Today, 21 December 2020, is both the first day of Yule, the first visible Great Conjunction in 800 years, and the end of 45's presidency.

Okay, I made the last one up. Dammit anyway. Since it's Yule from today through 1 January, what do y'all say let's do like they did in Pisa: Take the mistakes of the past & make them shine beautifully. After all, it's also the Great Conjunction of Saturn & Jupiter, the first in 800 years that's so close in the sky & visible to Earth-bound watchers, astrologically speaking a time of greatest possible change. It's up to us to make use of whatever energy we have, can find, or simply dream up, to make the changes positive ones. Every kind & thoughtful act does, at all times, ripple out from the actors. Consciously doing more of that can only result in good AND bad becoming better.

I think this train wreck of a year deserves one thing in the net-positive column: People who haven't actually read a book in forever reported reading much more often. Plus 2020 also gave us what a lot of people think of as mixed-to-bad news: many, many, many, many more books turning into filmed entertainment! I'm always in favor of this, being one of the people who enjoy comparing the different ways different media deliver a story. So I'm delighted that Hollywood execs had to hunker down & got so bored they picked up a book, just like the rest of us.

This year's Booksgiving ideas are easiest to find from this thread, or by clicking the "#Booksgiving" tag at the bottom of any page. If you know me at all, you know I am a biblioholic, a tsundoku "sufferer" with no desire whatsoever to be "cured." I have eagerly adopted the custom of Jólabókaflóð & rechristened it "Booksgiving" because "Yule Book Flood" isn't as punchy a name in English. The emphasis I hope you'll place on this delight is the *reading*together* part, less the buying part. Since you're trapped together anyway, why not try doing something pleasurable that won't require plastering on a smile & praying no one sees you heading for the liquor cabinet again? Sit together, snacks & drinks & books/ereaders at hand, & just...read. It is an unexpectedly delightful way to spend time together.

I wish all the readers of Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud a delight-filled 2021. Harder than you can even imagine, I wish this for everyone on this planet. Yes, things are bad for many or even most of us. They can get better, & better is what my focus of energy is & will continue to be.

From Tachyon Publications, whose 25th anniversary in business was this year the poor things.