12.31.10
By Jeremy G. Butler (Author Page, Twitter Page, Facebook Page)
What I’m Thankful For:
Two Thousand Ten. 2010. Twenty-Ten. The whole damn year.
Welp. Another year has come to an end. It’s been an eventful one not just for me, but for the planet and humanity in general.
In terms of science, we discovered a sort of alien DNA in a lake in California and we may have stumbled upon a cure for HIV. Plus we’re making and storing antimatter and have synthesized self-replicating life. And that’s just a few things. Fuck yeah, discovery.
Socially and politically, well, there was certainly more to disappointed by than thankful for, but, we did manage to finally get DADT Repealed and President Obama was able to sign his Health Care Reform Bill into Law. 2010 also saw a profoundly bigger spotlight pointed at Jon Stewart. His Rally to Restore Sanity without a doubt shines as something for us to be proud of in amongst all the embarrassing rigmarole of Burn a Koran Day and Christine O’Donnell.
On the arts and entertainment front, we got an amazing new Kanye album (and video) amongst a gigantic list of new and amazing albums. We got Edgar Wright’s hat trick with his Scott Pilgrim adaptation. The Coens gave us their masterful adaptation of a John Wayne classic, Natalie Portman delivered the performance of her career for Darren Aronofsky and Christopher Nolan captured the imagination of the entire nation with his little movie about dreams. On the small screen, Scorsese brought Steve Buscemi to Atlantic City, which made up for Frank Darabont’s trip to zombie-infested Atlanta.
On a personal front, 2010 ended up being a pretty gigantic year for me. Not all of it necessarily GOOD, but all of it important. Potentially the biggest development was my ex-wife’s having a new baby with her new dude. I’ll admit, it was a pretty big fucking bummer and really hard to deal with when I first found out. But, along the way it became exactly what I needed to be able to let all of the baggage between her and I go and for the first time since we’ve split we’re actually friends. No tension, no past – we’re just cool with one another and can work really well together and being parents to our kid. My daughter has a new baby sister that she adores and we all get along wonderfully. There’s a lot to be thankful for there.
This was also the year that I turned 30, which was kind of a big deal, but mainly in how much it wasn’t a big deal. Back when I was in my early 20s, 30 was a big black cloud on the horizon and it made me anxious. This year, when the day came, I spent the evening playing XBOX and woke up the next morning at 11. There was obviously nothing to be worried about. Tangentially related, this was also the year I gave up my hat. To the majority of you reading, that doesn’t mean a damn thing, but to anyone who knows me, they could tell you that for about ten years, my hat was as much a part of me as any other piece of my anatomy. The only time I ever took it off was to take a shower or go to bed. I wore a hat every day for over ten years and this year? I gave it up. It was like detox, but my scalp and hairline are thankful and hey – I’m kinda sexy hatless. Who knew?
It’s been a year of new developments and new friends (I’m extremely thankful for Heather and Stewart) and new opportunities both personally and professionally. It’s been a year of incredibly profitable and fun freelance work and I’ve started a slew of new personal creative projects. Speaking of, it’s also been a tremendous year for CHUD. A new staff, a new focus and some new developments for 2011.
As the ball drops and we start the first few minutes of 2011, it’s easy to see that it has got some pretty big shoes to fill. 2010 was a pretty gigantic year, not only because of the things that happened, but because of the doors it opened for things that have yet to happen, and for that I’m thankful.