January

January used to be my absolute favourite month of the year. It kinda still is, but it's just not as exciting as it once was. 

My birthday is in January, but it's right at the end of the school holidays. It was weird to look forward to it, knowing that the impending doom of another school year was close behind. Now that I have kids of my own, that same mixture of anticipation and dread remains. We just love the lazy days, late nights and sleep-ins. No school, no work for Rhona, no therapy or medical appointments; it's a great time for Team Bolgies to relax and recharge. 

One of the reasons I used to love January so much was that it was right in the middle of the awards season. For years I was a massive Oscars buff, and would try to catch all the films up for Best Picture before the ceremony. You'd also get results of the Golden Globes and BAFTAs too, which gave you a good idea of what would likely win at the Academy Awards. In the last coupla years I've totally lost interest. I don't know if it's because I'm not a fan of newer movies or if some of the awards went to the wrong winner, in my mind, in the past. It's like a switch went off in my head. Actually, I think it might have been when the Best Picture nominations increased from five to a maximum of ten. Maybe the increased viewing log has put me off or something. So, for whatever reason, my love of all things Oscar-related has gone.

I used to look forward to the Triple J Hot 100 every Jan 26th too. When Big Jet Plane topped the list, that was me done. I have every 2CD compilation from every year up until that point. I rarely listen to modern music now too, so I have no idea what 98% of the songs in the poll are. So, I don't vote in it, or listen to the countdown anymore.

I'm not a summer person at all, and that's another reason that January and I have a love/hate relationship. Although this Perth summer has been a little milder than usual, particularly the cooler evenings, I'm in fear of a hiding come February and March. Possibly April as well. 

One thing I am digging about January is the Bowieversaries! I didn't coin that term (thank you, Justin), but I'm using it now. Not only do the excellent Station To Station and Low albums celebrate the anniversary of their releases in January, but it's also Bowie's birthday on the 8th too! A good reason to delve into some quality Bowie, as I have already demonstrated on this blog.

I remember in 2013, Bowie released the video of Where Are We Now? on his birthday; his first original release in a decade. It was touted by many as a Bowie birthday miracle, and rightly so. With this astonishing clip came the news of an upcoming full album, The Next Day, which would come out in March. Yeah, that was a good January day.

I probably have more musings on January, but I might save them for Ron.