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New Year's Day
New Year's resolution: to keep on top of the housework. Ailz says she'll dust and I say I'll vaccuum the floors. We've become lazy, partly because the carer who left used to do bits of housework and we got out of the habit. I don't mind pushing the vac around- not at all, really; I find it quite relaxing.
The morning of New Year's Day is mild but damp and drippy. We heard some fireworks last night, but fewer than usual.
I refuse to get with the meme that 2016 was peculiarly dreadful. That sort of judgement depends on a selection of news items and considerable subjectivity. Yes, a lot of celebs died but they always do. It's just that we got all worked up about it- probably because of the splash that Bowie caused by dying on the back of a very good and much publicised new album- and started noticing all the deaths and adding them to the growing list we were carrying around in our heads. The Daily Telegraph obituary editor- and he ought to know if anyone does- says there was a much bigger reaping of significant cultual figures in 1997. And as for politics? Well, I lost a good friend by determinedly looking on the bright side- so I think I'll leave that one alone...
The morning of New Year's Day is mild but damp and drippy. We heard some fireworks last night, but fewer than usual.
I refuse to get with the meme that 2016 was peculiarly dreadful. That sort of judgement depends on a selection of news items and considerable subjectivity. Yes, a lot of celebs died but they always do. It's just that we got all worked up about it- probably because of the splash that Bowie caused by dying on the back of a very good and much publicised new album- and started noticing all the deaths and adding them to the growing list we were carrying around in our heads. The Daily Telegraph obituary editor- and he ought to know if anyone does- says there was a much bigger reaping of significant cultual figures in 1997. And as for politics? Well, I lost a good friend by determinedly looking on the bright side- so I think I'll leave that one alone...
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But then there were the politics........... :o(
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Re losing the friend, it's easy to look on the bright side when you're not going to be affected by events. I have LGBTQ friends in America who are very worried about the future, not to mention all my female friends who are deeply concerned about what Trump and the Republicans will do to women's health provision. Re Brexit, I intend to fight it every inch of the way in whatever way I can.
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Like almost everybody else I didn't think Trump stood a chance.
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Politics on the other hand was .. well the less said the better.
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Personally I lost 6 friends under the age of 45, so I haven't really been too bothered about celebrity deaths - though I accept that some have mourned the death of their idols and icons. It's not up to me to assess the relevance of their grief, just as nobody can judge my feelings.
Syria is perhaps the main human failing of 2016 for me - but that has been a continued failing since 2012 or earlier. As for Brexit and Trump, well... They are the consequences of things that have been going on for years - and that will likely have consequences in 2017 when we have the German and French elections coming up.
No single year can be "bad" in the broader scheme of things; there's always a chain of events, just like the foundations for WWI were laid years or even decades before 1914... And no, I don't think we're anywhere near that level of melt-down.
But for now I sit back, watch the world and try to help whom I can and be as kind as I can manage. And to be honest, let's make the best of everything no matter what!
Happy New Year; I hope you have a wonderful and peaceful and beautiful 2017! I intend to...
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Yes, history is a continuity. The events of last year have their roots going a long way back- and will lead to future consequences we can only guess at.