Janus for January

 Iknow I blogged about the same topic, sharing the same image early this month. But I thought that, since we are now pass mid January, it was a nice opportunity to remind us that January is named after the Roman god Janus. He has two faces, one watching the past, the other the future. Since we are in the middle of the month, I can imagine him contemplating both times and well, wondering what the hell's going to happen next. If I was a believer, Janus would be the god I would pray to and make offering to these days.

New year resolutions (a short list)

 So the new year brings out new resolutions. I have made a short list, which I will hopefully increase in the next few days:

-Read more books

-Read faster (see resolution above)

-Buy less books

-Stick to myTBR list 

-Write more

-Write more often

-Walk more 

 And, well, that's it really. If you are perceptive, you might see a certain pattern.

The month of Janus

I found this picture in a book on Greek and Roman mythology which I liked a lot as a child. I learned from it that January is the month of the Roman god Janus, a two face god, with one face looking into the past and one face looking into the future. It is a mysterious god, as fairly little is known about him. He is a god of time, passage and transition and of course he gave his name to January. I blogged about him before, I thought today was a good time to blog about him again.

Auld Lang Syne

Happy new year to all my readers! As it is a tradition on this blog, I am sharing Auld Lang Syne. I hope you enjoy.

Mafalda et le 1er janvier

 Bonne année 2026 à tous! Tradition oblige, je la commence avec un gag de Mafalda de circonstances (donc un brin pessimiste).

Feu de foyer

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos du feu de foyer qu'ils ont fait le Jour de l'An. Une belle manière de commencer l'année.

Greenwich

 I recently made an observation about the new year. In fact, it is an observation I keep making every time we celebrate it in the UK, which is now pretty much my reality: living in England, we enter the new year at the same time as the Greenwich meridian. Which is of course historically THE standard prime time, THE staple to calculate time, so to speak. In a way, England is the center of the world when it comes to count time. It is purely anecdotal, but it always comes to my mind round the new year.

Bookshop(s) this January

 This imae is from Books Are My Bag. I share it here for two reasons: 1)I find it very cute, with the cat and all. And 2)I want people to remember to bookshop this January. In local bookshops. Make it one of your new year's resolutions. Oh, and another resolution of mine: I must read more books this year.

For Auld Lang Syne...

Happy New year everyone! I am starting it with u Auld Lang Syne, as it is a tradition here in the UK and elsewhere.

Mafalda et la nouvelle année (siempre!)

Tout d'abord, bonne année à tous les lecteurs et toutes mes lectrices! Ensuite, afin de commencer l'année du bon pied, je partage un gag pris de la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda il y a quelques jours. Mafalda a souvent des pensées pertinentes pour le nouvel an, celle-ci est sans doute ma préférée. Et j'avoue que j'ai peu d'espoir pour 2025 en ce qui concerne la bonté des gens.

Festin des Fêtes

 Ma mère m'a envoyé une photo prise dans la résidence de ma tante. C'est une représentation d'un festin des Fêtes, fait par des étudiants du secondaire, je crois. Vraiment bien. Ca me rappelle les repas de Noël, mais aussi et surtout du Jour de l'An (du côté de mon père). Le buffet que l'on servait au Jour de l'An ressemblait beaucoup à ça.

Post-Christmas Blues (sort of)

 Well, it is this time of year, but it arrived a tad later this year and it is far less painful than usual, for some reason. I will dwell on it a bit more, but anyway, here it is: the post-Christmas blues. However, it isn't too bad this year. Because I still have a few days of holidays, for one, and because I am enjoying my time off doing very little except reading and watching television. I needed a long break and I can live without the excitement (and following exhaustion) that the days leading to Christmas bring. I am not a big fan of new year's celebrations, soI am happy living in limbo until then. Still, the big days of Christmas are over for me, I have stopped listening to Christmas music, so technically it is post-Christmas blues.

Question existentielle (385)

 Les Fêtes ne sont pas encore officiellement terminées, cela dit pour beaucoup c'est le retour au travail et petit loup recommence l'école bientôt. Je me pose donc la question existentielle suivante (qui est assez proche de la question 277, mais un peu différente):

-Après Noël et le Jour de l'An, quand est-ce que nous sommes bel et bien, de facto, dans le retour à la normale?

Auld Lang Syne (as always)

Happy new year everyone! As it is a tradition on this blog, I am sharing again the classic Auld Lang Syne. Which also reminds me that I have Scottish blood, so there might be something of me in this song, in a way. You tell me.

Mafalda et la nouvelle année

Bonne année à tous! Je la commence avec un gag de Mafalda. Elle a fait beaucoup d'observations très justes sur le nouvel an, celle-ci en est une autre, que je me devais de partager.

Saint Sylvester's Day

 Well, I will start by spouting a cliché: we are the last day of the year 2023 and the last day of December. The time during the Christmas holidays I like least, because while it is still technically Christmastime, the celebrations I love are pretty much gone, done and dusted. And I don't like the new year, never did since I was a child. So anyway, I thought I would write this post with a cultural twist: the 31st of December is also called Saint Sylvester's Day. I was reminded of that on Facebook by some friends (cultural Catholics) who still call it like that. I know nothing about Saint Sylvester. But I know today is his day, if nothing else. Anyway, anybody else call today Saint Sylvester's Day?

The December-January Blur

I found this on the Facebook wall of one of my friends. I thought I would share it here, because it is so very funny and very true. I know nothing of Gemma Correll, but what she describes here is very accurate. Except I don't stress. Not really. I just try to enjoy my free time.

New Year, New Books

 First, let's start with some good news I have been wanting to share: indie bookshops have hit a 10years high in 2022. That bodes well for the future of both book retail and literacy. That said, I have yet to go to the local bookshop since the beginning of the year. Shame on me. Even though I already have a lot of books yet to read, buying new books for the new year is one of the rituals I particularly enjoy. And it is good for the local economy. So a visit is in order as soon as possible.

Janus

I share this picture which I found on the Facebook page of the British Museum. It is a coin whith the depiction of the Roman god Janus. With one face looking at the past and another looking at the future. January is of course named after the god, so it is fitting that I share it here today. You can find more about the coin here. I have nothing else to add, except that a visit to the British Museum is long overdue. I might add it to my new year's resolutions.

"For auld lang syne my jo"

Happy new year everyone! As a tradition on this blog, I am sharing again the classic Auld Lang Syne, sung here by Scottish artist Julie Fowlis. It's not the first time she shows up on this blog and it's been long overdue. She's an amazing artist. And she says "my jo" and not "my dear" and that's a bonus reason for me to choose her take on the song. Anyway, happy new year again.