Happy New Year! I admit being a little disturbed by the enthusiasm with which those around me the other night (on twitter; being a hut-dwelling hermit I saw in the new year hiding in a cupboard with my mobile phone) welcomed this unknown, mysterious “2010” into their lives, even though the only thing they knew about it was that it had just brutally murdered its predecessor, 2009, and taken its place – but let’s hope it all works out for the best. We’re certainly stuck with it now. Perhaps, now that we’ve made the choice, we should treat this new year with a bit more loyalty than the last one – whose passing we actually, humiliatingly celebrated. Easy come, easy go, eh?
I wonder if 2010 knows that we’ll probably turn on it by December, too…
2010 flexes its muscles
Normal (non-silly) posting will resume on Monday. We’ll see what this compulsory new decade has in store for us then.
Moved On 
To be pedantic, the first decade of the new millennium actually finishes at the end of this year (2010).
But given that everyone celebrated the “millennium” a year early, they now appear to be in a groove of ignoring simple counting in favour of the “shiny zero at the end means new decade!” mindset.
Don’t mind me. I’ve had a shit start to the year.
I like the literary, or is it metaphoric? turn of phrase which anthropomorphizes calendar years. Sorry to hear your new year aint been so good chinda63.
I have witnessed the inlaws family reunion. My partner and her sibling reacquainting themselves with their dad after family breakup in their teens.
Two grandchildren met pop for the first time, no acrimony or bitterness. Twas good to see.
f*** up pop was wonderful. If, as i believe we are all flawed, perhaps forgiveness is the most endearing trait to witness.
After that tortured syntax, I’ll end with a quote from Flaubert:
“Language is like a broken kettle, upon which we beat our tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars with pity.”
Over and out.
To be pedantic, the first decade of the new millennium actually finishes at the end of this year (2010).
You’re not being pedantic, you’re being quite the opposite.
You’re being wrong.
We number our years upon completion.
January 1st, 2010 saw the passing of ten years since January 1st, 2000.
That’s a decade to you and me.
Hope your decade gets better for you :-).
Cheers.
I’m starting the decade in 2014 just to be a shithead.
Marek,
I think that chinda63 was referring to the fact that there is no year zero in the Gregorian calendar. Therefore the first decade was year 1 AD to year 10 AD inclusive….
Yes, we all know that. But since we’re not actually measuring anything meaningful that happened in 1 AD, we might as well make the centennary or the millenium or the decade or whatever a meaningful number for most of us – and for most of us, the flipping over of the largest digit is a more meaningful marker than measuring back 2009 years to an event which, if it happened, didn’t happen on the start date of the calendar in any case.
David C.
Thanks for that.
I guess that makes both chinda63 and I wrong, or right as the case may be.
I prefer to ignore a faulty start in favour of correct maths.
Cheers and apologies to chinda63.
Jeremy,
I have been sifting thru ACON’s (the AIDS Council of New South Wales) last annual report and discovered that they spent some 70% of their funding on themselves and only about 10% of their funding on programs and activities.
I was spurred on by a report in the NY Post that was critical of a pamphlet being distributed in New York that effectively instructs people on
how to shoot up drugs.
ACON produce similar material here in Australia.
Given that HIV -AIDS transmission rates have been steadily rising in Australia for the last decade – with the vast majority of infections in NSW, and a growing proportion of those being young gay men – it’s about time that ACON was examined under the microscope.
Anyway, I’ve discovered that there’s a lot more to the story and that ACON has morphed into an organisation that is entirely focused on self-preservation rather than addressing the rates of HIV infections…
More here if you’re interested…
http://guttertrash.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/your-free-guide-how-to-take-illegal-drugs-sponsored-by-nsw-dept-of-health/
Cheers
reb