How about this for a good omen on which to start the new year? My friend Shana noticed Magic or Madness in the window of one of the best children’s bookshops in the world, Books of Wonder in New York City:

And what’s more—it’s right next to The Very Hungry Caterpillar! This is going to be a very good year, indeed. (Well, for me, anyway, here’s hoping it will be for the rest of the world, too. And, yeah, I’d swap for the world to be better off, but, you know, I don’t think it works like that.)

Oh, and one last thing: Scott Lynch (whose lj I just discovered via matociquala) also had a good year—he became a firey.

Happy new year!