Happy New Year's!
This will be a shorter post, because I'm trying to relax before the New Year, which will likely encompass a whole lotta shit in my life. Good shit, mostly. I hope.
So, a brief overview of a few things that happened in the World in 2017:
January:
- Donald Trump gets sworn in as the President. I refuse to call him "President Trump" on the grounds that he is an utter disgrace on every level.
- The "Women's March" creates 420 marches across the U.S., and 168 marches across several other countries worldwide, making it the largest worldwide protest in decades. The protest happens in response to Trump and others with similarly anti-progressive and/or Alt-Right stances taking power in various positions across the world. Said political figures, upon learning of this massive show of support for women's rights, simply chortled under their breath before going on about their day.
February:
- North Korea fires a missile straight over the Sea of Japan. Everyone freaks out before remembering that this happens like twice a year.
March:
- The U.N. releases a statement that due to the massive refugee crisis in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria, the world is currently facing a humanitarian crisis on a scale not seen since World War II.
- The U.K. begins Brexit negotiations by struggling in vain to catch its belongings as a jilted European Union throws them out of a 3rd story window.
April:
- The cartoonishly evil Syrian government drops chemical bombs on a town of rebel-sympathizing civilians, prompting the U.S. military to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an airfield owned by the Syrian government. Putin calls "not chill", for no apparent reason other than to make himself look more chill by comparison.
- The U.S. military bombs the GBU-43/B MOAB, the world's largest non-nuclear weapon, held at an ISIL base in Afghanistan, presumably while blasting "Free Bird" and screaming, "FUCK YEAH!"
May:
- There's a terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. 22 are killed, but the world breathes a sigh of relief as Grande escaped unscathed. People everywhere mutter a bunch of bullshit about "thoughts and prayers."
June:
- The U.S. (AKA Trump and his own personal Ginyu Force) announce their withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change talks, causing everyone to hate America even more.
- Iran launches a shitton of missiles at ISIL bases in revenge of terror attacks in Tehran earlier that month.
- ISIL forces destroy an ancient mosque in Iraq to prove that they're truly fighting for Islam.
July:
- Russia and China tell North Korea to chill the fuck out with the ballistic missile manufacturing. Kim Jong Un yells something about how they're not his dads.
- Mosul is finally declared free of ISIL forces. There was much rejoicing. Except in the West - people were too busy freaking out about Trump and Russia to notice.
August:
- The first-ever recorded observation of the collision of two neutron stars happens. It's actually a big deal, but nobody cares.
- News reaches the world that ethnic cleansing is taking place in Burma, or "Myanmar", as its illegal militaristic government calls it. Americans are too busy staring at the Sun to notice.
- Except those in Houston. They were too busy trying not to drown. Thanks, Joel Osteen. You're really championing the cause of Christianity with dignity and grace.
September:
- Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastate the Caribbean. Puerto Rico is devastated, but Trump releases a series of statements full of blatant lies and all but explicitly informs the world he doesn't give a shit about people who aren't white. For some reason, Kanye West doesn't tell a National audience that he doesn't care about black people. Maybe he thinks it's past the point of being obvious. But then, who ever really knows what's going on in Kanye's head?
October:
- A grumpy douchebag with a ton of automatic weapons kills 58 people attending a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gun laws go on being ineffectual because "myehhh, freedom myeeeeeehhhhhh".
November:
- A new species of orangutan is discovered in Indonesia, making it the first new great ape species to be discovered in more than a century, even though their discoverers described them as, "just okay apes."
- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe got put under house arrest following a coup. He resigned six days later. The U.N. reset its "Days without a military coup in Africa" counter back to "000".
December:
- Disney swallows Fox like a massive Lovecraftian beast in a horrifying spectacle. This further solidifies their growing monopoly. President William Howard Taft briefly comes back to life just to angrily punch the walls of his coffin before returning to the Netherrealm.
- The new "Star Wars" comes out. It's really good, but audiences find things to hate about it anyway.
- Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC, pushes through a vote to revoke Net Neutrality's Title II Utility protections, then uploads a video mocking those opposed to the decision (it is implied to be almost entirely millennials, based on the jokes made in the video), which goes viral. Santa makes note to forgo the coal and just take a huge, jolly dump in Pai's stocking instead.
- Time Magazine releases its person, or rather, people of the year: "The Silence Breakers." This refers to everyone who came forward to publicly accuse high-profile individuals of sexual assault, risking their careers and credibility. After the first one, the trend snowballed into action, shine light on a series of sexual deviants and predators long protected by fame and prestige, and the privilege that comes with both. The list includes:
- Harvey Weinstein
- Charles Dutoir
- Morgan Spurlock
- Travis Smiley
- Marshall Faulk
- Ike Taylor
- Heath Evans
- Ryan Lizza
- Mario Batali
- James Levine
- Garrison Keilor
- Kevin Spacey
- Matt Lauer
- Charlie Rose
- Glenn Thrush
- Russell Simmons
- Jeffrey Tambor
- Senator Al Franken
- Matt Zimmerman
- Andrew Kreisberg
- Roy Moore
- Louis C.K.
- Steven Seagal
- Ed Westwick
- Brett Ratner
- Dustin Hoffman
- Jeremy Piven
- Michael Oreskes
- Mark Halperin
- President George H.W. Bush
- Terry Richardson
- Leon Wieseltier
- James Toback
- John Besh
- Bob Weinstein
- Oliver Stone
- Roy Price
- Ben Affleck
This is by no means a complete list, just what's been reported so far by NBC.com.
Although most of the accused finally saw consequences for their actions after their accusers' stories were confirmed by witnesses and other victims, Donald Trump remained unfazed, despite being arguably the first of the accused.
What happened in my life:
- I ended a series of professional and personal relationships. It was a significant part of this year, but beyond that I don't want to discuss details. Ultimately, I am 100% sure it was a good thing.
- I said good-bye to Wisconsin and moved back to Chicago, Illinois. Though I'm going to miss Madison, I have accepted that it didn't turn out to be the home I wanted it to be, and that while my time there was full of important lessons and wonderful experiences, that time is now over.
- I attended the weddings of 3 of my closest childhood friends - including one who made me his best man.
- I began working with the Fulton Street Collective in Chicago, on whose blog you can find some of my work, here.
- I re-branded my blog...the one you're reading now!
Honestly, a lot of good and bad things happened this year. Worldwide, it was mostly bad. In my personal life, I'd say it was mostly good.
I have a lot of plans for 2018, and I think I'm going into the New Year in a position of strength.
Here's what to look for in 2018:
1. Regular, timely blog posts
I'm in the stride of writing every week now, and I'm going to try as hard as I can to keep it going. The hardest part of writing is writing every day, and the hardest part of that is beginning to make it a habit. I'm grateful that I've finally arrived at a point where that's a reasonable thing to expect of myself.
2. Audio Projects
While 2017 saw me doing serious work with audio podcasts, sadly, Gameguiders.com and thus its podcast are no more.
This hasn't diminished my passion for audio production, however; I've been talking with a few friends and we're going to see about starting some new projects. I have at least two in the works with various friends and colleagues of mine - one is more of a serious podcast about the depiction of psychological principles in pop culture. The other might be a more fun, goofy, laid-back podcast. I won't spoil it, but it involves nerd shit. I'm very excited.
3. A New YouTube Channel!
This may be a little ambitious, but I think 2018 is the year. It will depend on how the podcasts work out, but I have a couple ideas floating around for the creation of video projects. Ultimately, I've wanted to do this for a long time and even if I don't go full Steven Suptic because of it, I want to be a YouTuber in some fashion, and have for a long time. So I'm going to try my best! Also, I finally have a lot of the equipment and resources I needed to make that happen, so now it's actually physically possible.
4. Other things....?
Again, I have a lot of ambitious goals. While I don't expect to meet, necessarily, all of them by the end of 2018, I'm going to see just how much I can accomplish this year while still taking care of myself. I'm working on building a viable gaming PC for the first time, so I may be able to actually play some of the fun new games coming out. With the processing power such a tool will inevitably entail, I will also be able to do other things as well, involving editing...or streaming.
We'll see.
Here's to 2018 being a less shitty year!
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