New Year's Day 2015

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy and successful New Year! Are you setting new goals? Making resolutions? I hope yours fare better than Luann's Father's.

What happens to your New Year's resolutions? Do they follow the same pattern as Luann's parents. In a strip that ran on November 16, 2014 Nancy and Frank DeGroot  are sitting on the couch eating popcorn. She's reading a book and he's reading the newspaper. And she asks, "What ever happened to your New Year's resolution to take up jogging?"

"Nothing I'm keen to start. It's just that in January and February were too cold. March was windy. April I had taxes to do, and in May we had house guests. June, July and August were way too hot. Then I got that kink in my neck and then I couldn't find my earbuds."

She says, "I see. And right now?"

"It's getting kind of dark..."

"But you're keen to start."

He grabs a handful of popcorn and turns back to the newspaper. "Think about it all the time."

If you want some inspiration for establishing new habits and sticking to them, this blog post from Dani Greer at The Blood Red Pencil might be of help. 

Monday Morning Musings

WHAT I'M READING: Hangman by Faye Kellerman. I do love her ongoing series with Detective Peter Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus. I have read almost all of the books since the first in the series, and enjoy spending time with them and their family.

WHAT I'M SMILING ABOUT: Some good news on the publishing front - my publishing front. Friends Forever, My YA novel for young teens has been updated and re-released by a new publisher, White Bird Publishing. The official release date is September 16, but it is available for preorder for Kindle and Kindle apps. The new cover was made by the talented Dany Russell.

 WHAT I"M DISMAYED ABOUT: The violence and looting in Ferguson, Missouri following the police shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black teen who was unarmed. Why do some people think the best response to any perceived injustice is violence? I have never understood it, and agree with this man who was at the scene. "It's not serving the purpose," said James Bryant, a 31-year-old from St. Louis, as he watched a young man rummage through a mobile-phone store after smashing a glass door. "The cause was to prevent police brutality."

Kudos to Michael Brown's family and friends who have been holding peaceful demonstrations and vigils and call for an end to the looting and rioting. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon imposed a curfew on Saturday in hopes of stemming the violence.  "This is a test, the eyes of the world are watching," Nixon said in an interview with ABC News. "This is a test to see if this community can break the cycle of violence and replace it with peace."

Amen.

AND NOW JUST FOR FUN: The following is from the comic strip Luann by Greg Evans.

Luann's parents, Nancy and Frank, are sitting on a sofa watching television. Nancy hears the bip, bip, bip, of some electronic device going off, and she says to Frank, "Your phone is bipping, Hon. I think you missed a call."

"That's your phone. I changed my "bip" to "bloop" cuz you were using "bip" for calls."

"No," Nancy says. "I use "whoosh for calls. I thought you used "bloop" for your alarm."

"I used to. But it sounds too much like "zoop." So now I use "doink"."

"You can't use "doink" honey. I use that for calendar alerts."

"I thought you used "poing" for that."

In the next frame the parents have their phones out and Nancy says. "Ugh! We need to re-coordinate. I'll change my "doink" to "tinkle"."

"I use "tinkle" for mail. Do you use the "dong"?"

Luann pops in from the kitchen. "Did you guys make popcorn? The microwave's bipping."