Meet the New Year...

....same as the old year? I can't believe I just created a 2009 folder on my harddrive for blog posts. They go by faster and faster, don't they? My younger readers don't understand, while my older ones are probably chuckling at my naiveté in thinking that the years are going by fast now.

I'm not sure how well I did with my resolution to think positive and eliminate the word “never” from my vocabulary. It may not actually be possible to get through an entire year without at least one regret. Despite that, I'd say the bulk of 2008 was positive for me. I got a new car, connected with a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while, and continued to thrive in my new company. Early on, I thought we were going to lose my cat Chirp to a serious respiratory infection, but he rebounded quite nicely and, as cats often do after using up one of their nine lives, he's a bit of a “born-again kitten” these days, running around after toy mice and jumping up to high places with ease and energy.

My dad survived another year, though a wound in his shoulder and arthritis in his hands continue to plague him. A doctor just told him he likely needs an aortic valve replaced in his heart which could account for his dizzy spells and lack of energy at times, so we'll see what a cardiologist advises. It's a common procedure but I'm not sure how risky it is for a man approaching 80. Not one but two of my friends from college lost their respective fathers this year, while a third's father dealt with complications from an infection following a heart procedure. It all serves as a reminder than none of us are in this world forever. This is the year we lost Heath Ledger, Harvey Korman, Estelle Getty, Paul Newman and so many others. We gained people too, and some of them will be famous and/or missed someday as well.

Some other stuff happened in 2008. There was some kind of election or something, and I think some guy got a job for the next four years that some other guy had for the past eight. Some people were a bit too happy about that while others were a bit too upset, and somewhere in the middle even those of us that didn't agree with and vote for the guy are at least hoping things work out. The economy hasn't been doing too well as our 401Ks flatlined or declined, but at least gas prices have dropped, in New York below $2.00 a gallon. It was a great year for movies, especially for comic book geeks in particular and geeks in general with such films as Cloverfield, Iron Man, The Dark Knight and so many others. On the music scene, we got comeback CDs from Metallica, AC/DC, and Axl Rose. Two of those were really good while one of those was Chinese Democracy. I was wrong; I do have more than one regret.

I could go on, but I think my annual blogiversary post covers my year in greater detail, albeit from October to October. It's hard to believe I'm nearly one quarter of the way into my fifth consecutive year at the Nexus. Maybe next time I'll break my essential posts down into a visual grid like Darrell did to sum up his year. I'd probably collapse after such a massive effort and wind up an obituary over at Swanshadow's, so maybe I'll stick with the text format. Otherwise, I'd have to start working on that now. No, instead I'll close with the same exercise with which I started 2008. After a brief message from our sponsor below, you'll find the first and last sentence I wrote for each month this year.



JANUARY 2008
”I'm a firm believer in the necessity of looking back before moving forward.”
“Thoughts?”

FEBRUARY 2008
”It's funny how hard it is to lose a pet.”
“I miss working near all those stores though, and special shopping trips will take getting used to, at least until I solve the riddle of instantaneous matter transportation...”

MARCH 2008
”....it's ridiculous that its snowing again.”
“E-mail me and it just might appear in an upcoming PHANTASMIC LINKS!”

APRIL 2008
”It's April Fool's Day, so I probably should be using this space to write some elaborate yet obviously fake final post, or at the very least wish TheGreek a happy birthday.”
“The video footage was a bit anticlimactic, and I had to loop it...”

MAY 2008
”Bracket Blogs got a bit crazy this week.”
“Then again, if I did that, I'd probably need to look into therapy too...”

JUNE 2008
”I was very sad to learn of Harvey Korman's passing the other day, as I'm sure many of you were.”
“E-mail me and it just might appear in an upcoming PHANTASMIC LINKS!”

JULY 2008
”I remember back in college, I was helping one of my friends review for our Art History final exam.”
“When you break a large task down into its component elements, it's never as daunting as it might seem, and it's done before you know it.”

AUGUST 2008
”Growing up, I'd often hear my mom joke with friends and relatives as I was bouncing off the walls, “...at least he wasn't twins.””
“Accident-prone as I am, I'm just impressed and amazed by the irony and improbability that I split open a finger on a 1/16” blade, and yet avoided injury when I cleaned a 3-foot sword a day prior.”

SEPTEMBER 2008
”How can it be September 1st already?”
“If you'll excuse me, it's after midnight and I still have to watch How I Met Your Mother online...”

OCTOBER 2008
”Mainly, I'm excited about what I saw outside my window over the weekend, which the title of this week's Photo Blog Wednesday certainly spoils.”
“For now, I'll just bid you all a happy and safe Halloween.”

NOVEMBER 2008
”Welcome to the TWENTY-THIRD edition of the M.C.F.A.T., or Mysterious Cloaked Figure's Astonishing Test!”
“I only drink when I go out with friends, and usually pace myself and make one or two beers last, since I'll eventually have to drive home.”

DECEMBER 2008
”I can't believe it's December, let alone another Monday.”
“Certainly, not getting spooked and scampering into a thicket while hiking through desolate sections of places like Caumsett should be on my list of goals...”

Happy New Year, Cloakfriends!