2024 wrap-up post: The Struggle To Be Real

 I'm struggling to summarize the last 12 months in a sentence. For the most part, I worked to solve old health issues and struggled with new ones. I'm getting older and my body isn't afraid to let me know it. I'm sore when I shouldn't be, my neck is always irritated, I rupture a disc in my low back just coughing. I'm outside as much as before, but I'm trying new things. I wonder if saving all my money til I'm too old to really enjoy it is a good idea. I set myself a new goal for retirement, or at least a career change in a dozen years. I started paying more attention to finances. I am becoming more myself. There are bad days, when I can't sleep and my truncated attention span keeps me from reading even two paragraphs in a book without my mind wandering, but for the most part I view my life positively. I wish I had more time during the week to see people. I wish I could pass my enthusiasm for things I love on to my children without overwhelming them. I wish for a lot of little improvements. But I'm working towards them. The death list is always an interesting project. Some of the names I haven't thought of in years. Some were my friends. This year's last entry was my cat for the last 15 years. 

Carl Weathers

Wayne Kramer

Toby Keith

Mojo Nixon

Christopher Ruppert

Fernando Venezuela

O J Simpson

Dickie Betts

Alice Munro

Bernard Hill

Steve Albini

Paul Auster

Morgan Spurlock

Willie Mays

Donald Sutherland

Shifty Shellshock

Shelley Duvall

Richard Simmons

Shannon Doherty

Naomi Pomeroy

Lou Dobbs

Bob Newhart

John Mayall

Greg Kihn

Phil Donahue

James Earl Jones

Dame Maggie Smith

Kris Kristofferson