13: Starting Over
1. Me to Joe, at the movie theater, wearing 3D glasses to see The Hobbit: “You look like a bad ass.” He answers, “And you look like Jackie O.”
2. Poems tell more than they say. They convey, as if mutely, the condition of the mind that made them, and this is a large part of their meaning and their worth. –Wendell Berry
3. I like to write poetry because I don’t like having nothing to say, or having nothing new to say, or having nothing to say in a new way.
4. Stink Bug Makes a New Year’s Resolution HERE.
5. I always feel sort of let down after the holidays and try to remember what the Tibetan Buddhist Mingyur Rinpoche said: You need to try to master the ability to feel sad without actually being sad.
6. In a 2005 New York Times story about the country of Bhutan making the Gross National Happiness (as opposed to Gross National Product) a priority, it was reported that the United States is only the 23rd happiest country in the world.
7. During the holidays, we also watched Roko Belic’s 2011 documentary movie called The Happy Movie, reviewed in The Aspen Times like this: “Belic’s camera captures people in less-than-ideal circumstances: a rickshaw puller in an Indian slum; an American woman who was disfigured in an accident; a group of Japanese widows. But the emotional content of these lives is contentment and gratitude for what they have, especially in human companionship…”
8. I’m suspicious of the word happy. Maybe because I think of it as being preceded by slap and because I doubt it can last. 
9. My favorite quote on happiness is by poet Robert Frost: Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.
10. I bet the letter we received from our 5-year-old grandson Bryce (pictured here) made the mailman smile.
11. I have loved Scottish singer/songwriter Dougie MacLean for decades and was happy when my sister posted his version of the Scottish song Auld Lang Syne on Facebook. Listen HERE.
12. 1986 Flashback: If you have an old 1986 calendar you can use it for 2014 because the dates match up perfectly. And if you’re the type to plan ahead, 2014 calendars can be used in 2025.
13. I’m proud of the blisters I got dancing to The Kind at The Pine on New Year’s Eve while wearing a red crown on my head. See HERE.
___________Thirteen Thursday
January 2nd, 2014 5:19 am
#5 how does that work in reality ??I wonder
January 2nd, 2014 5:37 am
Got some great quotes here…new to me. After all the celebratory hooplah…the new year does start sort of quiet and sad, I think.
January 2nd, 2014 6:46 am
Love Bryce’s letter. Long before we met, when My Beloved Sandra still had to have a second job, one of her out-of-town customers who had come up a little short one night sent her what he owed in an envelope addressed merely “Sandy the Bartender / Barton, VT”. Gotta love the small towns.
Happy New Year, CR.
January 2nd, 2014 8:21 am
I relate to number 8; cleverly stated! May your year be contented and zestful!
January 2nd, 2014 12:06 pm
Bless Bryce’s sweet heart. Happiness (mostly) lies there and in the hearts of the young.
I’ve been listening to lots of Dougie MacLean’s music since I posted Auld Lang Syne. Since I want to “hear” all the poetic words, I first find the written words to the lyrics, then I listen.
Another good TT.
January 2nd, 2014 12:58 pm
I’ve been thinking about movies–The Hobbit was recommended. Love the Frost quote. I actually met him in person.
Happy? I’d be happy with being well and at ease.
January 2nd, 2014 2:09 pm
My son Josh motivates us to see the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies. I read all of the series out loud to him and his brother when they were young, so it has come full circle. I enjoyed the movie, particularly because of the 3D.
Happy? I’d be happy with being well and at ease.
January 2nd, 2014 2:37 pm
I used to feel more let down after the holidays than I do now. I’m not sure what the difference is. Maybe because the part of the family that I really need comes home with me.
January 2nd, 2014 3:28 pm
I actually do have an calendar. My daughter was born that year and it was one of the things in her trunk of when you was born and childhood memories.
January 2nd, 2014 5:37 pm
Love the quotes. And also love the letter from your grandson. I remember sending letters to my grandparents (and also my parents if I was away from home) addressed like that. It’s a bit like a childhood rite of passage isn’t it?
January 2nd, 2014 8:15 pm
I saw the Hobbit but in regular D, or whatever you call the old way of viewing things. 3D makes me dizzy. I love the Lord of the Ring movies and hope that the very last song in Return of the King is played at my funeral.
January 2nd, 2014 10:04 pm
Great post, Jackie O. 🙂 Sounds like you’ve had a nice start to your new year.
January 2nd, 2014 11:15 pm
I love that your grandson wrote you a letter! His work made me happy, too!
Recently I had my nephew address an envelope to my parents. It was humbling to realize this is a lost art–almost! Let’s hear it for the USPS and the love the carry to our mailboxes.
Happy New Year!
January 2nd, 2014 11:39 pm
I am rather embarrassed as a HUGE LOTR fan that I didn’t know that it was showing in 3D. Granted, I don’t watch 3D movies anyway — they give me a headache. And, wearing recycled glasses kind of grosses me out. Do they let you keep them?
January 3rd, 2014 1:46 am
Your list made me smile! Happy new year!
January 3rd, 2014 7:32 am
One could spend a lot of time on what is “Happiness”….to me, happiness are the moments in life between the mundane, the pain, and the struggling through the weeds, so to speak….Lovely moments, like you and Joe dancing….like the darling letter from Bryce….like watching a good film, and so on….a BEAUTIFUL Sunset; An exquisite flower; a wonderful warm hug…..I’d like more of this in 2014….And I assume that you would, too. Health issues that aren’t going to get better curtail certain things, but…..still, there are these sweet lovely moments of Happiness! Thank God!
January 3rd, 2014 12:05 pm
check out “Tender Mercies” sometime, especially Robert Duvall’s take on “happiness” at the end of the film…Happy New Year Colleen and Joe!
January 6th, 2014 9:18 am
Love the love letter from Byrce!
January 9th, 2014 3:11 am
Number five… It somehow feels even worse when you’re sick over the holidays, doesn’t it? This is twice in the last three years I’ve come home from Christmas sick. :-\