Let's hope it's a good one

Dear future hubster, 

we have all been waiting for quite a while to be able to say "Go home, 2016, you're drunk", and in a few hours, we finally can. 

But, carrying on with the analogy, don't you think that when a friend is getting out-of-control drunk, we usually see it a long time coming, and not just magically notice the damage done? And, depending on the relationship and the level of responsibility we feel, wouldn't we try to either intervene and stop the train from derailing completely or at least publicly acknowledge that there is a potentially dangerous situation?

It is no different with life and the universe on a larger scale. If you feel that 2016 was the shittiest in recent history, please take a moment to wonder whether you've done anything to make it any less awful. And maybe leave some room among your resolutions to do a little more next time around.

2016 got this drunk because we let it. 2017 will do the same if we let it.  No point in blaming the barman for pouring more, or the government, the lack of public transport. No mysterious, transcendent power will save the day. It's your call, and mine, and everybody else's. We have to take note, take responsibility, take action.

It's not easy, I know. The world is complicated and scary; we don't know where to start, but we already know we're never going to finish. 

2017 will come around no matter what. If we can manage it to a have a little fewer drinks, that's already an achievement. 

Cheers to that!

Three French hens

Dear future hubster,

for people like me, who love their selected few and care about them and enjoy a good laugh together, but who also like time and space for themselves, the holiday season can be tiring. We can be contented but feel drained, cosy in a crowded living room but exhausted after it gets empty.

Therefore, dear future hubster, I suggest that on the third days of Christmas, my true love (you) and I go for a long recovery walk, enjoy the fresh air, and then read our respective books on opposite ends of the sofa. I may cuddle closer as the afternoon goes by, and maybe even talk to you by dinner time. 

Meerly players

Dear future hubster,
While in the giftshop of The Globe, I realized I'd love to have a man in my life who would consider wearing cufflinks with Shakespeare quotes. He probably wouldn't need to actually wear them, because I probably wouldn't actually buy them, but I quite like the idea of a person nerdy enough to entertain the idea of cufflinks that read "All the world's a stage".
So, you know, something for you to think about.

Nothing will drive them away

Dear future hubster,

if you're with Bonnie Tyler on the hero issue (ie you need one, as opposed to Tina Turner, who doesn't need another one), go to a university library at the end of the term, on a Sunday. 

Everybody who is there before noon, is a damn hero. Even if they look like a bunch of defeated vikings, minus the blood, but with worn clothes, dirty hair, stubble, dark circles under and distraught looks in their eyes, with a hint of madness in it. 

What's your comfort music?

Dear future hubster,

I'm a firm believer in the existence of comfort music, to the analogy of comfort food. For times when you don't want to put up with anything complicated, just want to feel safe, familiar, and, above all, simply good. 

In that aspect, Jason is probably my mashed potato, and Brandon is my pesto.