Tony, being “ironic”, has painted a silver cross on his head. “I’m ash and you’re lotion,” he jokes. Then he lifts his jacket and unbuttons his slacks to show me the red underwear he has on today. “For luck,” he explains, “the dragon must be close to your skin.” He is extremely impressionable. And he loves superstition and hoopla.

I am trying to sort out all of his symbolism and am getting a bit confused.

Today is an important day on the calander. How do I know this? It says so on my calander. And the TV said so, and Google. Everything that is important in life, rituals and anniversaries and celebrations, people tell you what you should know and how you should behave. And then you do. Well, we do.

I’ve managed to avoid a couple of these–the religious ones I can mostly cast aside because I’m not religious. (Although I do buy an awful lot of stuff in December…) The personal ones I often forget. And the cultural ones, well, I like to drink so anytime someone says that on this day you should drink and celebrate I am usually amenable to that.

But for some reason, and it may be Tony’s red underwear, I feel like today can be important. I’ve been hoping and searching for something to give me a kick in the pants. And when a calander day is set aside for both lent (season of responsibility and giving shit up in a masochistic fashion for spiritual glory) and luck (dress up in robes and ask your ancesters to bless you and bring you fortune) I can’t help but feel a bit turned on.

Yeah…I think I’ll go play dress up with Tony. At least it will distract me from the monotony.

Have a good year.