Welcome to a special edition of Friday Notes. This isn’t just the end of the week or even just of the month (although both are true). It’s also the end of the year!
So this edition of Notes is a reflection on a kind of weird year.
Tag Archives: Chillaxmas
2021: Week 1
Although the New Year is a few days off (you still have time to stock up on champagne), most calendars start on Sunday, so today is the first day of the first week of 2021. More to the point, all 52 weeks of 2020 are now officially behind us. We can begin the process of shaking the dust of an awful year off our shoes.
How many times have I said I look around and forward, but rarely backward. (Lots of times!) Of course I’m more than willing to see the tail end of a wretched year and an even more wretched Presidency. (Easily, at this point, the worst in our history.)
Anyway: On the third day of Chillaxmas, my blog post is about…
Christmas Wishes
A Very Merry Christmas (or Seasonal Equivalent) to One and All! My wish for everyone is a peaceful and joyful day of good food, good friends, good relaxation, or whatever you wish this season. Ideally you aren’t traveling today, but if you are I hope your journey is swift, easy, and safe.
My wish to see the “Christmas Star” came true, and I also got a white Christmas (in the nick of time). There was also a wish about an election that came true.
So the year is ending nicely I think; worthy of some celebration.
Story Completeness
Last week I did a little jazz riff on the idea of “story space” — where all the stories live — and how the interesting stories we want to hear are all improbable to the point of having zero chance of actually happening (unless, gasp, statistics can lie).
I thought I’d return to that basic story space idea and, in the process, finally deal with a note that’s been on my idea board for years. My problem has been that, while the idea the note expresses seemed interesting enough, I’ve never quite seen how to turn it into a post. I’m not even sure the idea makes any real sense, let alone is worth trying to write about.
However that’s never stopped me before, and it’s (almost) Chillaxmus, so cue the music, it’s riff time again…
Geek Posts Ahead!
As one might guess from yesterday’s post, which was supposed to be about vampires, that the geek force runs strong in this one. Of course, it always does. Far as I can tell, I was born an über-geek and shall remain an über-geek until my final breath (which will no doubt be some geeky observation).
But then geek comes from “carnival geek” and just means someone with expertise in a niche field. I’m fine with that — it’s just the plain truth in my case — but I like to believe my expertise is maybe just a little bit broader than biting heads off chickens. (On the other hand, as perhaps everyone does, I’ve sometimes wondered if joining a carnival might not make for a much simpler life.)
In any event, for a while I intend to indulge my inner über-geek.
Looking Forward
Did you feel it? The Earth swung past a certain point in space; there was a little spacetime “bump” as we ran over the notch. Didn’t you feel it?
It’s kind of an important point in the cycle. Lots of people stay up to watch it happen. (Although, I grant you, the whole thing is about 10 days late. Problem is, back in the day it took them a while to recognize what had happened.)
To commemorate the occasion, some will look back and some will look forward. And some will riff on how this is an arbitrary moment in time that doesn’t mean anything at all, really.
Except that it isn’t entirely arbitrary. That’s kind of what this post is about.
Numbers Game
I’m of an age to have seen the arrival of 1984 and 2001 as an adult. Those years are significant due, respectively, to the famous George Orwell book and to the famous Stanley Kubrick movie (authored by Arthur Clarke). Because of those stories, those years were mileposts in future imaginings. Would the world turn out per the dystopic 1984 vision? Or would space travel come along per the 2001 vision?
Fortunately and sadly (respectively), the answer was, “Nope.”
This evening 1984 came to mind due to thinking about 2001, and that came to mind due to thinking about this post. My 201st blog post. A small milestone for long-time bloggers, but a milestone nevertheless.
Chillaxmas Tertius
I had thought, on this third day of Chillaxmas, that to entertain and terrify you, I would post a true tale of alien invasion and species murder. I know you’re expecting the punchline to be that I would if I could, but I don’t have such a tale, so I can’t, ha, ha. Well, I do have just such a tale, and I could, I’m just not.
Not today, anyway. It’s all queued up for tomorrow, and it’s just as well. This will give me a chance to issue a little advance warning. I have pictures of the aliens! War is never for the faint of heart; it’s all the worse with an exoskeleton-wearing alien enemy!
Today, very much like Dug, I was distracted by some virtual philosophical squirrels.
The World Continues
At this point it seems safe to say the Earth continues to orbit the Sun, and that life on the planet also continues. Either the Mayans were wrong, or all those people thousands of years later, working off little (or no) knowledge of the situation, were not correctly interpreting the situation.
Ya think? 🙂
In any event, it sounds like a good excuse to throw a party! Let’s make it a good one!! We’ll decorate extensively (I’m thinking a red and white color scheme), and maybe there should be some gift-giving.
And, here’s an idea: let’s go chop down a tree, drag it inside, put it on life support and decorate it with festive lights and small icons! (Perhaps pine trees, like pumpkins, are delighted to participate in our ancient party rituals!)
Christmas Afterthoughts
The cow just jumped over the moon, I saw it!
Of course, by ‘cow’ I mean International Space Station (ISS), and by ‘jumped’ I mean swung smoothly over a period of several seconds (ssoposs). And by ‘moon’ I mean—you know—the Moon (M).
For a space geek (and I should think, really, for any oxygen-breather), it was kind of thrill and a nice cap to Christmas. (I’m indebted to my friend, Jeff, who called moments before to let me know! It was way worth standing out in the 12-degree chill!)
And speaking of famous old poems, to commemorate my FP present from WP, I’ve done a brief riff on the opening stanzas of an old favorite…
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