Hello and Happy New Year! This month’s theme is the winter wolf. The winter wolf braces for the long cold months with courage and intelligence. Having already grown in its winter coat and possessing the gift of adaptability, this magnificent creature is well equipped to survive brutal harsh weather.

A few years ago, I quit Facebook. Last year, I quit Twitter. I was never on Tik Tok, and so, this year, I’m widening my self-imposed ban on social media to include Instagram and Threads. My time and energy can be used much more productively, and my money and support, well, that’s reserved for ideals I believe in.

Wolves are highly intelligent, social creatures. They’re caring, playful and all about the family and pack. When an enemy appears and threatens said tribe (like a buncha Nazis, kidnappers, rapists, slavedrivers, terrorists, treasoners, and their followers, who sadly allowed their cowardly, greedy, jealous minds to get hijacked), it’s time to get strategic about how to fight this evil, just like how they got strategic in their takeover of America. I’m choosing with my wallet and my eyeballs first. The battle has already begun.

The only thing I’ll miss are friends. I don’t expect any friends to do this too. Everyone needs to decide which roads to travel on their own. I do expect my real friends to understand and love me. Maybe we’ll see each other again and pick back up, right where we left off.

So, what does all this mean for my little web blog? Not much here is going to change. I’ll still do monthly haiku, a monthly blog post, post movie lists or reviews, post art and images, recipes and fun stuff associated with Halloween, horror and haiku. Who knows, with all that extra time and effort not spent catering to bots and an endless sea of scrolling eyeballs, I’ll produce something more impactful to culture and humanity.

I urge everyone to spend less time on social media, less time listening to big media, less time thinking about non-existent issues that racists, mysognists, and religious zealots want you to worry about. Make art instead. Write poetry. Watch movies. Listen to music. Buy from small mom and pop, brick and mortar stores. Protect the planet. Pay attention to climate change. Practice good DEI. Fight true evil pretending to believe in a fake god, and seriously, fuck nazis.

Be well and stay safe.