This year, we will continue as a planet, hurling through space at 66,000 miles an hour, spinning on a 23.5 degree angle, and getting both closer and farther away from a humongous yellow dwarf star. Now does this mean our fair planet will one day be slow dancing with a giant cosmic acetylene torch? Mongo don't know. But it sure makes my sock tan seem insignificant. So I say, let's get practical - Shan't we? Now I know some of you people are looking ahead to Valentine's Day with all the reassurance of a Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump sensitivity seminar. Well, fret not everyone (guitar humor), Shajuan is here to help all you little hoo-hahs with your main squeeze (70's term). And we all know how much of an expert I am in the field of human interpersonal relationships. So despite that, I have a few pointers. First off, we guys need to lose the phony candy/flowers routine. This is 2023 my peeps. Everyone knows the way to a woman's heart these days is with a set of high quality spatulas, and a competitive health plan. And as far as you ladies can heave (just kidding), if you want to really do something nice for the special man in your life...Let me tell you girls, a brand new coat of shellac on his ukelele will never fail to bring a smile to his face, not to mention the face of 3 out of 4* of his interested neighbors. (*Well, let's face it, not everyone is a lacquer fan) - SJ :)

As a continuation of the theme I started three or four months ago…I want to also start the new year, continuing to elaborate about an important concept in all of our lives - Honesty. It is not only such a lonely word, it actually also has trouble making friends with other words. Like-minded descriptive terms like Humility, Objectivity, and Accountability don't get invited to a lot of parties either. And you can bet that if you are one of those three terms, and you realize that Honesty does not receive an invitation to the soirée of the year…then the chances of one arriving in your mailbox are about as likely as a real estate tax roll back. But, my peeps, I am here to tell you that Honesty may really be the best policy after all. An old coach I had once told me that you'll never discover how good you could be, until you figure out how much you suck. And as a result, I've been trying to get out of the suck category for the last 35 years. Maybe if some of you had the guts to really evaluate things as realistically as possible, you would realize you've been sharing those 35 years with me all along. This Year - Don't Feel You Are, See How Real You Are. - SJ :)