It is January, with overnight temps hovering around 32 degrees below freezing where we live, the holidays are over, and we are hacking our way back in the saddle again. Here are some ideas I have gleaned to seriously make your January happier right away.

• First you need an incredible song that would be on the playlist at Trader Joe’s and make you want to sing along, such as “Little Darlin” by The Diamonds. I caught this stunner on our local Falcon radio (WKCS, 91.1), the only high-school radio in East Tennessee–and somebody there knows how to put together an eclectic playlist. So do I, so here are a few of my finds for you to consider:

1. “Come Unto Me” – the Mavericks
2. “Right Now” – Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
3. “Five Hundred Miles” – Justin Timberlake, Cary Mulligan, & Stark Sands
4. “Pancho and Lefty” – Jason Isbell & Elizabeth Cook
5. “Find My Own Way” – Knoxville’s own Black Cadillacs
6. “Dead or in Jail” – William Clark Green
7. “Gospel Plow” – Elizabeth Cook
8. “A Sorta Fairytale” – Tori Amos
9. “Love Me or Leave Me” – Nina Simone
10. “Don’t Come Lookin’ for Me” – Louise Mosrie
11. “Kathy’s Song” – Sarah Jarosz
12. “Maybe” – Ocean Carolina
13. “Country Girl” – Carolina Chocolate Drops
14. “(Call Me) When You Get to Heaven” – the Mavericks
15. “Africa” – Toto

• Next you need a trip to Europe for only $9.99 by reading Pieter Aspe’s novel The  Square of Revenge set in one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen (ranked second to Paris in my experience): Bruges, Belgium. Bruges was a prosperous town in the 1600’s and before, but fell on hard times. Instead of tearing everything down and starting over every 50 years as too many American cities do, Bruges kept their canals, cobblestoned streets, horse-drawn carriages, and livability visitability quotient. Since Belgians speak three official languages, English is the common denominator, so enjoy a visit to Bruges either in person or in Aspe’s book which was his first novel translated from Dutch to English.

• 

  Where you live is a huge happiness indicator says this new book.

  Then take a look at the latest thinking on happiness as advanced by Charles Montgomery in his new book Happy City. As Alan Ehrenhalt encapsulates the book in last Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, “people have been shown to be happier when they live a connected life, establishing casual but regular relationships with the people they meet through simple residential proximity.” He also says green space is “a crucial part of healthy human habitat”. Exactly. Read the rest of the review at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/books/review/charles-montgomerys-happy-city.html?ref=bookreviews&_r=0

Then get out and find some of your friends that you haven’t had time for since the holidays blew in. Welcome to 2014, my friends! And bon chance making your January a better place to listen and keep moving ahead into Spring and beyond!

Anna — 1/7/2014