A grim start to the New Year, news channels covering an assassination-by-pickup of revelers in New Orleans instead of what they probably planned, looking at the magical setup for the Rose Parade in Pasadena. The local fireworks and gunfire last night were noisier than any July 4th I've heard in recent memory. Is this a celebration for the year they think will be better under Trump? I hate to rain on their parade so soon, but with their votes they drilled holes in their own boat below the water line. We will all sink with this one if we don't work hard to keep Democracy afloat.

I have a fresh notepad next to the computer to keep track of letters and emails I'll be writing to my representatives and others in positions to make a difference. This is starting before the inauguration because in Texas it's all GOP hardliners who were re-elected. I may need to start a spreadsheet at some point, those being more easily searchable and use for cut-and-paste.

Meanwhile, locally, this is the year when the front room gets emptied out. I've planned it for a while, have the boxes I need to ship things, now to list them and get them out the door. My bullet journal is set up for January and I've used an earlier blank page to start a list of eBay items, to be able to see progress as things sell (versus them just disappearing from the eBay page itself). A visual aid.