If you’re superstitious, the black eyed peas are meant to bring health in the new year and the collard greens (or greens of your choice) will bring wealth. I consider this meal to be traditional New Year’s Day fare. My wife decided to cook dry beans and boil down fresh collards this year, I’m usually a little lazier than that.

So with the Internet Monk website coming to the end of its 20 year run, there have been a lot of long goodbye’s over the past week or two. Michael Spencer, the original Internet Monk, hosted the online discussion for 10 years and Mike Mercer and others have continued for another decade since Michael’s passing. I sort of thought InternetMonk.com would continue in perpetuity like Ford Motor Company or Disney but that wasn’t my call. Denise Spencer: The Call is the final contribution of Michael’s widow. Also check out this post by Jeff Dunn. Visit the Internet Monk Archives, published just this morning, will be the final post. There are some new projects that IM writers will be working on and an email list is forthcoming, you might want to get in on that.

I’m up to podcast #117 on my quest to repost every Internet Monk Radio podcast I can find. I have most of them now and will continue sharing at a rate of one per week until I have them archived here. Click here to listen to #117 or find “iMonk Radio” in the categories list in the sidebar to catch up. After I started this series at #105 or so I was contacted about some lost episodes, a few of which are from very early. After I finish the series I go back and post those from the beginning. Stay tuned.

2020 has come to an end. If we are being honest it wasn’t all bad. Right there at the end McDonald’s gave us McRib in the first nationwide rollout since 2012; Star Wars gave us Luke Skywalker in the final chapter of this season’s Mandalorian; Wonder Woman 1984 gave us a Lynda Carter cameo. I discussed the changing face of movie release in last week’s post but didn’t want to spoil anything if you hadn’t seen it.

As the Covid vaccine distribution takes place a little slower than expected and the elections results are still being disputed (or awaited in the case of Georgia’s senate runoffs) 2021 will probably feel like more of the same, at least in the beginning. There is always hope and I will always be hopeful. Nations will rise and fall, there will be wars and rumors of war, then Jesus will return. Sow Gospels seeds, do good works, pray for others, smile. May God bless you and yours in this coming year and always.

Still need a good sign off line.