Ah yes, what a rotten year 2013 was. Economically it was a disaster – as well as 2012 went, as badly went 2013. Not only that “the big one”, the follow-up contract at the bookmines, was postponed again and again, all the small ones that normally showed up throughout the year simply vanished. Either expenses were saved by former customers, what means that they got rid of services completely; or there were fewer customers, so people who in former years gave me a kind of sub-contract, now f.e. do research by themselves, simply to stay in business.
At the end of this year I am on bad terms with two people I know for a long time. In one case I take the blame, for I made a mistake and allowed the chance for correcting it to pass. In the second case I take no damn blame; being vituperated as “blasted brute” for a text I – funnily enough – wrote when stone sober, later insulted as “traitor” for a remark I made on my blog, that’s really enough.
And to put the cherry on the cake wreck we call 2013, someone close to me is very ill, the news came in just before Christmas.
So – it only can get better, can’t it ? That year is not over yet. There have been better days, I am sure things will turn again.
Without further ado, here’s a little piece by Antonio CALDARA (1670-1736) (Ger., Eng., bio.), one of “the other baroque composers” who was rediscovered over the last twenty years or so. It is a shortened version of a sinfonia, performed by the Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin, hope you like it.
Good luck for the coming New Year – Alles Gute für das Neue Jahr !
63 mago 
Good luck to you as well, Mr Mags. The last two years have been…. interesting.
I am intrigued, why were you considered a traitor?
All the very best to you and your loved ones, I hope 2014 brings health, wealth and happiness for you.
Sxxxxx
Ja, wishing for a better 2014.
GEMA willing, some blues poetry from John Prine, Angel From Montgomery.
Interesting is well put, MsScarlet.
I’m not quite sure what qualifies me, but reading my blog someone recognized something and did not like that I mentioned this here. Communication had already broken down, so the “rebuke” was said not to me directly, but about me to a third party.
Let’s fugitaboutit – Health, wealth and happiness is a good program !
Gema allowed it, LX. Heavens, John PRINE ! I totally forgot him, what a shame. Thank you for the link and the reminder. No flies in the kitchen, but there are days when getting out of bed is a major task. And speaking of kitchen – I have to go and look what I can find there.
Ye gads, Mago, I do hope the coming year redresses all the mishaps of the past two, and you’ll be back in the peak of economic health by spring.
Dein Wort in Gottes Ohr, from your lips into God’s ear, dear Eryl !
These are the wonders of austericide, dear. I hope that we survive and that 2014 brings hope and better things tan 2013.
Killed by saving … of course there is hope, Leni Qinan !
A Life of hope/ happiness of sunshine…not original, Mago, this is from a Coke ad this morning.. Wishing you an enriching 2014.
Hang in there. It’s been the year for falling out with long-term friends. I too have lost my nearest and dearest friends to what I can only describe as “craziness”. It still irks and hurts.
And I am sorry to hear of your friend’s illness. It’s so incredibly hard watching someone you care for be in such pain.
I also wish you health, prosperity and a lot of fun in 2014. I hope it’s a good one for you and all our blogging community.
xxx
[off-topic. sorry]
Buch kunst!
PS: Yay! Mago Mango® ist da wieder!
Found art, or readymade – thank you for the good wishes Austere. “Enriching” is an interesting concept, I’ll go for it.
I’m glad if I can get a glimpse on the fluffy pink dressing gown now and then, dear Roses …
Thank You very much for the good wishes – Alles Gute im Neuen Jahr wünsche ich Dir !
Off-topic is always welcome, LX, no need to say sorry.
I missed the colour – and: I found it irritating that in the comments’ section the name of the commentator appeared at the end of the comment – I’m a creature of habit, I know.
Jesus Christ – what does this man do to the books ? Thought provoking on many levels: The book extinct; obsolete storage containers of outdated knowledge and information; fields, landscapes and mountains of knowledge, mostly evoking an Eastern & Chinese vibe; drilling through to the other side, yeah; some of the surfaces look like Mars or the Arizona desert; he can’t do this with floppies, CDs or whole computers – the book is organic & analog, computers can’t rot away, can they ? Outdated computers end up somewhere in Africa (Ghana ?). Is the knowledge in the paper Britannica really “outdated” ? The form of storage changed, the text was put onto another surface, but was not re-written.
We should bring together all the remaining 3,5 floppies, throw them in a cauldron and melt them down. What should we form from the resulting plastic-metal-pulp ?
Falling out – yes, to my bewilderment, only yesterday. I’m doing nothing for now. It’ll heal on both sides, but not yet. And I hit rock bottom earlier this year, nothing has improved except my attitude to it, I’m doing ok. Courage and friendship will take us through, won’t it? Blogfriends are the best.
Just 10 years ago it wouldn’t be possible to have such a nice blogging community and so many other things like , guys. So we should thank the techy elves for this. I wish you all a better 2014 and I’d like to leave here a quote from the English poet Edith Lovejoy Pierce:
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
There were ups and downs on my part, but I can’t really complain. I’m sorry your year was such a write-off and I wish you a 2014 that is bigger, brighter, richer in all ways and lots more fun!!!
Dear Mago,
I hope this season keeps you safe and warm. I wish you the best in the coming year.
Happy Holidays
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——*o*—
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—*o*o*o*o*
o*o*-]o[-*o*o
and Best Wishes for a Wonderful New Year full of Good Fortune, Good Friends, and Good Times!!!
(*-)….(*-)
_I_…._I_ Cheers!!!
I wish you much warmth and safety this season, and I wish you a better, happier, amazing new year, Mago.
Happy Holidays
—–((*))—
——*o*—
—-*o*o*—
—*o*o*o*o*
o*o*-]o[-*o*o
and Best Wishes for a Wonderful New Year full of Good Fortune, Good Friends, and Good Times!!!
(*-)….(*-)
_I_…._I_ Cheers!!!
Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!
Falling out – You, Z ? Oha, guess that’s serious. One can change the attitude, take another position, all this – if the basical situation is wrong it changes nothing. I think it takes something until you reach the end of the flag pole. Yes, you are right: In the end, courage and friendship prevail.
Hipster Yaya – I know one thing for sure – I will not look at the blank page with a hangover, but cool calm & collected; in command of my head – it’s all that is left over, and all I can make a living from.
Ponita – komm’ her und lass’ Dich knuddeln !
En gude Beschluss – as the Unterfranke says, LX – one of the last unsolved mysteries. Seriously: I have not found out where this comes from, and I live here for some thirty years.
EROSWINGS !
This is very nice from You to drop by. Thank You very much for the Good Wishes – all the Best for You, Eroswings and all Yours – and no shopping cards for you this year !
(That filter had your comments sent into another file, sorry. It’s not used to artful comments !)