Its weird how people actually leave ghosts when they die in the internet era..
KA had 6 pages of submitted videos.
I currently have 3 so looks like I have a while to go yet (though that 'steamed hams' splurge probably reduced my life expectancy by several years)

goddamn, you beat me
I can't even try now.

In some ways, 2017 was the best of times... but mostly, it was the worst of times.

Jesus. No thank you. Janury in the North East, laying up to take down the take down the christmas lights is depressing enough.

I . . umm. Well, it's sad you lost your job, but who the hell are you?

As for me, the company I've worked for since 1989 is in its death throes, and I'm needing to find a job despite having woefully out-of-date skills. So?

. I lost my best friend, my old girlfriend, and four cats. And even that is just the headlines.

I'll be sixty at the end of March, and nothing nothing nothing has ever shaken my faith in... America, humanity, and the fact that life is supposed to make sense more than the election of Trump.

The worst part is knowing that a plurality of Trump's voters would love hearing me say that. They want me to be crushed. It's what they were going for,

If somebody had a good hear, I'd love to hear about it. Id love to think that we're not all going down the same cosmic shitter

I think 2018 will be the year when we know whether or not it's all over. Interesting times, right?

*a good year

I'd like to commiserate but 2017 wasn't particularly shitty to me personally, if I take off my first-world-problems glasses.

I'm still healthy, no close friends or relatives died. While a temp job I liked ended earlier than a I expect and had me all kinds of paranoid and stressed about my career change to auto mechanic, I ended up landing a job after a two or 3 months in the field and I'm still there, doing okay.

I did get shingles due to stress and shit lifestyle choices fucking my immune system when I was freaking out running from job interview to job interview.

I'm still single and socially isolated, but maybe I'll work on that this year.

Sounds like you had a thoroughly mediocre year. Congratulations!

In 2001, I was forced to move from an apartment I loved quite.suddenly when the building was.condemned. It happened a few weeks after 9/11. Its a.weird feeling when the world goes crazy and your life goes crazy in a totally but somehow parallel way. unrelated way. After several years, my doctor's office dropped me as a patient because, even though I was fully insured, I'd been so distracted by the sudden need to move, and the thought of body parts scattered all over Manhattan, that I'd been late with a 25 dollar copay.

2017 was like that. My friend Cynthia's decline became more acute shortly after the 2016 election, and her fatal accident took place a year later, almost to the day. Trump was declared the winner on 11/9/16, on 11/10/17 my longtime companion fell on her steps, and never regained consciousness.

Cynthia was my whole life, in the sense that we did everything together, all the business and pleasure of everyday life: laundry, shopping, television, eating in and eating out. She could drive, I could lift and carry things. We took care of our animals together. The sexual part of our relationship had been over for 20 years, but for the last couple of years we'd slept in the same room. And then she was gone.

I'm dependant on Government programs that the Republicans are trying to destroy, so 2018 could be even worse for me personally. I'm also dependent on the internet for information, culture, and creativity, and that's insecure now.

But life is still pretty good. The Question is what the FUCK is happening to the world, and how long can it continue?

GRIPES:

If we're disregarding the dickless orange elephant in the room, 2017 wasn't too bad around these parts. A few longtime friends came out of the closet as alt-right hatebags and I cut them off, which was difficult, but I ain't got time for that shit.

The missus dropped her soul-crushing corporate gig and got into a grad program right when I was about to say "Hey let's move to the desert." But whatever.

One of my dogs is getting old, and this might be the year. No hyperbole in saying that he's the best dog that has ever lived, and I will fight you if you say otherwise. Whenever the time comes, that's going to really fuck me up, and I spent a good chunk of this year stressing over it.

The other dog is quite possibly the worst dog in the world. Insanely violent, unsocialized, and damn near untrainable. Also has developed a taste for houseplants, and recently ate a good chunk of my Xmas tree, and she then redistributed all over the living room by various means.


HOPES:

Spending the new year locking up some new clients and investing in some new gear (photo / video). Learn some new software, read some books I wouldn't normally consider. Suggestions welcome.

I need to see my friends more often, and spend some time volunteering because there's always somebody that needs some help.

Chin-chin y'all. Hope 2018 treats you well.

@SolRo

Weird, I got shingles too within 2 months of losing my job. Doc said it was the stress also.