Bye, 2016! Don't Let The Door Hit You In The Ass On The Way Out.

So, here we are. In my time zone, at least, we're less than 24 hours from the end of 2016.

And, man... You know, every year, it seems like there is a chorus of voices bemoaning all the terrible things that have happened in the last 365 days and suggesting that it's been a much worse year than most. I'm usually pretty dismissive of that. After all, every year has its share of deaths and bad news, and those things tend to loom larger in our minds than the events of past years only because they're more recent.

But 2016, it seems to me, really has been a giant tire fire of a year. It just kept burning and burning, and the longer it went on, the more noxious fumes it poured out onto all of us. I would like to say that I'm relieved it's almost over and that I'm anticipating much better things in 2017, but, of course, the truth is that 2017 will be shaped by the choices we made in 2016, and I'm not feeling too optimistic about those. Well. Here's hoping that it'll exceed expectations, eh?

In my own personal life, I suppose 2016 is memorable mostly as the year I finally got my driveway resurfaced, so I guess there's that. And one genuinely good surprise this year is that my beloved elderly cat Nova is still here with me at the end of it. He's down to skin and bones and very much showing his age, and to be honest I hardly expected him to make it to his 17th birthday -- round about June -- never mind still being here on New Year's Eve. But here he is, still getting around OK, still happily scarfing down bowls of that super-expensive prescription cat food, and still sitting on my lap and purring. That, at least, is one thing that does make me feel warm and glad at the end of this year. I think I will take it.

And I guess that's it for me for 2016! See you all next year, when I'll be back to do the usual roundup of my year's worth of reading, if nothing else.

Tis The Season

Is it Christmastime again? Man, the years really are just rolling right on by now.

Anyway. Here's wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and/or a generally wonderful holiday season!

I don't have any extra time off work this year -- just the weekend, which I would have had off, anyway. But I am enjoying it. The holiday makes for a lovely excuse to just relax. I spent all morning in my pajamas finishing a book, which is thoroughly good for the soul. Tonight I'm going to make myself a nice dinner, and then I'm going to follow my usual impatient custom of opening all my presents at midnight. Tomorrow I'm probably going to get together with some people from work who are also hanging around town for the holiday and don't have family here, and we're going to play some board games. Can't stay too late, though, because of course there'll be new Doctor Who tomorrow evening. It would hardly be Christmas without Doctor Who! Even if I still can't quite believe I now live in a world where I get new Doctor Who as a present every Christmas.

I hope everyone everyone reading is having at least as nice a time as I am, however you're spending these days. And, hey, we're almost ready to be done with 2016!

Belated December Currentlies

This is way later in the month than I usually do this. I'm not dead, I promise! I just seem to have had very little time for anything lately. I've been working long hours, and when I'm not working, I'm trying to catch up on the giant to-do list of things that have that piled up while I was working, or else I'm completely out of energy because I've been spending all day running around trying to catch up on the to-do list.

Current clothes: Gray sweatpants. A t-shirt that says, "Screw reality, I'm going to the bookstore," which might just be my new official motto. White socks.

Current mood: Somewhat better, as it's a relief to finally get some time off. But also kind of tired. From, y'know, running around all day trying to catch up on the to-do list.

Current music: Nothing at the moment, really.

Current annoyance: There are many, but primarily the aforementioned lack of time. Including the fact that I woke up today determined to Do All The Things, and instead have only done a few of the things, because most of the things seem to have taken at least twice as long as they ought to have. Sigh.

Current thing: I just listened to the entire backlog of the Lexicon Valley podcast -- about a hundred episodes -- in the course of, I dunno, maybe about three weeks. Except for the most recent episode, which I turned off because it was going to have spoilers for a movie I haven't seen yet.

Current desktop picture: Still this lovely bookish image.

Current book: Clockwork Angels by Kevin J. Anderson, which is sort of a novelization of the Rush album of the same name. It's... not good.

Current song in head: Well, snippets of Rush songs keep popping in there, because Mr. Anderson thinks he's incredibly clever for constantly working them awkwardly into his prose. But otherwise, not much.

Current refreshment: Some kind of zero-calorie sparkling orange-mango drink.

Current DVD in player: Disc 2 of season 2 of Broadchurch. Which I have heard argued did not need a second season, but I'm liking it so far.

Current happy thing: Man, it is nice to finally have a proper weekend. A three-day weekend, even! Also, I finally have my thyroid medication again, so that's nice.

Current thought: I'm sure I had something profound to say here, but it's completely gone out of my head. So, um... Happy holidays?