I did this last year, and it was kinda fun, so I'll do it again this year.

A lady I once met told me of how she does "Good Riddance" parties on New Year's Day (or thereabouts), where she has in family and friends.  Everyone makes a list of everything from the previous year they want to leave behind, and shares something if they're comfortable.  Then all the lists are put in a paper bag and thrown in the fire while everyone cheers and shouts, "GOOD RIDDANCE!"  They then sit down to a festive dinner.

So, what do you want to leave behind from the previous year?

OK, this will be a semi-silly diary, founded on two podcasts I listen to reguarly.  The first is genuine and sincere...and the other....less so.

The following is a transcription of "Cosmic Telephone Call," recorded by Kali Bahlu on her 1967 album "Kali Bahlu Takes the Forest Children On a Journey of Cosmic Remembrance."  This bit has always given me a giggle but also makes me wonder and fills me with perverse fascination.  Feel free to analyze and/or snark all you want.

From CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned, senior administration officials told CNN Monday.

Alberto Gonzales was dogged by controversial issues including wiretapping programs and fired U.S. attorneys.

More after the bump:

Quite a title, eh?  Believe me, it makes sense after I start telling more about what I did today.  I fulfilled a promise I made myself, and it was pretty uplifting all in all.

Flashback about 25 years...

I'm a teenager, in the last couple years of high school before going to college.  I'm with my parents, on a trip to visit my paternal grandmother in Kentucky.  Only we're taking a long way around, and at one point stop in Lexington, VA, where I happen to wander into a used book store.

Back in October, I was driving home after a gathering of friends in Virginia.  I had my friends Stephen and Javed in the car with me.  On I-66, we hit a line of stopped traffic....

....with a blood drive.

Press release

You have to give them credit for positive action rather than protest or snide remarks.  And there's always a need for blood, eh?

Does a National Day of Prayer mean anything to anyone?  I didn't know about it until someone mentioned this blood drive to me.  Is this day meaningful to anyone here?

A couple of poems for Epiphany, one serious and one not-so-serious...

I heard of a family that has "Good Riddance" parties at the beginning of every year.  They write down all the stuff from the previous year they want to leave behind them, put them in a paper bag, and then burn it!

What do folks feel like they're well rid of?  Bad jobs?  Broken hearts?  

Just spent the weekend with my parents; quite an interesting time.

A little verse for the evening hours...

Tonight I have something from the Greek poet Anacreon.