Once in a Blue Moon

Ania informed me yesterday that tonight there will be a full moon, and not only a full moon, but a blue moon at that, and apparently we haven’t had a blue moon on New Year’s Eve for nineteen years. So there.

That means that we’re starting off the year halfway through the lunar cycle. And empirically speaking, I suppose that would be half-full, not half-empty. How optimistic of us.

I wonder how often the moon gets a blue earth. Somebody do the math. I suppose it depends on where you’re standing. Doesn’t everything?

These arbitrary points we define on circular routes are sort of... well... arbitrary. I suppose we can’t make a trip around the sun without picking out a point for the beginning and we can’t watch the moon come along for the ride without defining its various ends as well. We think in lines, regardless of whether our geometry can be defined by merely two points.

To me, an ending doesn’t seem like much when the beginning comes one second later. You can put your stitch marker wherever you want; you’re still knitting in the round, you know? But maybe I’m reading too much into this. Maybe New Year is just a chance to wear a little black dress and drink champagne. You have to do it sometime, so why not now? Good enough.

Resolutions? After years of swearing off the ritual making of annual goals based on solar cycles, I was inspired by a former employer who always set New Year resolutions he knew he could keep. I remember one year he decided that he would start writing his 7s with that funny little line through the middle. So this year, I’m going to knit a sweater. Want to weigh in? Here are my options:

Big comfy hoodie:

or fitted little celtic number:

Leave your votes below.

I’m leaving off the little black dress and champagne bit this year, in exchange for a fire in the fireplace and nice bottle of wine. You all can keep your big parties. I’ll get my New Year’s kiss at home.

I suppose the advantage of the-line-that-is-also-a-circle is that you always get another chance. If the resolution isn’t kept or the sweater isn’t knit, you can tackle it on the next trip around the sun, just like the vacuuming that didn’t get done today can be done tomorrow. Whether it’s the turning of a day or a year or even a decade, it’s always promptly followed by a sequel.

For those of you in the LBD and champagne segment, ride that line between lots-of-fun and perilously-stupid with precision tonight, my friends. Take that cup of kindness carefully. Remember the adage of “beer before liquor” as well as the lyrics to “Auld Lang Syne”, and for God’s sake, stay out of the car if you’ve been into the champagne.
That’s your public service announcement from Swingbug’s Blog for the year and the decade. I’ve been known to run off at the keyboard some – you know, once in a blue moon.