January 1, 2014

Happy New Year. Yes, I'm up early. To bed early and up early.

 It's the way of the old, but I'm glad to be old — old and alive here on Planet Earth, with all you other Earthlings, young and old, who have made it this far.

2014. That's the first time I'm writing the number in the new year. Unluckly '13 is over. We survived. If you are reading this, you survived. Congratulations! What are you going to do with the next morsel of life that's been granted you?

Me, I'm going to blog, blog my way through this morning, and put various things in order. For example, I'm finishing a task of taking everything moveable out of the kitchen, cleaning all the surfaces, then putting back only what deserves to occupy the real estate of the shelves, with each item placed in the most convenient and least annoying way. So the broken panini grill and the second-best toaster no longer wedge in the stack of cake and pie pans, and if the day ever comes when we do make a cake or pie again — and 2 years of low-carb eating do make this a January 1st with no need to make the cliché weight-loss resolution — we won't have to clatter through clutter to get to the requisite housewares.

And I'm going through the email that piled up overnight. There's one titled "Make an impression, Ann," with the timestamp December 31, 2013 11:01:29 PM CST. It's from Democrats <democraticparty@democrats.org>. The Party knows I'm in the Central Time Zone. It's already a minute and 29 seconds into the new year in the Eastern Time Zone, where I picture it situated, but they know where I am, and they know I've got almost an hour left to make a donation in 2013, not that it'd be tax deductible, so what do I care about squeezing in donations in the last moments of '13?

Telling me to "Make an impression" when you think I've got nothing to do on New Year's Eve but check email is kind of depression-inducing. Thanks a lot, Democrats. I mean, I'm glad to be old and alive, glad to have survived into another year on Earth, another year in the United States of America, but you guys haven't done your part (or you have and I just don't like it).

So here's the image the Party throws at me pre-midnight, the first photograph I gaze upon in 2014:



The hell?!! You're giving me the "not impressed" face?! I need to "Make an impression"? I need to "fix that" in my last "few minutes" of the year when you failed so miserably?

I know. I know. I am not the target audience. They know I'm in the Central Time Zone, but they don't know how I really feel about them, even though I've been giving clues, visible to all who are on line, for the past 10 years. The true Democratic Party faithful experience a merged identity with the Party and a weird delusion that the President stands outside of the Party and outside of politics, looking on, like some god. God is watching and we haven't done enough. Be grateful that He is still good humored in his disapproval — good humored and adorable and goofing around with pretty ladies and awesome. Donate!

Oh, I'm donating. I'm donating this blog post. I'm donating to the joy and discernment of the people of Planet Earth, here in the pre-dawn of the first day of the new year, 2014.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year to Meadehouse

RueMom said...

Like Ann, I got up early - 5:00 am today, January 1, 2014. Also, I'm old. And, like Ann, I'm going to spend the day, or at least part of it, cleaning up and throwing out and making a clean slate of one room of my abode. It's a small step or maybe a substitute for making a clean slate of my life.

My goal for today, if not for the whole year, is to overcome the inertia that is my natural state of mind and body. Or at least it has been since November 1, 2012 when my youngest son died at the age of 30.

TMI I know. Thanks for the blogging you do on a daily basis Ann. You're an inspiration to would-be bloggers like me!

Ron said...

And what are our comments, chopped liver? We've thrown in "our two cents", as it were. Are you thankful we're here commenting at similarly ungodly hours? Sorry, Dems, I'm just a heathen!

Tank said...

Short term plan. Spend my Christmas $$$$$.

Prolly some new golf shoes.

Boring LOL.

Actually, being 60, I'm pretty happy each time I wake up.

FleetUSA said...

Happy New Year, Professor and Mr. Meade.

Christopher said...

Here is Obama's tweet from last night:

"When the clock strikes midnight, our nation turns a corner on health care—and we're not going back. #HappyNewYear"


Meade said...

Good morning, rising star shine, and happy new year, early morning risers. May 2014 bring you all peace, joy, unlimited self government and more limited other government.,

dbp said...

As a person on planet Earth, who is also glad for every day that I get to live, though I am only 51 and am not as glad as I ought to be or will be when I am older: Thank you for this as well as past and future posts.

SGT Ted said...

Happy New year, all.

traditionalguy said...

What year is this? 2,014 years since zero. AD, or has that designator been scrubbed too so we have to say BCE?

I can say it is Wednesday, but what is a Wednes?

Last night someone asked me why time goes faster as we get older. How the hell should I know. He demanded an answer.

As we get older we have less answers. But at least we still have LaAlthouse's mind.

David said...

Let us know how the kitchen project goes. That's real hope and change.

Amexpat said...

@Althouse:
You'd think that someone at the DNC who's web savvy would figure out that it's counter productive sending you all those ludicrous emails.

Also, Happy New Year. I'm glad to hear that you have still have the drive to continue with your blog. I've been a regular reader since 2004.

Marylou said...

Happy New Year!!

Roger Sweeny said...

An old student of mine called it "twenty bakers dozen."

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

RueMom, I'm sorry for your loss and I will pray for your peace.

pm317 said...

Trying to guilt you into submission (if they can), that is the name of the game for Democrats. You made us look at that adorable (not) picture of Obama in your first 2014 post. But I will consider it a good reminder of who they are.

Kylos said...

It's highly unlikely they know your timezone. Timestamps are usually sent as UTC and your local machine automatically displays the time in your current timezone. It's more likely that their mail server is in Central timezone and someone forgot that the people in the Eastern timezone would get the email too late.

pm317 said...

@Kylos, I think they base sending these emails on where they think you live, the address they have for you. They know where you live. They know everything these days.

pm317 said...

2013 was a good year for me, lucky '13, but it was a lot of hard and satisfying work. With that came, shambles in the house, lacking attention. My study is a mess, like your kitchen and I have to get rid of all the clutter. Throw all the tenure related stuff I am still hanging on to. I don't know whom I am still trying to convince.

Sam L. said...

The picture! It encourageth me to help keep Barry looking that way!

Michael K said...

I'm looking forward to this year for personal reasons I can't share just yet. Last year confirmed my negative impression of Obamacare but surprised me a bit with the gross incompetence. It's hard to understand how a bunch with such tech savvy supporters can screw up a web site so badly.

Anthony Hopper said...

Happy New Year!