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COVID Diaries Pt. 5

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Resurgence

As I’m writing this, virus cases are spiking all over the US.  Some folks want to blame it fully on protests, but it’s too soon for that.  The spikes we are seeing now are because of states opening up and ending lockdowns and restrictions too soon. Don’t you worry though, we’ll see another surge soon due to the protests as well.

Illinois is one of the best in the entire nation so far for keeping infection rates down. The reason? Our governor actually locked shit down, based on science, and isn’t deviating from his re-opening plan. We see the results.  Still, people all over Illinois hate Pritzker because “southern IL (or the suburbs) isn’t Chicago” which is such bullshit.  It’s not just a big city problem. Issues can be far worse in rural places with fewer hospital beds or other necessities.  People just seem to think that they magically can’t get it out in the country and that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Illinois, Iowa and Indiana have all cancelled their state fairs.  That’s huge, and I’m glad they did so.  If we remain vigilant and don’t let our guard down, we can keep lowering infections.  I’m not confident of that due to the pictures of packed bars, and pool parties and many other things I’ve seen.  Now, to some people, if you wear your mask you are somehow a pussy or using it to further your liberal agenda.  No fuckstick, I just don’t want to get sick, and despite you being an idiot, I don’t want you to get sick either.

Once again, I’m in a high-risk group. I don’t want to get this for the obvious health implications. But that’s not all, there have been a couple of stories of people who got their hospital bills after beating COVID. Two major ones that stand out were bills for $840 thousand dollars and $1.1 million dollars. For one person, surviving COVID.

Think of that. You survive something that made you sick enough to be hospitalized only to get bills you’ll never be able to pay.  I’m not willing to roll the dice on that just to return to normalcy. Fuck normalcy.

And I would be negligent if I didn’t mention that protests are still going on, and the government and police are still doing awful shit.

The president had Lafayette Square in DC cleared with pepper spray and tear gas, including removing religious leaders from the property all so that asshole could walk over there for a photo op of him holding the bible in front of the church.   Every religious leader at the church condemned him for this, and his followers tried to deflect everything as per usual.  It wasn’t a photo op, they didn’t use teargas.  Fuck you, I watched the videos and you are an idiot.  45 was hiding in a bunker the night before, and when that news broke, it made him look weak, so he had to do something to look strong to his base.  Walking to the church would do it.  It’s horrible on so many levels.

Don’t worry, that’s not ALL the shit that’s gone down.  The protests have persisted, more black people have been killed during the actual protests, and just yesterday a black man was shot in the back while running away from being awoken in his car near a drive thru.  Cops still haven’t been charged in the no knock warrant death of a completely innocent Breonna Taylor.  California officials ruled a black man found hanging from a tree a suicide even though everyone there wants an investigation into whether he was lynched. Generals have come out against 45 trying to use the military against his own people. The Marines, Navy and NASCAR have all banned the confederate flag, yes even NASCAR. 

Oh, and the president scheduled a rally to happen in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The site of a massacre of black people by rioting white people.  Oh, he just happened to have scheduled it on June 19th (Juneteenth) which is remembered for slavery finally ending after feds made people in Texas give up their slaves TWO AND A HALF YEARS after slavery ended in the US.   To schedule on THAT day, in THAT city is absolutely deliberate. It’s a nod to his racist supporters that he’s with them.

He also rescinded health protections for trans people on the four-year anniversary of the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.  Don’t believe for a single second that these are coincidences.  He is absolutely showing his base of racist, anti-gay bigots that he is with them.

Resurgence.  The resurgence of bigotry, racism and hate in this country in recent years, and the resurgence of a deadly virus. Both need to be dealt with.

COVID Diaries Pt. 3

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I Can't Breathe

Here we are again.  Police abusing power to murder multiple people. Racists killing a black jogger, A Karen calling the cops on a fucking birdwatcher. 

All of these things in short succession during the pandemic finally ignited the powder keg again, and there have been protests all over the country, there have been riots, and Minneapolis has burned. 

Some privileged white fucks still don’t get it.  Let me point you to my post about the Black Lives Matter movement from nearly four years ago.  Things haven’t gotten better, they have gotten progressively worse.

Part of this stems from the White House.  Stephen Miller is one of the president’s top aides and is, by all accounts, a white supremacist.  He’s been feeding the president his talking points and lies for some time.  Charlottesville was 100% a white supremacist rally a couple years ago, and he called them “good people.”   The orange fuck’s own racism has emboldened his followers to crawl out from under their rocks and be openly racist.

We have seen nothing at all change in these four years other than racism has gotten worse.

And don’t feed me your bullshit about people losing credibility because of riots. Riots seem to be the only mechanism for people to actually get their point across.  They have tried peacefully protesting, they tried taking a knee during the national anthem.   Now a cop took a knee on the neck of an unarmed black man for over 8 minutes, two of those being after he was unresponsive.  He told them he couldn’t breathe, he called for his mother, yet this disgrace of a human being murdered this man, and his police colleagues did nothing to stop him.

Once again, all police are not like this, the vast majority are not. But those four should burn for what they allowed to happen.  Accountability.  That is what is needed.  Police need to stop just getting away with this wanton murder of black and other minority communities.

Then in the wake of protests (before they turned into riots) police used tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters.  Where were those when the white people, armed to the teeth, were at the Michigan capital?  Imagine if the entire BLM protest group showed up armed.  There would be slaughter of those protesters because of their skin color.

A CNN crew was arrested live on air for reporting.  The person they arrested, a black cameraman.

Another crew from an NBC affiliate were shot with pepper bullets for simply capturing the news, which is their fucking job.  It’s not like the cop with the pepper gun didn’t know, he shot a fucking cameraman with a huge rig on his shoulder.  That cop should never work again either.

And if you don’t believe in white privilege, fuck you.   Seriously, go fuck right off.  My 16 year old has been going jogging through neighborhoods during the pandemic to get out of the house.  She doesn’t have to worry about two rednecks murdering her for that.  Me and my wife and my daughters don’t have to worry about being pulled over by the cops and then being murdered.  We can wear hoodies without being perceived as menacing.   And we don’t have to worry about a cop kneeling on our necks and killing us.  If you are a person of color, particularly black, you do.  You worry about that every day of your fucking life.  No one should.

Let’s give you another fine example.  These past couple of weeks a white University of Connecticut student murdered two people and went on the run.  There was a huge manhunt and when they caught him, he wasn’t harmed in any way.  This was a FUCKING MURDERER.  He was captured, no injuries, because he was white.  If he were black, that would not have happened.  This echoes my post from 4 years ago where a terrorist white male who shot up an abortion clinic and MURDERED a police officer was also captured without incident.   Holy Shit, if the guy murders one of your own colleagues and you still bring him in unharmed, you can’t say it would be the same if the suspect was black.

The suspect in Minneapolis? He was accused of passing off a fake $20 bill.

So, for fuck’s sake, POLICE NEED TO STOP KILLING BLACK PEOPLE.  And when they do, they need to be held accountable.   At least the cop in Minneapolis is arrested and charged with murder.  Not sure why the other three still walk free as they were definitely accessories to that crime, but it’s a start.  When you start holding cops and racists accountable, every time, maybe this shit will stop.  The guys that murdered the jogger walked free for months until the video surfaced.  We shouldn’t need video evidence for this.   And it’s been seen that even when there IS that evidence, cops get off.  That cannot happen any longer.

I’m very proud that my daughter and wife are currently at a protest in the suburbs of Chicago.  I should be there too, but sadly my paranoia over the virus is keeping me at home, so to everyone risking their very lives out there to decry this systemic injustice, I thank you, and I am with you.

COVID Diaries Pt. 2

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Weird Shit During the Pandemic

This pandemic has really caused some weird as hell things to occur and answered some questions and changed some perceptions.  Just going to bullet point them for posterity.

  • People hoarded toilet paper. You couldn’t find any anywhere
  • The same with hand sanitizer and disinfectant products
  • Society realized you CAN work at home, and business still goes on. You don’t need to be in a cube
  • Society realized homeschooling is hard and teachers are worth it
  • When left without human interference, nature recovers pretty quickly
  • Sometimes too quickly, as in some places roaming gangs of monkeys were fighting for food and territory
  • Monkeys also attacked a lab tech and stole vials of blood taken from COVID patients
  • Monkeys are dicks
  • We binged watched tons of shows, but one in particular stands out, and that is Tiger King. Tiger King was a documentary about a gay, redneck, polygamist zoo owner who quarreled with other straight polygamist zoo owners and put out a murder for hire on that bitch Carole Baskin
  • Meat processing plants had major outbreaks of the virus around the country. Which really brings into question how sanitary they are in the first place
  • Weed and alcohol were deemed essential everywhere they were legal
  • Internet providers lifted their data caps and their systems didn’t collapse. You don’t say?
  • The stock market crashed and then came back. Rich people still have money.
  • 40 million Americans are currently unemployed.
  • There are now too many damn streaming services (but I used them all)
  • Murder Hornets! (I’m now waiting for the sodomy monkeys)
  • Some people actually think this global pandemic is a hoax
  • At one point the president actually suggested opening the lungs to expose them to sunlight, or to ingest bleach to kill the virus
  • Some people did get sick from drinking bleach and there were calls to poison control around the country asking if it was okay to actually drink bleach
  • Zoom, a shitty, insecure, video conferencing service with privacy issues became huge (because it was free)
  • Because Zoom is a shitty, insecure video conferencing service, people were able to join random meetings and cause disruption by doing things like showing porn
  • Many churches declared that God would prevent the virus, including one pastor who claimed to cure the virus with laying of the hands. That pastor later died from COVID-19.  Many congregations had huge numbers fall ill
  • White men, dressed up like they were cosplaying as military, carried their guns to protests and got in the faces of police. The president called them good people
  • A black man was killed while jogging by two white men. They remained free for months until the video surfaced.
  • A black man supposedly ran a stop sign and when they put on their sirens he drove to his grandma’s house and when he got out, the cops drew their guns on him, causing the 90 year old grandmother to come out and shield him
  • A black EMT was killed in her home when police raided the wrong home and shot her dead.
  • Another black man was accused of passing off a fake $20 bill. A cop knelt on his neck for over 8 minutes, killing him.  There were protests. The president called them THUGS.
  • As you can see, there is a trend. An inherently vile, evil one at that.  I may write about that in another post, I’m just too disgusted to do so now.

COVID Diaries Pt. 1

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A Global Pandemic

It’s been a bit since I’ve blogged, but in these unprecedented times (man I hate that word now) I decided I needed to get this down for posterity.

Right now, we have been in the midst of a global pandemic for the last four months.  COVID-19 has killed 100,000 people in the US and hundreds of thousands more around the world.  Some countries and individual cities have been hit tremendously hard and the scenes there have been harrowing.

This has led to stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, and quarantines around the globe and the US.  We have been under a stay-at-home order in Illinois since March, and I personally hadn’t left my own property for the last two months until just this week.

It’s been mentally draining for everyone.  Many people have lost their jobs, or their small businesses have had to remain closed. The country has unemployment rates not seen since the Great Depression.

Then there are all the families whose schools, sports, and graduations were all cancelled.  Kids didn’t get to have that in-person graduation ceremony, didn’t get to contend for a state or national title, star in the spring play or musical, or dance in their Senior recital.

That affected our family too.  At 18, Kali just finished her Associate’s Degree at the local community college, while at 16, Claire was graduating high school (we homeschool) after already completing her first semester at community college as well.

So, no graduations.  Next week is my wife and I’s 25th wedding anniversary.  We had hoped to celebrate in Vegas, but that’s not happening.  My wife has a birthday later this spring, and my 50th birthday is coming up this fall.  I expect to be still in lockdown enough where I’m not going to do anything special there either.

Kali is supposed to transfer to a University to work towards her Bachelor’s in the fall.  There is uncertainty as to if everything will be online or not.  As one of her degrees is going to be in Dance, those classes really can’t happen online.

When it comes to employment, I’ve been lucky to still have a job.  I manage IT systems for a company in the exhibit industry.  We build the booths for the large trade shows.  Since there aren’t going to be large gatherings in the foreseeable future, that’s a problem.  We’ve furloughed or terminated 90% of the company.  People I’ve worked with for 16 years, people I’ve hired, all gone. And running the IT Infrastructure like I do, my team and I have had to remove access to every system for every one of those people.  It takes a toll mentally.  And I know that it’s even worse for those getting let go.

So that has led to survivor’s guilt.  Feeling both horrible and thankful that you of all people still have a job when so many have lost theirs.  I’ve had some pretty dark days.  I still have the anxiety of whether things will get bad enough that I too will lose my job.  I look at our finances and know that we could barely squeak by for a month, maybe two, before all hell would break loose.  And at that point I would lose health insurance which during a pandemic is a nightmare for everyone dealing with the disease.

If there is anything at all we learn from this, I surely hope people realize that tying insurance to employment is the wrong approach.

I’m an overweight, middle-aged guy with asthma.  I’ve had bad pneumonia that I’ve had to be hospitalized for before.  I’m a target demographic for this virus.  If I get it, there’s a chance I die.

But what if I just get hospitalized for it?  The amount of money it will cost will be staggering.   I went to the emergency room and spent less than 24 hours in the hospital over two years ago.  It was a vertigo attack that they can’t really do anything for.  I underwent every test and scan, and they could find nothing wrong.  I’m still paying off that bill.

If I contract COVID-19 and have to be hospitalized, I’ll be in the hospital far longer than 24 hours, with more expensive treatment.  If that happens, I currently have insurance because I have a job, and it’s still going to cost me a huge deductible.  If I didn’t have a job, what then?  20% of the entire US workforce face that grim reality right now.

People should not have to worry about bankruptcy when they are sick.  They just shouldn’t.

Right now, everything is starting to boil over as the economic impact is hurting people, the loss of freedom is bringing out the worst in some people, and people are protesting lockdowns.  We have done a decent job so far at flattening the curve of the spread, but more needs to be done, and right now everyone is going the opposite direction.  I fear we will lose the progress we’ve made, and infections will skyrocket.

I hope not.  I hope the images I see of people ignoring medical advice are a minority of people.  I hope that people are safe and don’t get sick.

But hope in one hand and shit in the other.  See which one fills up first.

2019 Music Top 10

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Since people have been sharing their top listened to albums of 2019 I figured I would share mine as well.  It was a damn good year for music that I enjoyed, so here we go.

  1. Bad Religion – Age of Unreason – PUNK.  Bad Religion is my favorite band of all time, and 39 years in, this is one of their best albums ever.  Topical fantastic punk rock.  I can’t wait to see them next year in their 40th Anniversary tour alongside another of my favorites, Alkaline Trio.  Songs like Big Black Dog, Downfall, My Sanity and the title track are all fantastic.  There really isn’t a bad song on the album.
  2. Third Eye Blind – Screamer. ALTERNATIVE  T3B is another one of my favorites and they too put out an album that may be one of their best.  I’ve always loved Stephen Jenkins voice and songwriting and there some really great tracks like Ways, Tropic Scorpio, Screamer and Take A Side.  I love that they are still putting out music.
  3. Bring Me The Horizon – AMO – EMO/METAL/ELECTRONIC  Bring Me The Horizon started as a death core band years ago and as they have aged they have mellowed quite a bit.  So if you like the early sound, you might not like this, but the included electronic elements and more singing/less screaming means I love this album.  Heavy tracks like Heavy Metal, MANTRA, and Wonderful Life are faves, but even more melodic atmospheric stuff like In The Dark, Medicine. Sugar Honey Ice and Tea, and Nihilist Blues are amazing songs.  It also has my favorite lyric of the year “Some people are a lot like clouds like you, ‘cause life’s so much brighter when they go.”  Indeed.
  4. Dermot Kennedy – Without Fear – ADULT ALTERNATIVE.  Dermot Kennedy is an Irish singer/songwriter with a fantastic voice and real emotion in his songs.  You can feel the pain, empathy and more in his vocals.  Songs like Outnumbered, An Evening I Will Not Forget, What Have I Done and Power Over Me really hit home and I love listening to him.
  5. Motionless In White – Disguise – SCREAMO.  I’m not typically into a lot of screamy vocals, but man do I love Motionless In White.  The songs are so well crafted, heavy and melodic and the standard vocals are fantastic, and the screams fit perfectly with the emotions.  Standouts are Disguise, Another Life, Headache, Undead Ahead 2 and the song I love the sentiment of, Thoughts & Prayers.
  6. K. Flay – Solutions – ALTERNATIVE.  I saw K. Flay open up for Third Eye Blind and Dashboard Confessional years ago and she is a really cool alternative artist that blends hip hop elements and catchy songs that are really entertaining.  I love This Baby Don’t Cry, Sister, Nervous and I Like Myself (Most of the time)
  7. Tool – Fear Innoculum – PROG METAL.  After so many years without new music this album was highly anticipated by fans and it did not disappoint.  Another masterpiece of an album from one of the most technical bands out there right now.   Pnuema, Fear Innoculum, 7empest and Descending just flat out rock.
  8. Billie Eilish – When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go – ALTERNATIVE.  My daughters let me know about Billie Eilish for the past couple of years.  She had sort of an underground cult following with her breathy vocals and interesting arrangements that were all written and produced by herself and her brother Finneas.  This debut full length has taken the world by storm and Billie is one of the biggest names in music before turning 18.  Bad Guy, You Should See Me In A Crown, Bury A Friend, All The Good Girls Go To Hell and When The Party’s Over all are amazing.  She’s up for several Grammy’s including Best Album, Song and New Artist.  She deserves it all.
  9. Ed Sheeran – No. 6 Collaborations Project – POP.  After his multi year world tour and tons of accolades for his previous album, he released an album of collabs with tons of today’s artists and artists you should be learning about.  For some, an album like this is a throwaway, but not Ed.  This thing is strong.  Beautiful People, South of the Boarder, Blow, I Don’t Care, and my favorite Best Part of Me featuring YEBBA.  Trust me, you want to listen to YEBBA.
  10. Slipknot – We Are Not Your Kind – METAL.  Slipknot also came back after several years and people were hoping it would live up to the past, and they were not disappointed.  We Are Not Your Kind is classic Knot, very heavy, and possibly their best album since Iowa.  Unsainted, Solway Firth, Birth of The Cruel and my favorite Nero Forte.

I’m going to leave it at 10, but there are a couple of honorable mentions too.  Papa Roach, The Script, Lewis Capaldi and The Chainsmokers all had heavy rotational stints in my year of music.  

So long, and thanks for all the Phins

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If you know me, you know that I’ve been a lifelong Miami Dolphins fan. And I always get the question “How did a kid from Iowa become a fan of the Dolphins?” It’s partially my Dad, but a good chunk of my love for the Phins came from my uncle Jack.

Yesterday, on Thanksgiving, Jack passed away after a long battle with Alzheimers.

When I was little, Jack lived with my aunt Sharol in Miami. Being in the area, he was a fan, and through the years he also knew people in the Dolphins organization. Many Christmas and birthday gifts from Jack and Sharol were Dolphins related. Apparel, an actual kicking tee from a game, a real NFL football, a helmet. It helped fuel this love I have for the team, and why, win or lose, I never miss listening to or watching a game.

The pinnacle of this was when I was 11 years old. My parents, grandparents and I drove to Miami for a vacation over Christmas and New Years. The Dolphins were in the playoffs that year, and Jack not only got us tickets to the playoff game, but with his connections, got us into the closed-to-the-public practices leading up to the game.

I got to meet the great Don Shula, as well as Bob Griese (who was retired from playing but part of the organization) as well as many awesome players. I got pictures taken with them all and many signatures on the Dolphins newspaper, the Dolphin Digest. That newspaper sits proudly under glass on the wall of my man cave.

We then got to see the game, which was one of the classic playoff games of all time. Three overtimes and a tremendous back and forth game ended with the Dolphins sadly losing, but it was an experience I will never forget.

We went to the Orange Bowl parade, and the game itself, where undefeated Clemson went on to win. I had a sign in the stands with NBC (who was televising the game) that said Nobody Beats Clemson. I actually was shown on TV with the sign, another football thrill for a very excited 11 year old.

I didn’t get to see Jack and Sharol much because they lived so far away, but Jack had a huge impact on me. He was a fantastic gentleman, a super nice guy, and very kind. He reminded me so much of my grandfather in that way. I cherish the time we had, and the impact he made on my football fandom.

The last couple of years were rough on Sharol as she took care of Jack, who no longer said much, and had many issues. But she is one of nicest people I have ever met, and took such good care of him. She was even featured in a story in their local newspaper on the importance of caregivers.

I got a Facebook message from Sharol to call her yesterday, and I just knew. She had tried to call my Mom (Jack’s sister) but they were driving to our house for Thanksgiving. One of the hardest things I’ve had to do was tell my Mom that her big brother had died.

She’s the last one remaining from her immediate family, and I can’t imagine what that’s like.

She called Sharol and they talked and cried. Sharol will be okay, she’s tough, and kind, and resilient. My Mom will be okay too. She was able to enjoy Thanksgiving with our family and take solace in her grandkids. And despite starting the day with terrible news, we all had a lot to be Thankful for.

I’m sitting in my man cave typing this, surrounded by tons of Miami Dolphin memorabilia, and he will always be with me, no matter how bad this team is 🙂

So long Jack, and thanks for all the Phins.

New Year, Who Dis?

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Follow Your Dreams Douchebag

As I do every year, I try to make some resolutions to better myself in the upcoming year.  This year is no different in that regard, but some of my goals will be a little more specific.  Let’s see how that change of tactic goes.

Continue the Health Trends

I want to maintain the current weight, or lose some more.  I’ll continue counting the calories, but I will also endeavor to work out once a week.  I know, mind-blowing right?  Since I never exercise, this will at least be a start.

Read

I don’t read a lot of books generally. I spend some time every day keeping up on a vast list of blogs and news sites through my feedreader, so I do read a LOT, just not generally novels.  So, this year I endeavor to read one book or graphic novel a month.  I’ll also count listening to a book via Audible.

Keep up with Photography

I will try to spend at least one hour a week on photography related things.  Whether it is culling the library, keywording and tagging, picking out prints for the house, learning Photoshop and Lightroom tricks, developing with new tools, or simply TAKING photos, I want to make sure to do something photo related for at least one hour a week.

Focus on music

The most tangible thing is that I want to create one playlist a month in my Apple Music subscription.  It could be based around moods, or genres, or my favorite songs by an artist, but I want to hand curate some playlists that I will enjoy listening to and sharing with others.  I may try to write more reviews this year, and at least share with folks new music I’m finding that I really enjoy.  Maybe I can even come up with a Top Ten list of albums at the end of the year.  We’ll see.

De-clutter even further

I have some stuff to still clean up in the Man Cave as well as my office, so I want to finish up both of those.  I also want to take all the old DVD and Blu Rays and alphabetize and catalog them like I did with music this past year.  I’ll also continue to donate old clothes and streamline my wardrobe.

2017 was a rough year in the world, and with all of the negativity out there I’m simply going to try to do things that make myself and my family happy.  If that means blocking some trolls or taking breaks from social media and the like, so be it.  But I’m going to concentrate of removing negativity and replacing it with positive things.  Let’s hope I’m successful.

2017 Goals Recap

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Weightloss GraphWell this year was pretty shitty huh? Horrible natural disasters like the hurricanes and wild files, White nationalists emboldened, the greed of our politicians, the dismantling of all of the good things done by prior administrations, obvious evidence of Russian collusion while much of the country just sticks its head in the sand, oh and all the sexual assault cases. All in all it’s been a disaster of a year in those regards. On the bright side, I personally have had a decent year with myself and my family. But how did I do on my goals for the year?

Create instead of Consume

Abject failure. Seriously, I’ve been so depressed about the state of the world that I’ve escaped more into entertainment than ever just to avoid it. I’ve spent a lot of time playing Gears of War 4 and other games on my Xbox. It’s been a good stress relief, but hasn’t lead itself to creating anything of value.

Declutter and Organize More

Knocked this one out of the park. Alphabetized the music collection and put it on shelves, donated a ton of old clothes that no longer fit, cleaned up the photo libraries, totally cleaned the man cave including the tub which had become a filthy storage facility for junk. I still want to do more, but I feel very accomplished here.

Concentrate on Health

Another one I’m proud of. I’ve used the app “Lose It!” to count calories and for the year I’m down about 40 pounds. I didn’t use any pyramid scheme shakes and alkaline crap that it seems many of my old high school classmates are pushing. I just ate whatever I wanted, but when I hit my calorie count for the day, I quit eating. No exercise at all, although I made sure to hit my move and stand rings on the Apple Watch. I feel better and breathe better and don’t want to go back. I’ll definitely keep it up this next year.

Be Vigilant

I haven’t seen anything to defend so much in the wild because I live in a diverse city that isn’t so closed minded. I have had to defend black lives matter and the fact that NFL players have the right to kneel for the anthem, and more importantly WHY. So when I’ve heard folks denigrate that, I have spoken up. Luckily I haven’t had to fight much more than that.

Pick My Battles Online

I’ve done well here. I’ve avoided jumping into battles online for the most part. I don’t see a point any longer, and I only really jumped in when things like Charlottesville happened. For the most part, I’ve tried to make my Facebook reflect happy things in my life. My family, great photos, funny situations. I’ve been happier there removing the vitriol for the most part. So, another goal I did well on.

Most years I’ve done a pretty poor job of hitting these goals, but I’m pleased with how I did this year. I’ve got ideas for next year that are more specific and I think I may actually accomplish. Here’s hoping the world does better as well.

Resolutions 2017 Edition

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I know it’s already the middle of January, but I’ve just not been able to gear up to write this like every year.  I imagine it’s because I’m kind of afraid of where 2017 will take us.  Well enough with my lethargy, it’s time to stand up and get to work damnit.

So here we go:

Create instead of just Consume

I need to be more creative to be fulfilled.  So this year I’m going create more.  Write longer pieces, write poetry/song lyrics, blog, take pictures, make music, code.  A little less consumption, a little more creation.

Declutter and Organize More

I have more things to clean up at home.  Clothes to get rid of, closets to clear out, photos to tag, all of my old CD’s to sort.  I also want to do more to organize my day to day life.  I’m going to put what’s going on into To Do lists so I can more easily remember everything I need to take care of. The more I can declutter, the better I feel.

Concentrate on Health

This past year had my mother fight and beat cancer, and my Dad dealt with back issues that resulted in spinal surgery.  Take that and all of our childhood idols dying and it’s made it very clear to me that I need to get more healthy.  I know I say it almost every year, but damnit I need to make it a reality.

Be Vigilant

I believe in empathy for all humans.  I’m against racism, misogyny, xenophobia, anti-LGBTQ sentiments and anything else people do to make others feel small.  I’m a straight middle-class white male.  A lot of the hate and the vitriol in the world isn’t directed my way. It’s definitely a place of privilege.  So if I see things in real life that go against my firm belief that we are all equal, I’m going to speak up for those being attacked or belittled.  I’ll do this in real life, at work, in the store, on the plane, at the restaurant and anywhere else I happen to be where I see crap like this taking place.  We all have to stand up to this kind of hatred, wherever we see it.

Pick My Battles Online

I know it kind of goes against what I posted about being vigilant, but I need to do much better at picking my battles online.  You see, this last year I got into a lot of debates online, and spent a lot of time debunking stories that just weren’t true.  And for some people, no matter how much I cited facts, they still believed the false news.  So screw it, I’m basically unfollowing (not unfriending) people for whom you simply can’t have a debate around facts.  I do have conservative friends with whom I can debate, and I’ll continue my efforts around those conversations.  To the other folks who post nothing but articles that have been proven false, I’m not wasting my time.  You only believe the world view you wish to believe, and won’t be swayed. You aren’t worth my time any longer.

I think it’s going to be a rough year, but I certainly hope I’m wrong.  Either way, I have things to work on.

2016 Recap

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My girls at Universal Studios

As I do every year, I like to recap how I did on my resolutions from the previous year.  I’ll get to that in a minute, but I wanted to touch on 2016 for a bit.

2016, in general, was a shitshow.  The election had us more divided than ever, Brexit did the same.  And it seemed that in both, common sense and decency lost.  More icons died than you can count. Many of them profoundly influential to me.  Prince was probably the hardest one for me.  My mother got cancer and my Dad had back problems that resulted in surgery.  Wars, refugees, and pussy grabbing.  It was all kinds of surreal and depressing.

The good news is that it’s almost over.  My mother is cancer free, my Dad’s surgery went fantastically and he’s without pain and those two things are huge.  So 2016 sucked, but at least my parents kicked its ass.

As for my resolutions, let’s see how it went.

Maintain or Lose Weight.   It went well until the summer.  We got really busy and stopped cooking at home as much, ate out more, and I gained weight when I was supposed to lose.  I was trending down again, but then, you know, the holidays arrived.  I *WILL* do it this coming year, because after my parents health scares, and every childhood icon dying, I have a renewed urge to get healthier.  I want to be here writing these for several decades to come.

Focus on Photography.  This was okay.  Once again, earlier in the year I did really well, and had a wonderful time taking pictures on our vacation at Universal Studios.  I also did clean up some stuff in the photo library, and got everything organized on Google Photos.  I even took one of my favorite pictures of all time.  So I did okay.  I could still do better.

Work/Life Balance.  This went wonderfully.  Since I now have a CIO running the show and another director on the team, we’ve split up a lot of the duties that were solely mine in the past.  This has meant less travel and less stress overall.  It was a hard transition from owning the whole team, and now being a part of the team, but for me personally, it’s been good.

Read More.  I did actually read more than last year.  That isn’t saying I did a ton, but I did enjoy reading several full length novels, a bunch of magazines, and comics.  I do need to continue on this upward trajectory because I really do love to do it.

Clean Up My Stuff.  This one I knocked out of the park.  I redid my office and it looks fantastic, I redid the Man Cave and I really like how it turned out, and we redid furniture in our bedroom that totally cleaned things up.  It also allowed me to get rid of a bunch of clothes that we donated.  On the digital side I cleaned up a lot of duplicate pictures and deleted photos that I really didn’t need to keep.  So this was my biggest success of the year.  And having it all clean has been very calming as well.  Really glad I did this.

Continue Kindness.  This was hard.  Everything was so divisive this year.  I tried my best to be kind, but I also fell into the traps of arguments over politics and everything of that nature.  It was frustrating, and hard.  That said, moving forward I’ll keep the kindness going in real life.  And I’m going to try to avoid the drama online as much as possible.

In general, the world sucked in 2016, but my family and I are healthy and here, and that’s what I’m going to focus on.  Let’s end this, and start off on the right foot.  Here’s to 2017.

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