Happy New Year!--Your editor's Facebook post (12-31-16)
That sounds insincere, because we know that 2017's not going to be a very happy new year. But maybe it will be, in our personal lives, at least -- and happiness in our day-to-day personal lives is all we can hope for. I'm sure many Germans in 1933 wished each other a "Glückliches Neues Jahr!" And for them, that year probably turned out happy. If they were white, male, and at least nominally Christian.
And so: Glückliches Neues Jahr! to all.
And that's "30" for 2016.
I generally report blog statistics in March, on my blog's anniversary, but I should note proudly that the 102 posts during 2016 represents my highest output since 2011 -- back before 2012-13, the time period journalism schools generally describe as the "glory years" of Confused Ideas from the Northwest Corner, its high point in both readership and, arguably, quality of essays.
As my Facebook entry suggests, I do not view the coming year with equanimity. But then, we may ask, have I ever? Let's look at the New Year's post for each year of this blog's lifetime:
2007 -- Neutral. I've just returned from Christmas in Germany. I thank my hosts, and merely wish everyone a happy new year (in German, of course).
2008 -- No New Year's post.
2009 -- I discuss the all-absorbing issue of whether 2010 marks the beginning of a new decade, or whether we must wait until 2011.
2010 -- I offer a recipe for Tom & Jerry drinks!
2011 -- I admit that the past year has been a mess, but offer an illustration of Stuart Little driving off into the horizon. I express the hope that, like that optimistic mouse, we too are heading in the "right direction."
2012 -- Everything's getting worse.
2013 -- No New Year's post.
2014 -- I note the disconnect between my personal happiness and "world dysfunction." I can see nothing ahead to be optimistic about, but let's try anyway.
2015 -- I decide to talk about how great life was 50 years earlier, back in 1965.
The results may be slightly ambiguous, but plotting these years against the Northwest Corner Anhedonia Scale, I find a definite increasing trend of alarm and unhappiness over the nine years encompassed by my blog.
I find nothing in Trump's impending Coronation to add to my optimism and sense of well-being with respect to the coming year of 2017. Nevertheless, as I've oft-stated in prior New Year's posts, who knows? Things might not get worse, right? Let's grit our teeth and, as suggested by Voltaire, each find his happiness in cultivating his own garden. With that questionable suggestion in mind, I wish you all a
No comments:
Post a Comment