January 1

And it’s a Sunday.

There was a little debate around here as to whether or not the new year starts officially today or tomorrow.

I decided to split the difference.

My favorite altered state is 5-10mgTHC and 1-2 glasses of Pinot. That’s over an entire evening and I am quite lucid and just kind of mellow and floaty and…..enough is enough. It’s time to dry out.

I still had a lot of cleaning left to do today because I did that thing where I started at the front of the house and worked my way to the rear. The living room looked great this morning but the dining room and kitchen looked like a cyclone hit. I had potted up a few plants in the kitchen – it was storming out yesterday – and I really got dirt everywhere.

I cleaned like mad and had my usual cleaning Zen thing. I love primping over my things and dusting stuff off and I also think it’s fun when I find something like these googly eyes. I have no idea who put them there.

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We have a thing in this house where some things like hammers just disappear. I have been banging in nails with shoes, wrenches and my fist for several months and today, I found the hammer. So, I decided that it stays out where I can keep an eye on it. Behold:

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I really like it when I style something in such a way as to make me feel uniquely brilliant. For example, I put hand sanitizer and hair ties on the ledge downstairs because someone always needs that at a party. I’ve been having people over now that we have Band practice at my house every Monday.

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I finally got all the crap off the dining room table. It was momentous. Horns played and the angels sang Hallelujah. When I went to put the freshly laundered tablecloth on I noticed that the tablecloth had a lot of extra room so I put the leaves in my table and spent a long time just looking at it. A person’s old dining room table has a lot to say.

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Cleaning took so long that I realized that the only people with enough time to make art are people who don’t work. That means that rich folks and poorer people make most of the art around town and people who sling beans for a living have less creative time. Cleaning feels creative to me but it isn’t music. I don’t know if I clean so that I won’t have to face the music (ha, ha) or if I really run out of time to play because I have to clean. I don’t know but a New Year goal of mine is to keep things tidy enough that I have time to do other things.

I am a drop and slinger. I come in the house after work and dump stuff down wherever I am standing and sling clothes over chairs. I am a controlled mess. I’d like to slow down a little and put things back where they belong more often.

I played some violin today but not in a good practice way. I just ran through some tunes. It’s fine, but it’s not really how you get better. Took me a long time to accept it but you have to play with drones and metronomes and do your exercises and focus on what you want to be different. It’s not like riding a bike.

Dylan came over to help trim Basil’s hooves and the pig got so pissed he skipped dinner. I had to keep checking on him and yep – still breathing.

I bailed on dry January last year but am doing it for reals this year. A little crabby but feeling pure and determined !

That’s my Jan 1. Owen came downstairs after a hard workout. That’s his New Year bump. Me, I’m a cleaner and a rearranger.

Ready, set…and off we go!