1.1.11

This is almost as good as 11.11.11, but that one is not happening for a while, so today, I am celebrating 1.1.11 - though I was busy decorating cupcakes at 1:11:11 a.m. and then at the p.m. time I was busy guffawing at this fifth grader's funny and lovely essay, so I didn't get to make wishes. It's okay, though, because I'm celebrating today as a whole. 1.1.11. More numerically special than any other first-day-of-the-year of my life. So January first of 2011, YAY YOU. May you be full of wishes made and wishes fulfilled and love and joy and opera, and small sadnesses to remind us of the goodness of the good things, too.

My wishes are usually small. They are unassuming and superstitious, and may or may not also be made at other, less well-known but still very valid, times of 12:34:56 (woah so magical!!), 2:22:22, etc...MAYBE...While others may say those times are not the conventional wish-making times and therethusforthly "not valid," I am prepared to defend the validity of these non-11:11:11, but equally effective and magical wish opportunities. Not that I make wishes at those times or anything...

And I don't know why people refuse to make wishes - it usually only takes about a second (you'd be surprised how much you can say under your breath in a second) and it's not stupid. Did you know that

"Great love and great achievements involve great risk"

? Well, they do. And sometimes, even if your heart breaks a little/a lot, you have to jump in the wishing pool and take a risk, if anything is to happen. I know, I know - I know that by making a wish, you're setting yourself up a little bit - you're putting in a piece of your heart in the hands of fate, or the double rainbow, or 11:11 (or paws, maybe - not sure that fate has hands? bleh personification) and then you can't control it anymore. You start to hope and maybe even expect things, and if you let it, that piece of your heart grows into something you don't recognize anymore, like a dream or something. And sometimes, it gets kind of crushed. And depending on how big it had gotten by the time it got destroyed, it hurts - a lot or a little or a medium amount. I know that.

And yeah, it's nice to be surprised by a wish fulfilled when you hadn't been consciously wishing it via an 11:11:11 wish opp. But how will you ever get things like great love and great achievements if you don't accept that risk? Making wishes is an act of courage, if not useful for anything else (besides all the wishes granted duh). And don't be afraid to take every opportunity - 1:11, 2:22, 3:33... they might be building up somewhere. Who knows.

So this year, 2011 (woah WEIRD), among losing those 23847239 lbs. and drinking more water and learning Japanese, I hope you take time to make wishes, and not be so scared, and don't be hurt too much if every wish doesn't come true - there are a whole two 11:11:11s every day, which is like...so many 11:11:11s in 2011.

O.K. ttyl, g2g make wish soon cause it's 11:11:11 in about 16 minutes+11seconds!!! or something!!

Mr. New Year Snowman bids "happy wishing!"