Whatever this is, by Kyle A. Lohmeier
Back in my full-time, paid journalism days, this week, the one between Christmas and New Year’s, was always just the worst. Government and corporate offices tend to be running skeleton crews, so finding anything out – even if there were something to find out – was always a pain. Invariably, this week tended to produce year-in-review editions that were boring, but easy to write as we just had to go back through the year’s archive and write a Cliff’s Notes version of the front page, above the fold stories. These were typically followed with a preview of the coming year. So, then, in that vein, welcome to the inaugural The New Mercury Year in Review, Next Year Preview Special.
2016 in Review
It sucked. In fact, it sucked so bad that saying that it sucked has already become a cliché. Everyone died and the only thing on TV was the shitty election. Glad it’s over. Good riddance.
2017 Preview
Thing is, there’s little actual reason to suspect the calendar rolling over to the next month in a few days means the shit-show that was 2016 is over. We dumb humans arbitrarily decided on when months and years begin and end; and we don’t even all agree on the “official” system. It’s not as though the planet gives a damn. A very strong argument could be made that said shit-show began a year ago today with the death of Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead and has shown no signs of slowing down, killing George Michael and Carrie Fisher most recently.
In fact, I’d say it’s only pragmatic to expect everything to carry on sucking. And, against the background of that great sucking noise, we can expect still more coverage of Donald Trump as he gets his stupid presidency going; complete with all the whining and wailing and hyperbole and total lack of any real change that will invariably accompany it.
We might get a few albums drop from interesting bands in the upcoming 12 calendar months, so, that might help dial back the suck, but only so much. TV, particularly on Netflix and other streaming services, keeps getting better, so, there’s that distraction. Otherwise, yeah, buckle up. It ain’t over yet. Hell, the worst is probably yet to come. As for me, I’m strongly considering picking up a copy of Sid Meier’s Civilization VI and not re-emerging from my home until after the Daytona 500. At the earliest.
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