Five By Five Day
What’s in a name?
The fifth of May is National Cartoonists Day. It is, of course, Cinco de Mayo. And it’s also the day of the first American in space, the first-ever postage stamp (the Penny Black), the birthday of both Karl Marx and Adele. It marks Liberation Day in The Netherlands, the launch of Chanel No. 5, Spiderman comics, the Grammy Awards, and the Channel Tunnel, and the eradication of Smallpox.
In Japan and Korea, the fifth of May is Children’s Day. One of its traditions in Japan since the Edo Period (1603-1868) is the flying of ‘streaming carp’ windsocks, Koinobori. They’re based on the legend of a carp climbing a raging stream and transforming into a dragon. 🏴 So the streamers are meant to inspire children to succeed determinedly.
But for me, of course, this is Five By Five Day – hence this special one-off post. I’ll write to you next week about the phrase’s meanings. I wish you all a year to follow in which you feel empowered and enchanted in singing your songs and swimming with joy and energy, not just Despite Everything but through it, in light-hearted yet powerful resistance to it.
And I want to thank those who have so kindly and generously donated to make the anti-AI, anti-Amazon, pro-creative renaissance, pro-neurodivergence, pro-hopefulness project that is Five By Five Books be born. You’ve had me in happy tears.
There’s still 52 days to join in if you can – every dollar and pound and yen helps. Diolch yn fawr iawn. And thank you, so very much, for being here. It’s got me through more than you can ever know.
