Why do people say, “under the weather”?

Since I myself am under the weather, I looked it up:

“To feel ill. Originally it meant to feel seasick or to be adversely affected by bad weather. The term is correctly ‘under the weather bow’ which is a gloomy prospect; the weather bow is the side upon which all the rotten weather is blowing.”

I’m not seasick, just a bad cold that hit on New Year’s Eve. Every few years I get really sick, but hoping this isn’t one of those times… And hoping to feel better by tomorrow. Missing work makes me anxious. All I’ve done today is stay in bed, sleeping and listless. We ordered delivery for dinner, and usually Hot & Sour Soup is a good cure, but this was terrible Hot & Sour Soup.  (Our quest for good Chinese delivery in our new town is still ongoing.) Also, I can never remember if it’s “Feed a fever, starve a cold” or vice versa. Either way, it’s starved thanks to that soup.

It’s kind of a crappy way to start the new year, but things can only go up from here, right? Right.

I know, it’s such a cliché to start this up again on January 1st, but meh. I like clichés. Dorothy Parker even had a poodle named Cliché.

This website (blog? Do people blog anymore?) is never far from my mind. Every year I renew the domain with optimism, and then it doesn’t happen. I think of things to write, and I don’t. I get “followers” on Facebook and get embarrassed because it’s been almost 3 years since I’ve done anything. So…  I’m picking it back up again.  My life is pretty different from the last time I logged on, and I’m not even going to go into any of that. It’s a lot. I’m not going to beat myself up to catch up. Already I feel a weight lifted!

Anyway. I was looking at New Year’s traditions and superstitions, and this jumped out at me:

Work:   Make sure to do — and be successful at — something related to your work on the first day of the year, even if you don’t go near your place of employment that day. Limit your activity to a token amount, though, because to engage in a serious work project on that day is very unlucky. 

I’m not making any resolutions this year (I always fail — look at this blog), but I’d like to do some intentions. I’d like writing to be more related to “work” this year, and do what I can. And this is a nice, bite-sized place to start. The serious work projects will come later.

So here is a token! Happy 2019, all.