One of my Facebook friends who likes to post funny stuff and, as such, has a few followers, made an important request yesterday: Describe 2015 in one word. I responded to his request with the word “Yuck.” Others had more positive responses.

 

For the first half of last year, it seemed like a bad idea to know me or be related to me. Brother #2 (I will call him Mogul) had a heart attack. My sister-in-law, the wife of brother #1 (I will call him Doc), had a stroke a short time later. Sweetness’ mother was found to have rectal cancer. Other friends’ family and friends turned up with diseases and maladies and things.

 

The second half of the year was a bit healthier, although not necessarily happier. Sweetness broke up with me in August. I had a few dates with a new ladyfriend, but she has fallen silent and so that little bit of hope for love is gone.

 

My son, Spiff, lost his job at Wally World but got a new one which seems to be going well. He hopes to move out soon; he’s been living with his sister for close to two years now, I think. Speaking of my daughter, Shoes is doing well. She’s been working a new job which, while it strains her childcare resources sometimes, she has managed to keep at it.

 

I went to New Orleans last month, and that was a lot of fun. The holiday season this year was quite busy for me, and that was the second of three trips over the course of about a month. I went to visit the family in Indy for Thanksgiving. I did the New Orleans thing with my second employer, and that was so cool that I am now planning (hoping) to return for Mardi Gras.

 

This brings us to the coming year. I hate using the word “resolutions” because it is a bit cliché, but it fits what I have in mind, I guess. We’ll start with a bit of cliché to fit that theme:

 

  1. Better Health. Yeah, I know, I know. We all plan to exercise more regularly, which is thing #1 for me, too. I am also throwing in better oral hygiene and a trip or two to the doctor.
  2. Sigh. I’ve made this one before. Did it every year for a few years, and then I found Sweetness. She’s gone now, so once again, to quote a favorite song, I chase “the elusive butterfly of love.”
  3. Publication! This includes three things: More stories self-published, a web-comic started, and some application or other put out there for public consumption. These are kind of old themes for me. I should manage a story or two. Finding an artist or buckling down and accepting my own crummy artwork for a comic will be more difficult, but not impossible. An application is more about having the discipline to make the time to code something. I guess we’ll see.
  4. Get out more. I really need to do this. I spend too much time doing a whole lot of nothing at home. New Orleans for Mardi Gras would be a good start on this. I am hoping to get back to Colorado this year, but so far that’s a distant hope. If I do, I really want to make this resolution happen, and see more of my home than I have in past years.

So there you have it. Those are my plans for the coming year, more or less, in short form. If I sound a little bitter, I apologize. If I were to make an addition to this list, it would be to find my cheerful self again.

 

Happy New Year!