A melancholy post.

I’m a pretty holly jolly person, so I feel a little bad about being a bloggie buzz kill on this happy new year day.

There’s a lot about the transition to a new year that tends to make me a little sad. I think it’s realizing another year is gone, and when time passes it drives a larger wedge between us and the past. Like, I still remember my dad vividly. But a little less vividly, because now it’s years and not days since he passed. And I hate that.

I was honored for the invite to participate in the Do Not Leave Unattended project. Given the time of year I chose to pay tribute to my dad. It’s a little sad to read, which is OK. If you’re not familiar with Do Not Leave Unattended, click here to read more. It’s a wonderful project, and the participants are amazingly imaginative. Check out Please’s Sir’s, one of my favorite bloggers, contribution. So creative!

There’s a couple of other links I want to share to kick off the new year. Please take a minute or two to visit them.

-- Jean Martha from Renovation Therapy is hosting a fundraiser for homeless teen Katy Hughes. Katy started blogging when she and her mom, Elizabeth, were evicted from their apartment earlier this month. Check out Jean’s items up for bids here, and learn more about Katy here.

-- Dana Canedy, a New York Times reporter, lost her fiancé first sergeant Charles Monroe King in the Iraq war. I learned of Canedy’s story two years ago today, in her Times’ article. The precious words this life-long military man shared with his infant son in the pages of a journal Canedy gave to him are more stunning and passionate than that of many seasoned writers. The beautiful book that results is A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor.

-- Speaking of the Times, the chorus at P.S. 22 in Staten Island, NY, was featured in the paper last week. Check out videos of these amazingly harmonious kids on the P.S. 22 Chorus blog, and plllleeeaaaassseee be sure to listen to them sing Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, also over on The Lil Bee’s blog.

When I hear about funding cuts to public schools’ arts and humanities curriculum, I kind of want to poke my eyes out with a classroom sanctioned number two pencil. The P.S. 22 chorus is a good reminder of why it’s so important to teach kids to embrace their artistic sides. ‘Cause I do believe the children are our future.

P.S. 22’s teacher makes me proud (almost) to be from Staten Island (many of us usually don’t admit to being from there ;-). Plus he’s pretty hot. (See…there’s the holly jolly Laura you’re used to!)