Welp.
Here we are again. Another year on the books. Another year watching the world burn while people just keep hucking 55-gallon drums of fuel onto the festering inferno. I try really hard to not get lost in the abyss of misery and despair, but PEOPLE DO NOT MAKE IT EASY. I keep trying to filter down the never-ending bombardment of awful, but short of never accessing the internet or exposing myself to other people, I’m running out of ways to block out the shit. All I want is some credible news sources that don’t contradict themselves in the same goddamn paragraph. Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is.
Anyroad.
2022 is the year of the Tiger.
The egg cats seem to think this applies to them. Edgar is just happy to go back to guarding the Mouse. Emerson is just miffed that all these cats are so much smaller than he is and therefore do not pose any sort of threat.
You heard me.
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2011… The House…
2012… Denver and Andy Grammer…
2013… If it Ain’t One Thing…
2014… The Phantom Smoke Stench…
2015… WTF Day Is It…
2016… The Whole Gaddam World is on Fire…
2017… The Nose and OMFG WHAT NOW???
2018… I…Got Nothin’…
2019… Just…Fuck Right Off…
2020… The Global Fucking Pandemic…
2021 was The Year of…The Global Fucking Pandemic: The Next Chapter…
I guess we’re really in this for the long haul aren’t we?
We didn’t even put the Christmas tree up this year. We talked about doing it on Thanksgiving and then got sidetracked and then it just didn’t happen. I thought about it a lot at inopportune times and then never had the energy to actually do it. I spent most of the month of December with soul-crushing fatigue, barely able to keep my eyes open past five PM. I spent countless weeks before that with infuriating insomnia which inevitably leads to my body forcing a hard reset. It usually happens toward the end of January, but I guess we’re a solid month ahead of schedule this time. (It’s nice to finally be early for something?) It has leveled off now in the last week or so, which has left me with a sleep schedule resembling that of a normal human being, so I’ll enjoy it while it lasts. Because it will not last. It never does.
I might not have a Christmas tree to stare at until the end of January (or procrastinate taking down), but I do have a near complete collection of Rankin Bass Christmas movies to watch. I think there are only two on the list that I don’t have yet. Maybe by next Christmas. Maybe next week. We’ll see what ends up in my next Amazon order.
Bring on the Last.fm stats year in review…
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1.) How did you ring in the New Year?
Last night we played Final Fantasy XIV and ate pie and missed the stroke of midnight by about half an hour. Then we went to bed before 2AM, which is an accomplishment for us when it comes to vacation times. Because we are adults.
2.) What did you do last year that you’d never done before?
I started taking pictures in RAW format. I still don’t know jack about proper editing, but I like being able to adjust things like white balance and brightness without destroying everything else about the image.
3.) Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I maintained the once-a-month blog posts to report the monthly Last.fm stats, though several of those posts didn’t show up until the very end of the month because time means absolutely nothing anyway.
4.) Did anyone close to you get engaged or married?
I learned from their Christmas card that my cousin got married. Last I had heard (in the before times) she was working on getting everything in line to move to Ireland to live with her soon-to-be husband. Based on the pictures, that’s where they got married. So that’s neat.
5.) Did anyone close to you get pregnant or give birth?
I just learned (Thanks, Alicia!) that Mary and Omar recently had a baby boy. Exciting.
6.) Did anyone close to you die?
Here’s a confession. I poke at this year end survey off and on for a good week or so before the end of the year, but I never answer this question until January 1st because I don’t want to jinx it. The answer for 2021, thank Christ, is NO.
7.) How did you earn your keep?
Trophy Wife twelve years running.
8.) What countries places did you visit?
We went on a lunch date to a restaurant we’d never tired before for our anniversary. It was the one and only time I sat and ate food in a restaurant this year. Bob has had a few work related lunches out. But to be fair, I hate eating IN restaurants on a good day. Let me pick up my food and take it home, please and thank you.
9.) What would you like to have this year that you lacked last year?
Aside from the glaringly obvious…I would like to find jeans that fit properly and do not cost an asinine amount of money. I have very unrealistic expectations when it comes to clothing.
10.) What dates from last year will remain etched upon your memory and why?
I used to retain dates for every little thing that happened and hold onto them for years. Now I barely know what today’s date is. I’ll say December 2nd because it was early access launch day for the latest FFXIV expansion. Good heart wrenching times.
11.) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I got a fair amount of writing done, even if it was a lot of disjointed nonsense as a result of Basil’s incessant what-if-ing.
12.) What was your biggest failure?
My house is still disgusting.
13.) Did you suffer illness or injury?
My system has gone through a few hard resets after miserable bouts with insomnia. I burned myself cooking multiple times in very stupid ways, complete with blisters and lost flesh.
14.) Did you ever encounter the police?
No police activity this year. No random stolen cars getting trapped in our dead end neighborhood. (See: same question last year.)
15.) What was the best thing you bought?
We bought a toaster oven after saying we should get one for years. It gets near daily use. I also bought myself some wireless SleepPhones because my original wired ones were starting to wear out and I was tired of wrangling headphone wires in bed.
16.) Where did most of your money go?
Replacing technology. Because it is never just one thing.
17.) What did you get really excited about?
The new FFXIV expansion. That game is our primary source of entertainment. We are both invested.
18.) What do you wish you’d done more of?
Reading the heaping mountain of books (or ebooks) that I have amassed over the years.
19.) What do you wish you’d done less of?
Reading bullshit on the internet. No matter how much I try to filter it down, the shit always breaks through.
20.) How did you spend the holidays?
We spent Thanksgiving at home. Christmas Eve we ventured to A&D’s with a reduced crowd. Christmas Day we stayed home, which was good because I woke up feeling like I got hit by a bus. I think it was stress let down from the first social gathering in two full years. I usually feel pretty lousy for a couple days after big social obligations.
21.) What are your goals for the new year?
Mounting my neck traction to the wall so I have a better chance at using it. Defrosting the freezer. Cleaning the bathroom sink drains.
22.) What was your favorite TV program?
I decided to try a Discovery+ subscription so I’ve been watching a lot of true crime nonsense and old episodes of Barefoot Contessa. Bob likes Naked and Afraid and old Good Eats. I also watched the entirety of The Fall (on Amazon Prime) which wasn’t bad, but I still have gripes with the Shark that wrote the third season. Also it has caused mixed feelings about Jamie Dornan. (JFC you’re a creepy bastard, but…nice ass? Also ri-god-damn-diculous blue eyes.)
23.) What were your favorite books of the year?
I don’t think I actually finished any books this year. I started a good dozen or so, but I don’t think I finished any of them. I couldn’t tell you the last book I actually finished reading. Then again, it’s possible I finished something, but I have zero concept of the passage of time anymore so the last book I finished could have been this year. It could have been two years ago. I do not remember. Oh hay ADHD, you can fuck right off.
24.) What was your favorite music from this year?
All the usual suspects, but it was still pretty heavily leaning towards The Killers.
25.) What song will always remind you of last year?
Because it seems to be hovering in the background of a lot of my writing as of late: Collar Full by Panic! At the Disco.
Also someone created a mashup of Panic! and Fall Out Boy that just reinforces my belief that the two are interchangeable: Collar Full of Sugar.
26.) What were your favorite films of the year?
We watched Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar and it was a lot better than I expected—funny and kind of cute and didn’t help those mixed feelings about Jamie Dornan. (Apparently he’s also funny. And he can sing.)
I also watched the Disney’s Descendants series which was also better than expected—cute and not nearly as annoying as I would have anticipated for a generation that speaks only in memes.
27.) What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 42. Which we all know is the answer to everything. We had Culver’s for dinner because I like Culver’s. Also doughnuts in lieu of cake. Bob bought me a NAS drive (though we both get use out of it). I bought myself a pair of wireless Sleep Phones.
28.) What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Fewer awful people in the world. A clean house. Consistent sleep. I have very unrealistic expectations for the world at large.
29.) How would you describe your personal fashion concept?
Pajama pants, hoodies, and heated blankets every day.
30.) What kept you sane?
Bob and music and writing.
31.) Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
The usual suspects—the music makers that keep me sane.
32.) What was a valuable life lesson you learned this year?
It’s difficult to come up with an answer to a question like this when every single day feels like Same Shit, Different Day. Awful people are far more invasive than any disease, and we have an over abundance of both. But having a life partner to weather the storm with is something I try really fucking hard not to take for granted.
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Onward and upward.
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Caution The Killers |