As mentioned previously on this site, one of the things about my spouse that demands affection is her collection of old books.
The following images are from one of them. I am not allowed to discuss this book in person with her, because it is one of the beloved memories of her childhood, and my comments are not -- and can never be -- properly reverential; and yet, it haunts me. It fills me with a dark commingling of horror and laughter, a kind of dread mirth. (The Lovecraftian syntax is intentional, I assure you. This book... is full of terrible things.)
It is called...
THREE LITTLE BUNNIES.
The horrifying realization it is left to the reader to discover within its pages...
... it is illustrated with photographs!
BEHOLD! (Click on the images below to enlarge them:)
Yes, in 1950, they amused small children with Live Animal Books.
O, noble matriarch of the Bunny clan.
Mischievous Maximilian gets his come-uppance! Oh, dear! Poor Maximilian! He must take a bath, ha ha!
There's a Mr. Bunny too. And Maximilian's little bunny siblings. Too many pages to replicate here. Now, you know -- you know it exists. But you must try to think of other things... for the sake of your own sanity!
Today is the beginning of the year in China. (That's the second New Moon after the winter solstice.)
Today is also the beginning of Lent in Catholicism. (That's 40 days before the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the spring equinox.)
So I'm confused. Firecrackers and fasting?
Street racers love New Year, although they warn this particular year is not auspicious (so buckle up!). There's no first day of spring this year (it starts too late), so it's a bad year for new beginnings -- weddings, new business ventures, that sort of thing. Other folks are hoping to get rid of the oranges and start up some new traditions.
It's the year of the rooster, or yiyou. 
(Can't pass an opportunity to plug a friend: Think you'd like a little rooster something of your own?)
This year's rooster is the wood rooster, one typified by the growing, expanding energy of the element of wood. See, not only does the Chinese horoscope have 12 animals, but also 5 elements -- there's a full cycle of 60 variations. The last time the wood rooster rolled around, Steve Martin, Dolly Parton, Neil Young, the first electronic computer and frozen orange concentrate all came to be. This will be a special year for all of them.
So, this morning I was shuffling through my Neil Young albums to make a mix CD on the laptop, and, because I'm getting over a nasty cold, I'm drinking lots of juice today instead of having my regular water-only fast.
And while I'm not wearing sackcloth and ashes, those who venture too close might get a whiff of cat's pee. On my way to work, I tried to yank some aluminum siding out of a neighbor's trash pile and noticed too late that some neighborhood cat had already staked a claim.
So why was I trying to commandeer discarded aluminum? Despite the omens, I'm starting a new project.
I thought it'd make a good roof for our new henhouse.