Looking ahead and back

The latest Front Porch program/podcast is about two of my least favorite subjects: 2016 and 2017. If you have the time and inclination, give it a listen and chime in about your big stories for last year and what you expect in the coming year. Unless it's too much of a downer...

Oracles

I have a friend and former co-worker I haven't seen in years. Back in the day when we'd get together for work gatherings, we'd bust out a guitar or two and wail far into the night. My friend was a veritable jukebox capable of playing anything from revolutionary anthems to "Hang on, Sloopy."

He'd spent several years as a political prisoner in the Philippines and I think that's where he expanded his playlist.

I loved it when sometimes after playing a song, he'd get this faraway look in his eyes and make some brief oracular statement about the inner meaning of the song. If memory serves, after "Space Oddity," he paused and said "It's about alienation."

Once, after tearing through "The Man Who Sold the World," he mused "It's about the triumph of evil." I remember almost getting a chill when he said that.

For some reason, his oracles are on my mind going into 2016. I have a feeling 2016 is going to have more than it's share of alienation and the triumph of evil, in West Virginia and around the world.

I wish I'm wrong about that.

Looking back, looking ahead

The Roman god Janus, after whom the month of January is named, had two faces, one looking ahead and one looking back. By coincidence, or not, the Romans had a tradition at the temple of Janus. When Rome was at war, the gates were open. When Rome was at peace, which at times wasn't all that often, the gates were closed.

Looking back, 2013 was an amazing year in West Virginia. A year of grace, even. Several important victories for social justice were won. Health insurance was hugely expanded--at last word, over 83,000 working West Virginians were about to gain coverage for the expanded Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act.

The state also acted to expand early childhood education, reduce prison overcrowding, improve school nutrition, and restore funding for child care and family violence prevention programs. Coal miners and retirees also won a huge victory with Patriot Coal.

The saying says that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place. Statisticians sometimes talk about reversion to the mean, which means that hot streaks end. And sometimes in my life, it seems I've had to pay in blood for every good day.

I don't know what 2014 will hold. We may have to pay heavily for 2013's good fortune. If so, so be it. The gates of the temple of Janus are always open in the fight for social justice.

I'm grateful to all my friends and comrades in the struggle...which is about to heat up again.

Be it resolved

El Cabrero is no stranger to New Year's resolutions, although they don't always fall at the same place on the calendar. Some of them work out, sort of, like trying to learn Spanish. Others not so much, like trying to learn classical Greek, although I can make out some words and sound out others.

This year I don't have any major ones on the agenda. I would like to try not to burn or damage any bridges in the coming year; win a good fight or two (more would be swell but I won't be greedy); complete a trail half marathon; read a bunch of stuff by and about Emerson and his buddies; renew my acquaintance with Shakespeare; torture my body with kettlebells; and continue practicing martial arts. Who knows?--maybe even darken the door of an ecclesiastical establishment of the Anglican variety with more frequency.

In any case, here's wishing a good 2013 to one and all,.

Unresolved

Here it is, another New Year, and I am all out of resolutions. I'm not opposed to the idea of picking a goal and working on it, but I can't seem to think of one at the moment. There are certain possibilities, but they are non-starters.

Here are some I won't be making for 2011:

*having a neater office and car. As if.

*giving up red wine. Yes, I could, but so what? I could also drill holes in my skull.

*being a better person. Like the saying goes, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Here are some I've tried that kind of worked (even if they weren't necessarily made on New Year's Day):

*learning to play guitar. Sort of.

*learning Spanish. Un poquito.

Some I tried just haven't worked out yet, like teaching myself classical Greek.

In the meantime, be it resolved that all the critters at Goat Rope wish you and yours a happy 2011.

(We'll be back on the chain gang Monday.)

Cutting remarks and New Year wishes

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a guy's view of the world varies in direct proportion to the functionality of his chain saw (I'm being literal, in case there are any underemployed Freudians out there). El Cabrero has spent a good bit of this week fighting with those devices. If I make another trip to the saw shop, they're going to think I'm stalking them.

But, for today anyhow, at least one saw worked.

This is newsworthy since I am a mechanical idiot and have bad machine karma. I'm sure there's a scientific reason for this. My pet theory is that I offended the Greek god Hephaestus at some point in this or a previous life. He has jurisdiction over such things. I should probably make some kind of offering, preferably not one inflicted by said chain saw.

At any event, have a happy 2010 and may all your chain saws start on the first pull.

Regular semi-serious posts to resume on Monday.

URGENT SOPRANOS UPDATE. It looks like Netflix and or the Postal Service stiffed me for a day so I may not complete my New Year's Week resolution to finish the last season of the Sopranos before the Spousal Unit returns. It almost makes me want to whack somebody.

LEFTOVERTURE. I'm still slacking, but here's the latest edition of the Rev. Jim Lewis' Notes from Under the Fig Tree. It's a New Year's edition filled with leftovers and brains.

AND ON A POSITIVE NOTE, here is an encouraging tale of friendship under fire from the Middle East.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED