I Don’t Even 2012

This year began with what felt like a theme park boat ride, the craft drifting into a dark tunnel, and up ahead you can hear the splashing of rough waters, as the drifting boat moves steadily quicker. To… what?

Well, to all this…

January: Sorting Socks

-Starting the year with something sweet. And Brookside.
-Rocky Horror Picture Show at WES: your argument has never been so invalid
-Ow! Why is my side hurting now?
-And why is… my chest pain back?! Noooo!
-Ash is dead! Ash lasted a while. Awww. 🙁
-And now I don’t feel so good…
-Stomach virus! Ack! Haven’t had one in eleven years!
-Supervisor: “Stomach virus? WTF? Go home!”
-Me: “I have to change the temperature chart first!”
-A NYRA board meeting that didn’t devolve into fighting? Holy crap!

February: Secret Goal

-Getting ready for the game. And Brookside.
-Superbowl!!!
-LOL, the Redskins swept the Superbowl winner. 😛
-Symptoms have subsided again. Good, good…
-New NYRA blog series: Youth Rights 101!
-Hey, laptop shooter asshole, go fuck yourself with a rusty spike.
-Took an hour to uncork that wine bottle! Wine better be good!
-Crapton of food from Mama Ayesha!
-Fuuuuuck! Symptoms are coming back! 🙁
-And at the end of the month, Alex Koroknay-Palicz has again left NYRA for good.

March: Amylase

-Think I’ll give this My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic show a try… Awww, I like it! 😀
-Tai chi. More enjoyable if not for returned chest pain.
-Yuck. Why didn’t I cancel this dental work? Aching mouth alongside returned chest pain suuuucks.
-Back to doctor, and now I’m on yet another proton-pump inhibitor. This will never end, will it! :irked:
-And to gastroenterologist. And more bloodwork. And x-rays.
-And abdominal ultrasound to be sure side pain isn’t gallstones.
-Though new proton-pump inhibitor just might be working!
-Hey, Kathleen refriended me! Okay then.
-Oh, yeah, got to plan the Annual Meeting.

April: Asshattery

-Gastroenterologist still hasn’t gotten back to me about anything!
-Oh, well, turns out everything was fine. Still, though, some response would be nice.
-Of course, if everything looks fine, then what the fuck is going on?
-The endoscopy will tell…
-I saw a tree that was four trees.
-Easter! Lovely sunny day. Bunny cake. And Brookside.
-Uh oh, time for endoscopy.
-I don’t want to be sedated! I don’t want to be put under! 🙁
-Eeeeeeeeeeeek!
-Okay, okay, I can do this, I can be brave…
-Hey, my breathing controls a little line on that screen, like an Etch-A-Sketch!
-Getting a little drowsy…
-Huh? What? It’s over! Yay!
-What do you mean you still didn’t find anything?!
-And now it’s hurts like hell to swallow. :irked:
-National Youth Rights Day!
-That’s odd. Why is work calling me? At 11am. On a Friday… Oh, fuck. LOL
-Yeah, I’d better change my alarm clock radio station, to one with better reception!
-Awww, MLP season finale is cute! Party cannon!
-What?! That fucking air conditioner is broken again?!
-What do you mean reused letters in Scrabble are only worth face value?! I always count the word or letter scores again!
-Ugh…
-Did you really just say teenagers are so stupid it’s a wonder any survive? Are you fucking for real?
-I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.

May: Way Too Many Fuckin’ Times

-What the hell is that sound my brakes are making? Better take it in.
-Oh, it’s nothing. Just rust or something. Hmm.
-Gastroenterologist called back many weeks later than expected to say again the endoscopy found nothing. Except some very minor acid reflux. Is that a diagnosis for all this?!
-To Mama Ayesha for birthday, with Kathleen and Alexander!
-And a picture with Truffles.
-To WES on morning of birthday. And Brookside.
-DC101 Chili Cook-Off!
-Fuck! Symptoms are back!
-And gastroenterologist isn’t returning my calls. Are you kidding me?!
-Maybe I’ll just eat lots of baguettes.
-And these weird bagel slices when they sold out of baguettes.
-Final episode of House!
-One weird ass episode.
-Collective Soul!
-Georgetown: home of most sarcastic parking meters ever

June: Liposuction

-Victoria’s here! 😀
-And Kathleen needs to go to ER. I didn’t really need to sleep tonight, did I?
-No, board, I don’t think terminating Bill is a good idea right now.
-Oh, look at that, Bill removed my admin status from NYRA site.
-Really?
-Think I’ll see what this Hunger Games thing is about.
-Wow, this is awesome!
-In any case, termination is still not a great idea right now…
-And walked out of meeting with two others to kill quorum.
-Dear God, what have we become?!
-Now mom needs to go to ER!
-And stay a couple days.
-Then she’s out.
-Then big ass storm.
-Most of county without power!
-And a big ass pine tree fell on family’s house. Lovely!

July: Flips Coin

-Board, could you, like, stop trying to do things?
-Oh, fuck, the Annual Meeting is a month away.
-Jeff got us a room in Philadelphia, might as well go there.
-Coldplay!
-LOL Smooth Jazz Bicycle Guy
-Mmmmm salad
-Big thing of sushi with Alexander and Victoria!
-And trying to plan out Annual Meeting.
-This AM is worrying me sick. Chest pain again all day. Well, off to have dinner with friends…
-I don’t feel so good… Might collapse…
-And… now I’m the one in the ER! :irked:
-Still found nothing wrong. Even when being checked while having symptoms.
-Oh, and now Bill’s stolen the NYRA Twitter account from me. Oy.
-Olympics in London!
-Annual Meeting is so close. No idea who’s coming for sure… AAAAHHHHH!!!!!
-Move back to DC? Have it in little conference room?
-No, no, turns out a couple people made travel plans already.
-Alright, alright, will still do Philadelphia, just need to arrange things a bit.

August: Surge

-Got to get up and go to work really early so neighborhood street work can be done!
-Only to get home to find they didn’t do it. -_-
-Oh, fuck, time for Annual Meeting! What’s going to happen?!
-Up early Saturday morning, collect Victoria and Alexander…
-Hit a backup near Baltimore…
-And we’re at UPenn by around noon, to find Jeff, Hendrik, Chris, Rob, and Stefan! Then Keith and Bill came a bit later.
-Alright, ten people, got ourselves an event!
-Huh, what’s that? Agenda? Hell, I don’t know.
-Cheesesteaks! Or just steak for me. 😛
-Ah, a quickie annual report.
-And hours of unorganized discussion about the organization.
-Chinese food dinner! It’s on me!
-And a slightly more organized discussion all day next day.
-Indian food lunch!
-More discussion.
-Then returning to DC with Victoria and Alexander!
-Oh, shit, a severe thunderstorm heading right this way!
-Rain is pouring! Can barely see a thing. Except a blue sign saying there’s a Subway at the next exit…
-Me to passengers: “We’re going to Subway!”
-And Usi is getting shit on A-List because she continues to exist.
-Me: “STFU Alex! You left us, now stay gone!”
-And Bill mentions stealing Twitter from me in report and outright lies about things I supposedly did to deserve it. Oy. Why did I prevent him from being fired again?
-Though he told me in a direct email that it was because I was “too close with Usi”. … This is how this org is being run now?!
-You know what? If they don’t want me to help NYRA, then I won’t.
-Kathleen has back surgery and her family comes in for it. So many O’Neals!
-Ah, here we go. I call it I Support Youth Rights!

September: Three Thirty

-Whoa! Look at all those firetrucks at that apartment complex!
-Oh, good, turned out to be nothing.
-Staff meeting. I… have a bad feeling about this…
-Company’s out of money at end of month. At which time we’re… laid off.
-Oh… no…
-I’m going to be in WES’s Winter Festival!!!
-Wonder which part I’ll get.
-Yay, Pam’s in DC now!
-Final week of work, packing up, cleaning up…
-I don’t want to leave…
-Well, better have this stupid dental procedure done now before I lose insurance.
-Get wisdom teeth out today? Well… no, no. Not in combination with current stuff.
-WTF?! Flat tire!!!
-Are you fucking kidding me?!
-And got to eat up some more of my last week of work getting the tire replaced.
-Lots of packing, putting into bags, throwing old shit away…
-And saying goodbye to everyone.
-And that’s it. 🙁

October: One Strike Away

-Unemployed.
-Mmmmm, Taste of Bethesda!
-Yay, Nationals are in the playoffs!
-If only they’d stop sucking.
-Votes for Youth rally… sort of.
-Game Five: up by six early on, we can do it!
-Except they’re catching up.
-Come on, Storen, strike this guy out already and you win!
-Instead, you just let in two runs and let them tie it up.
-And they got two more and won it. Sigh… :doitnow:
-Alright, I’m in the Giving scene in Winter Festival. Cool.
-Peter Gabriel!
-Wait… there’s a friggin’ hurricane coming?!
-Look at the size of that thing! Better prepare for power outage…
-Didn’t lose power! How about that… Wait, where’d New York go?!
-Halloween: hey, kids, choose your own candy!
-Hehe, little girl was so delighted that the box of Nerds rattled!

November: Be Nice

-Is that a No on Question 6 sign? When I get back, I’ll destroy it.
-Oh, looks like someone beat me to it. Awesome. 😛
-Auction!
-Having some concerns over the Peace scene of this Winter Festival. Little stereotypical perhaps.
-Come on, Obama… come on, Obama…
-Obama wins!!!! 😀
-MLP Season 3 premiere was amazing!
-Mmmm, all you can eat seafood.
-Ick. No sleep tonight.
-Veterans Day, going to a meeting. And Brookside.
-And climbing Sugarloaf!
-Sushi and Lincoln with Alexander, Kathleen, and Pam!
-Redskins vs Cowboys on Thanksgiving: ugh, I’m dreading this already…
-Holy shit, Redskins won!!! 😀
-Off to see Wreck-It Ralph with little brother…
-What the shit? The arcade where the movie takes place has an ageist policy?!
-Oh dear God, is THAT what I have to wear for Winter Festival?! Well, I wanted to be in it…
-What is this, a parking ticket? A warning.
-What do you mean I have to prove I live outside of DC?!
-Oh, wow, am I late with ordering these holiday cards!

December: Cookies and Hot Chocolate

-Cards are ordered.
-More sleepless nights and sleeping too late.
-Rehearsals. Tech prep.
-Taking Kathleen to doctor at 8am for some reason.
-Dress rehearsal.
-Winter Festival!!!! 😀
-Holy shit, that was awesome!
-And Cookie Walk!
-Oh, NOW the holiday cards arrive!
-Quick! Stuff, stuff, label, label…
-Gah, my printer crapped out on me. Now to handwrite remaining addresses! :irked:
-Addressed. Ornament stamped. Sealed. Stamped. And… they’re off!
-The seventh and most likely final run of the NYRA Holiday Cards!
-Winter Lights!
-Seeing a man about a train.
-Christmas shopping. And Brookside.
-A lit-up Christmassy Brookside this time! 😀
-Cookies!
-Wrapping presents.
-SILENT NIGHT!
-LOL the Christmas tree fell down
-Come on Redskins, beat Dallas, get into playoffs…
-Redskins win!!! 😀
-And dinner with friends.
-And for New Year’s Eve, some Greek food.
-And with this a brand new Sure, Why Not? post every day in December!

What in the goddamn hell was that?! Knew the year was going to be rough, but seriously.

Well, I see you up there in Times Square, 2013. Your predecessor took out Dick Clark, and that just ain’t natural. So let’s get the hell out of 2012 already. Will 2013 be any better? Maybe. Maybe this boat ride is finally calming down, drifting back out into the light.

Maybe. We’ll see.

Happy New Year.