Goodbye 2012!

Another year has come and gone, and like many other years, this one certainly had its up and downs.  The biggest downs would have to have been Rebecca being held up at the end of January, and then some bastard stealing our tax check.
Although those were some low lows, I think the highs made up for it.  Our oldest started middle school, and even though she already has some of the teen angst going on (a couple of years early), she's still doing great.  Our middle daughter has moved on to second grade, and she's more or less excelling...if we could just get her to do her homework.  And of course the youngest has grown up so much.  At the beginning of the year, she was barely walking and could say a few words.  Now she's strolling around everywhere, counting to 11, learning her ABC's, using four and five word sentences, and of course loving Star Wars and Babylon 5.  Another positive on a personal level was my accepting a promotion at work.  Although it's leaving me exhausted, we're bringing in some extra money, and that's always a good thing.
On a professional level, it was also up and down.  March saw the release of my third novel, A Problem in Translation and I also finished the initial drafts of a new RPG.  The biggest down would be that I didn't do anywhere near enough writing this year.  I do have a new story coming out in an anthology early next year, and I'm certainly hoping to do more writing in 2013.
All in all, I'm glad to be saying goodbye to 2012.  The stress from the robbery has kind of haunted everything, and once we get past the one year anniversary, I think everything will start looking up.

Christmas 2012

Another Christmas has come and gone.  I've always loved Christmas.  I love the lights, and I love the music...well, most of the music.  And now that I have kids, I love to watch them open gifts on Christmas morning.  I, of course, don't celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ, but rather as a time to reflect on the year's events, and to spend time with friends and family.
Although I have a great family with my wife and kids, I have to admit that I miss my mom, dad, brothers, and sister...as they're all spread across the country, so we rarely see each other, and I can't even remember the last time I saw any of them on Christmas.  This year was especially bittersweet, as I know that any day now my maternal grandmother, and the last of my grandparents, will probably pass away.
Still, with all of the mixed emotions, I have to admit that it was a great Christmas, especially when Rebecca realized that the BIG gift I'd been teasing her about was Bon Jovi tickets...she's a HUGE fan.
I hope all of you had a great whatever holiday you celebrate.

Another Apocalypse has come and gone

Eventually people will learn that the end of the world can't really be predicted, except possibly with science.  In all honesty, this Apocalypse seemed even sillier than most of the ones in the past.  I'm sure some people are feeling foolish today, although they're probably trying to justify why they were wrong...that's what always seems to happen.
On another note, the events in my novel The Opium of the People were supposed to have been set up by a near miss with a comet on Dec. 21, 2012.  I'm very happy to say that I was not prophetic.  The idea of living in a world like the one I created in the novel would make me wish for the end of the world.

Come on people

We just got through all of the election nonsense, which I thought had brought out the worst in people, but the holidays seem to make people behave in some crazy ways.  I'm not talking about the belligerent customers you have to deal with while shopping.  I'm talking about the whole Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas nonsense.
Christians feel that there's an attack on Christmas because non-Christians and Atheists want to use Happy Holidays because, well, they don't believe in Christ.  And non-Christians and Atheists don't want to be told Merry Christmas because, well, they don't believe in Christ.
To me, it's all insanity.  Why do we have to spend so much time looking into the underlying meaning of what someone is trying to say, rather than accepting the intent behind the message, which is usually, hey, hope you have a great day and life.  We're so caught up in distrusting people that we don't realize that people are just trying to be nice.  Why not let them be nice?
I, myself, am a staunch Atheist.  I don't feel like maybe there's a God, no, I don't believe at all.  But if you believe in God, and you want to wish me a Merry Christmas, then by all means, go ahead, and I'll wish you one too.  If I do something nice for someone, and they say God Bless You.  I don't look at it as them trying to push their religion on me.  No, I look at it as them thanking me in their own way.  Even if I don't agree with their belief system, it doesn't mean that I can't accept the sentiment of gratitude.
Everyone needs to loosen up and stop worrying about what someone might mean by what they're saying.  Yes, there are some people that are trying to push their beliefs on you, but the majority of people saying Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays are just trying to be nice.  There's so little niceness left in the world, let's let them be nice and get over ourselves.

So, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or Happy Whatever You Want to Believe and Celebrate.  I hope whatever you believe in and celebrate at this time of year will bring you a great deal of happiness.

November recap

A New story

Four more years

An Eternity in Limbo

I must be out of my mind

Jim Baker

I'm still around