A crazy year

Everyone's doing it. 

Spotify is telling me that over the course of 2022, I listened to way too much Santana, Led Zeppelin and Mark Knopfler. And has reminded me how I wore out the grooves on Leon Bridges.

Strava, though I've only been on there since July, is singing my praises and has informed me I am in the top 7% of all athletes diligently recording their sweating, sweating and more sweating. And I have the yellowed T-shirts and bare-thread bike shorts to prove it. I'm also in the top 83% of people staring into a mirror in vain search of abdominal muscles.

Last year at this time, I found myself composing a Year in Review recap for my employer PayPal Honey. 

Congratulations Jane Doe you saved $1,293.87 cents by shopping with us and opened 104 emails written by your formerly award-winning copywriter. Thus doing your part to prevent his retirement and keeping him out of a dirty nursing home.

Thanks Jane.

And so, faithful readers of this blog, we here at RoundSeventeen Headquarters thought we'd provide you with a yearly recap of our own. To better inform you of all the time you've wasted and perhaps redirect your energy disbursements to better endeavors in 2023.

In 2022, you have been subjected to 74 posts about ex Precedent Shitgibbon, aka Captain Ouchie Foot, aka Colonel FuckKnuckle, aka Diseased Sack of Camel Haggis. 

While occasionally repetitive in nature, these political posts were more often topical and addressed the never-ending horsecockery this anti-American, Constitution-Shredding Hellbeast has foisted upon our once-great nation.

In 2022, you have read 38 posts regarding the demise of our advertising industry, the dumbing down of communications and the failure of the holding companies who continue to suck the revenue upwards while simultaneously extracting unpaid labor from "children" who have yet to discover their own worth. 

Our business used to be driven by ideas. Now it is fueled by greed, fear and data driven performance points that demand more data driven drivel. 

In 2022, you've been privy to my personal journey through grief. I thank you for indulging me and my oversharing. But journaling has been recommended by many therapists. It's part of the work. And it has done me good. As Ms. Muse has often told me, "It must be heartwarming to know so many friends and colleagues and even strangers are supporting you and are pulling for you." It is.

Of course, there are many things you haven't read about in 2022: 

* My life as a single father and the difficulties of navigating  a delicate new dynamic with my two daughters who I love dearly

* My plans and major decisions, which I was wisely told not to make for one year 

* And even my brief foray into the online dating world. If it weren't for certain familial sensitivities, I'd dive deeper into this veritable gold mine of comedy hijinks, including the one woman from Beverly Hills, who, 5 minutes after talking on the phone, asked, "Would you be willing to shave your mustache?"  

No. 

No I would not.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year, one that brings peace, hope, happiness and some much needed civility in this world.