Yesterday evening, the clock on my phone tried to convince me that the New year was here hours before it was due. Then time appeared to whizz by and what seemed to be a mere minute later the display read 2018, 31st December.
It was all a bit confusing and I certainly needed that extra second of 2016 to work out what was going on.
The leap second was apparently needed as the earth has been spinning more slowly. As I said in a comment yesterday, every time I read that phrase I get distracted by the voices in my head singing, “If the world should stop revolving, spinning slowly down to die…”
When they finally shut up, I am reminded of the XKCD comic Angular Momentum:
At this point, I probably ought to mention New Year revolutions, but I have little to say on that score, so will move swiftly on.
It’d be good to include some poetry on this first post of the year, so here’s a relevant fragment of a far longer poem simply called LoveSong:
So how should I begin? You told me that, however fast I spin
counter-clockwise, I’ll never save even a fractured second of the night –
though I reckoned that I might. I reckoned, too, that there’d be time
to enjoy a glass of wine and, sitting with our – always half-full – glasses,
there’d be room in all the vastness of this universe for us.
Despite my innate optimism, I can’t say I was particularly looking forward to the year ahead. However, I’ve just read the most recent XKCD and learned that 2017 a prime number; that definitely adds to the year’s appeal and also provides a useful pun for the post title, which is always good.
don't confuse the narrator 