Every New Year I get excited. Yeah, I make my list of things I want to change – I usually write it out a week ahead of the new year, since my birthday is Christmas Eve.

The time between my birthday and New Year’s Day feels like a strange limbo netherworld of trying to put into momentum my “changes” and the cloudlike pressure of anti-climactic-holiday-fluff — that stuff that seems to get stuck in the gears of the wheels of time — it doesn’t matter that I need to tighten my abs and thighs, or that I want to move the freak out of Flagstaff, or that I need to figure out my budget for the next year — the goo of Christmas (which is now the past) gets into everything.

The goo is this — I am nagged by the appearance of tiny shavings of tissue paper all over the house. The cat must have found some wrapping and had at it. (Speaking of the cat – whew – I have to change the kitty litter!) I have never spent an entire winter in the house I currently live in and I realize the house doesn’t hold heat. (Ok – this has nothing to do with Christmas, but it does have to do with winter. It’s COLD! I have hung blankets over windows and doors where cold air blows in. Forget humidifiers or space heaters — unless I want blown fuses). I have a list of “to-dos” that just gets longer everyday, because I made resolutions and because there are just lots of things to do.

My escape from limbo and cold reality is books. I get this urge to go on book buying sprees this time of year. Sometimes the books I buy have to do with my New Year intentions and dreams; sometimes they are just because I love books.

Just yesterday I went to Bookman’s, which recently re-opened in Flagstaff, and used up all of my store credit. The night before, I ordered a few books on Amazon. I got a lot of stuff – mostly on trade (wahoo!) This may give you a tiny clue of what I am interested in at the moment:

Professional WordPress (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) I am at the point where I have figured out about all I can on wordpress without any help. I want to dive in.

The Glimmer Train Guide to Writing Fiction: Volume 1: Building Blocks (v. 1) I plan on writing a lot more this year – and sometimes a little nudge is a good thing. I also like Glimmer Train.

Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University – can’t have too many books on writing.

Some good (I hope) fiction:
As I Lay Dying: The Corrected Text (Modern Library) William Faulkner
The Golden Notebook: A Novel (P.S.) Doris Lessing
The Flounder (Helen & Kurt Wolff Book) Gunter Gass
A Mercy (Vintage International) Toni Morrison
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel Dai Sijie

A few small books by Alan Watts called Time, The Cosmic Drama, and Meditation. They have super groovy graphics from 1975 – I’m in love!

I am getting back into astrology. When I dive into something, I go deep. Some of these books are replacements of books I let go of long ago (it’s hard to schlep books when you move all the time), and some were recommended by my dear friend and teacher, Geordie Numata.

Karmic Relationships Martin Schulman
The Astrology of Sexuality Martin Schulman
Karmic Astrology: The Karma of the Now Martin Schulman
Karmic Astrology: Joy and the Part of Fortune [Volume III] Martin Schulman
The Inner Guide Meditation: A Spiritual Technology for the 21st Century Edwin C. Steinbrecher
Relating: An Astrological Guide to Living with Others on a Small Planet Liz Greene
The Changing Sky Steven Forrest
Astrology, Karma & Transformation: The Inner Dimensions of the Birth Chart Stephen Arroyo
Choice Centered Astrology: The Basics Gail Fairfield

I picked up a few tarot decks and a couple of books on tarot as well:
Tarot as a Way of Life: A Jungian Approach to the Tarot Karen Hamaker-Zondag
Wheel of Tarot: A New Revolution Anthology

For dreaming and planning:
Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House: Bringing Your Home into Harmony with Nature (Natural Home & Garden) Carol Venolla and Kelly Lerner

Now, back to my thighs – I’ve got some working out to do!