It rained. forever. dogs pooped in the house 4 times. The 4th time, Michelle stepped in it, so it was the funniest time. One of my Christmas presents was a “Wyze” camera that featured a speaker. So several times over the year I would spy on the dogs and yell at them via a disembodied speaker.
Clemson wins the NCAA football championship, and is served fast food on their whitehouse visit. So, if you thought we’d get through January without being embarassed by our president, you were wrong. For the 24th consecutive month.
Tried to build a lasercut, wooden windmill model. Got about 40 steps into the thing and encountered a step that needed 6 human hands to proceed. When a key piece broke in my hand, I gave up, and vowed that I wouldn’t get any more UGEARS stuff. Then mom bought me the same model for Christmas. I will gladly donate to someone with more patience.
Laughter is much more important than applause. Applause is almost a duty. Laughter is a reward. – Carol Channing
Discovered a band called Khruangbin, and quickly ruined Spotify and Youtube recommendations for the rest of the year.
I pulled data from 10/1/2018 through 2/28/2019 from https://www.noaa.gov/ (it took a week to deliver the request). We had a 5 and 6 day stretch at the start of the year with nothing above ‘trace’ precipitation, otherwise it rained at least every other day for four months. The rain thing bugged me, a lot.
Valentine’s day I got my wife an autographed copy of Megan Mullaly and Nick Offerman’s book, and we took turns reading chapters to each other.. for a little bit. Then one of the dogs chewed on it.
Be anything you want to be, but don’t be dull. – Frank Robinson
Both dogs celebrate birthdays in March. Hedy turns 7, Hux turns 4. My wife makes them both wear dumb hats and feeds them a special meal.
We go on our second JocoCruise. This time we don’t make it a huge vacation before the cruise, and have a MISERABLE travel day to Fort Lauderdale. On the cruise we ‘cosplay’ as Johnny and Moira Rose. There are embarassing photographs.
The week after we get back Frank Oz is speaking at IUS. I don’t get to go because I catch a death flu.
We get to enjoy our newly screened in porch for several days in a row. It’s not as great a thing to have spent money on as my bookshelves, but porchin' without bugs is pretty awesome.
I buy 3 big and 3 small lego sets. These will provide me with distractions in the coming months.
Notre Dame catches on fire. A bunch of hyper wealthy people promise to contribute to repair, and then never actually write actual checks.
Japan’s emperor abdicates, ending one era and begining a new one, called Reiwa. This leads to me losing days into a new wikihole of Japanese history.
It becomes clear that the Game of Thrones ending is gonna suck.
I love you 3000. – Tony Stark
A vendor invites a few of my coworkers and our significant others to a suite for Thurby (The Thursday before The Kentucky Derby here in Louisville). I will never go to normal seating at Churchill again. I am now spoiled.
The dogs eat an entire jar of fish oil tablets. So for a few days it’s pretty stinky up in here. Later in the month we leave the pantry door open and come home to them having eaten 36 large dog biscuits in a very short amount of time.
Game of Thrones finally finishes sucking. (remember how bad Ghost the dire wolf looked when they just threw him in during post-production and never bothered to tell the Actors where to even pretend to look?)
Mother’s day falls on the 2 year anniversary of my grandmother’s funeral. So mom and I do a road trip. We go to Lexington, stumble on an art fair, take the long way home and have a lovely lunch.
Michelle’s mom goes into the hospital and it’s discovered that her brain cancer has returned. She’s in the hospital for a week, then goes home for a week of hospice care. She dies with her children and husband by her side in early June.
I spend a lot of time thinking of the Hereafter - each time I enter a room I wonder what I’m here after. – Tim Conway
A few days after Janet’s funeral is Michelle’s birthday. We have great seats to see Hamilton here in town. The 2nd act brings different tears this time.
News breaks that Quentin Tarantino is working on a Star Trek movie. Which is great news if you’ve ever wanted to see Uhura’s feet.
Fireworks start around June 20th, and continue every night for almost an entire month. Hedy hates evenings.
When the voice and the vision on the inside is more profound, and more clear and loud than all opinions on the outside, you’ve begun to master your life. – Dr. John
The Muppet Movie’s 40th Anniversary includes big screen showings from Fathom Events. I go see it. (SURPRISE!)
The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission has all sorts of fanfare. My favorite was a twitter account, @ApolloLego, that told the story in ‘real time’ (shifted 50 years) with photographs of Lego sets.
My company, Waystar now (formerly ZirMed) is sold, or the deal is announced anyway. It doesn’t actually close until October. But it’s weird to be sold twice in 2 years. And knowing you’re not at all in control of your own fate.
Talk is cheap. Words are plentiful. Deeds are precious. – Ross Perot
Go to Gen Con, just to wander around the vendor room. I pick up a copy of a game I kickstartered, called Action Pups! This game happens to feature photos on dogs on each card. One card has a pic of Hux and one has a pic of Einstein. I’m FAMOUS.
We, as a society, discover how to deal with 30-50 feral hogs.
Get a couple of Jim Henson Funko Pops. I don’t want to collect these things, but I’ve picked up a few over the years. I think that’s the way you’re supposed to do it.
Jeffrey Epstein, realizing the rest of his life would be a horror show of looking over his shoulder while powerful people want him dead, and he’s never going to get laid again, decides to kill himself.
Trump comes to town, and .. oh fuck, who cares what I have to add here?
From my point of view, your life is already a miracle of chance waiting for you to shape its destiny. – Toni Morrison
I officially finished off the last of the housewarming booze. 2 years later. It was a lot.
Hux gets a nose wound while my wife is out of town with her dad & brother. This apparently does not mean I don’t have to watch the dog anymore.
Found an old bookmark in a book I’ve kept through many, many moves. A Greyhound bus ticket from October 1996. Probably when I came home for my birthday and likely when I accepted a job to move me back home. I’m shocked to realize that 1996 is not just like 4-5 years ago.
In yet another desperate attempt to feel like they’re the victim, racist mediocre white dudes start fights all over Portland, and make up stories about anti-fascists throwing concrete milkshakes at them.
After the first quarter of the year forced many mammals to develop gills, we had 1/25th of an inch of rain for the entire month of September.
There’s more to light than the opposite of dark. – Ric Ocasek
We go to see Night of the Living Dead radio play by KY Shakespeare at the LPM studios. It was a lovely time. Since the dogs were such a handful all summer, we never made it to Shakespeare in the Park, so this felt doubly good.
We go to an anniversary dinner at a fancy restaurant in Corydon, IN. This gives me an opportunity to get my picture taken in front of Butt Drugs. No, you grow up.
At a New Albany High School football game a fucking cannon is fired every time the team scores. This even disturbs Hux, and turns Hedy flat into a drooling mess.
Halloween is super cold, and we only end up with 235 trick or treaters. 200 fewer than last year. Poor me has to eat two whole bags of Reese’s pumpkins by myself over the next few weeks.
There are three sides to every story: my side, your side, and the truth. And no one is lying. Memories shared serve each one differently. – Robert Evans
In the most amazing news of the year, the redneck vote doesn’t turn out in sufficient numbers to drown out the will of the counties where people actually live, and Matt Bevin loses his re-election bid.
Sesame Street celebrates it’s 50th anniversary with a long special that brings back way too many memories. The credits at the end include the typewriter, and Michelle legitimately squeals in joy.
Thanksgiving is ok, but man, we miss Janet.
Good riddance. I mean he will not be missed one bit. Kentucky will be better for his absence. – Matt Bevin (it was about someone else, but ya' know, if the shoe fits)
Due to changes in how we accrue vacation time, I need to burn several days before January. Being super smart, I schedule a crown fitting for my first day off.
I get to make a couple of kids happy with Christmas gifts, but all in all it’s a low-key year for gifts. We did some donations that filled me with a warm glow, but the holidays in general are just kind of off as some of my family searches for a new normal.
Admiral Hux in the new Star Wars movie makes me smile every time he’s named on screen. Our Hux’s littermates are all named after Star Wars characters, I bet Chewbacca the greyhound isn’t half as much fun as Hux.
Always start the day with a smile — that way you get it over with. – Oscar the Grouch