This Year, Next Year

As a (trying to be a) practicing Daoist, I'm loathe to pick a best and worst moment of last year ... but since I hate so many things so actively you can tell that the Daoism is shaky. The real reason I'm loathe to pick best and worst is because I can't remember what happened this year and what happened last year and how it works into this great tapestry we will call life.

Although I remember that visual journalism class sucked. And then I failed the grammar test (after being a complete egomaniac about the Info Hell project -- me not know grammar? that's unpossible!). Then I turned 40 and spent the day in the California desert driving home from Vegas and having dinner at Wiernerschnitzel when we got back to mom's house. Then the car got hit again and residual damage from the previous accident (hello, Geico? yeah, if the body shop finds damage from the accident last year and ... oh, the case is closed? can you reopen? yeah, i know she was uninsured and ... oh never mind) cost me $1200. And two people at work left (one voluntarily; one not so much) at the busiest time of the year, which has lead to much overtime and stress.

Oh and the cat's tumor. It apparently is a tumor based on the tests -- her left side does not have the same sensitivity as the right, but she's not walking in circles or hissing, so they put it down to an on-going issue and not the results of a stroke. Now she's on steroids like Barry Bonds to see if that takes down the swelling, and she's still mobile and relatively happy and just walks a little funny and drinks and pees too much, so she's not a goner yet.

And the visual class did allow me to make a Formula 1 magazine that I was quite proud of, no matter what the grade was. And I passed the second grammar test, which was the last time they gave it, so I was saved from sitting in the boring grammar class. And my big birthdays have always been disasters (no alcohol on my 21st; food poisoning on my 30th), so the absence of flash-flooding means that the 40th was actually a great success, because I loves the Wiernerschnitzel corndogs, which are in absence here in Oregon. And my car drives better now that it's fixed and the brake light doesn't stay on anymore. And I got the cousin/roommate a job in one of the positions that needed filling and he's doing great even when he's sitting in the fire of customer craziness.

So, in the spirit of attempting to practice Daoism, overall it looks like the major events of the year are actually quite balanced and nature is still in control of the situation.

All hail 2008!