I want to give them.

No need to carry their pain with me down the path ahead, right?

In the pages of the book 2016, 

what did you find that was worth carrying with you into 2017?

How did the past year treat you?  

I pray it treats you better in 2017.

TO SHARE LOVE_HAPPY BOXING DAY!

One of the great things about love ...

is that it grows in ever larger ripples when shared.

One shares with another, 

then that heart touched by love shares, too.

One becomes two. Two becomes four. And four becomes eight.

Not every heart which receives, gives, of course.

Who of us has not received compassion and felt the better for it?

We are let into a busy traffic line, and we wave thanks.

But do we give it? 

Do we let another in somewhere else down the line?

Or do we just go on our way, too much in a hurry to return the favor to a stranger?

Have we received compassion, wisdom, kindness repeatedly from a friend, 

but then have been hurt by that same friend?

Can we find it in ourselves, that after taken so much, to give one thing ...

the benefit of the doubt,

to trust in the past acts of friendship to give ...

forgiveness?


That is the secret of Boxing Day, 

still celebrated in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom ...


(though not as widespread as it once was --
like many customs of kindness and compassion)

to give from the surplus that we have received on Christmas Day.

One of the clues to Boxing Day's origins can be found in the Christmas Carol, "Good King Wenceslas."

Wenceslas, who was Duke of Bohemia in the early 10th century, was surveying his land on St. Stephen's Day — Dec. 26 —

when he saw a poor man gathering wood in the middle of a snowstorm. 

Moved, the King gathered up surplus food and wine

and carried them through the blizzard to the peasant's door.

Christmas love and magic is better when shared. 

Just like laughter is somehow more than doubled when the joke or 

the funny movie is shared with a friend.

What is more beautiful than a unicorn in the snow?

Two unicorns racing through the flurry of snowflakes together.
***

MERRY CHRISTMAS NIGHT!

MERRY CHRISTMAS with a STAR WARS ending!

Merry Christmas to all my friends!


Christmas' present to all of us

is the subtle messages underneath the obvious ones:


1.) Love comes unexpectedly.

2.) You find love in surprising places.

3.) Love comes at its own season, in its own unique way, wearing a face you weren't looking for.

 
But then, we can be forgiven for not hearing those messages. After all, none of us is perfect. Well, there was that one.

 
But we killed Him.

 
Or did we? 


I choose to think not. I know His message and the messages of this day are not dead.

Love never quite dies. 

It stays in the sparkle in the eyes of each passing generation of children.

The best Christmas stories, in both movies and books, remind us that love always seems to find a way,

though it comes to us in unexpected ways, shining in the eyes of those we might have overlooked in the past.

 
The Jews were expecting a king.  

They never got one because they were looking in the wrong places for the wrong faces.

A manger contained the prince of peace in its straw. Few were even aware of His arrival.

Only those who were not too proud to stop and consider love might come unexpectedly 

and from a source we would never have suspected of containing it. 


And only to those who had kept looking up.

 
Christmas teaches us to keep the child's sense of awe, of wonder, and of the willingness to believe ...

in the possibilities of miracles,

of the soft whisper of magic in the air if you but listen,

and in the healing power of love.

Like young Kevin in HOME ALONE, 

it is up to us alone to protect the home of our hearts from being robbed of their innocence and love. 


Sometimes we do not see unicorns in the snow because we have stopped looking for them.

 
Continue to look. 

Continue to hold gently to the possibility of a miracle waiting for you just around the next corner or the one after that.

 
Excuse me. I think I hear a strange whinnying outside my door.

 
I'll open it to have a look. 

My unicorn may be out there below my terrace right now waiting for me to go for a ride in the moonlight.

You never know.

Keep looking and believing, Roland
***