The rituals begin anew..
Fireworks around the world.. celebrations. Bars packed with amateurs attempting to recreate the perfect scene from a movie that never really was real to begin with.. And Times Square. That beautiful little piece of concrete island where a million people sway together, sing together, kiss each other, and desperately try to find a working toilet or corner alley to relieve themselves of their holiday cups of cheer..
It's New Years Eve..
And we don't have Dick Clarke to kick around anymore.. Ryan Seacrest will due. He's not 'out' at this time but certainly has solidified himself in becoming the face that my three year old will see one day when he is 21 years of age and hopefully--hopefully! making smart decisions with his body in bars..
We will have to ensure Taylor Swift, undoubtedly. She is the flame of the year--he flame is bright and she's mopping up each last second of fame and TIME magazine covers.
That is how 2014 was.. it was a year of the unreal--planes going missing and acts of war that were never called them. Children being massacred as sacrifices to demons.. Selfie sticks. The perversion of television.. the mind numbing ignorance of Americans.. the total comedy collapse. It was a year when everything stopped being funny.
Jokes don't work anymore, but GIFs do.. Sitcoms are toast. But VINE is the most.. and REDDIT is king, but 4CHAN still leads--they're the engine that creates the creative machine..
As we turn a blind eye to the calender's end and welcome in a new year with drunken melodies at watering holes, I am enthusiastically looking forward to 2015..
There's a few reasons why, which I will tell you in this already too lengthy post..
A listing of why 'everything is awesome.'
2015 is just cool.
Think about it.. we made it this far. 2015.. I can recall so many events over the past 15 years--hell, even 30.. And it all just flew by. The sands of time are quickly moving through the hourglass of our minds.. But that is nothing to be sad about. As some would say, the only real thing that exists is the present. The moment you're in now.. the time you're reading this, or scanning it, or clicking off in boredom. This is real. The past was real.. but it's gone. Nothing to lament or be shameful of. So make everyday a little more real and seize the day. This day. Nothing from yesterday.. and ignore the future, it doesn't even exist..
We have gone through 15 years of mindless hell. Terror and torture.. no role models worth modeling.. an invasion of technology and humanoids.. machines and robots that will take our jokes away..
We have also endured the setup to what appears to be a police-like state, which constant surveillance and Fusion Centers, red light cams, and constant drivel on the still existence cable snooze networks about how it's all to keep us safe..
But in 2015, we're so over that.
It's time for a change, and attitude adjustment and a rude awakening for the hounds of negativity that worship at the alter of evil. We have the power to change the course of history, and I think 2015 may be the year we will.
We are so over some other stuff, too..
I think selfishness has gotten boring. Perhaps this is the year when the selfies will end and, well, maybe the couplies will take over.. we will still capture and tweet and tumble all the moments of our lives, but I sense a bit of something more taking place. I think we long for affection, not attention. I believe that 2015 will be the year we decide to forgo the nonsense of meaningless and start searching for the soul again.. A deeper appreciation of life, and a core meaning to what we are even earthlings to begin with.
Maybe 2015 will be the year we collectively decide that reaching for the stars is the best thing humans can do. Maybe we are made for the stars since we are from them anyway. Often during ocean trips, I stare at the ocean and become frightened but secure all at the same time. Frightened at the immense body of water knowing the power it has to indiscriminately kill me, but yet at the same time know that somehow that ocean is the home to all human life. The same with space--staring at the stars does not feel like peering at other worlds, but quite the contrary. It feels like you're looking at a photograph of where you were from, you're youth before life, complimenting your mortal body's makeup of stardust and ancient history..
I feel we are getting a little 'over' celebrity .. Twitter has made us feel closer. We can stream music. We don't need theaters to see movies anymore.. and the TVGUIDE has outlasted its time. Things are changing.. the old days are over. That's not a bad thing..
Instead, the user, the moviegoer or music lover, TV addict or avid reader, all have new abilities to see the art their choose to and enjoy the entertainment they want to. When they want to.. We are not impressed with the rich and famous--instead we have sort of grown to ignore their non-plight. I think that will continue in 2015..
The economy sucks. Just plain sucks. Joblessness is immensely bad, and without question you know someone who is unemployed or you are unemployed.. We are over this. We want a change.. Maybe the collective consciousnesses will assist us in making a better future in the coming year. Sometimes when you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, you make the choice to stop being sick and tired.
I think 2015 will be the food revolution's culmination. The FOOD BABE is mocked and hated by millions, but think about her message, minus the political tones.. She is simply saying to eat better and know your ingredients. And stop eating plastic. And food coloring.. and stuff. All that stuff. Just eat food. I think in 2015, we will continue to shop smarter and better, and with prices soaring, we will start to educate ourselves about what we are paying for.. and going broke for. And maybe our stomachs will thank us by December 2015 with a better digestive system..
We will accept more people in 2015.. as the generation born since 1995 becomes 20, they will bring with them a strong pursuit of acceptance. Hate is so 20th century.. I hope it stays confined to that..
The challenges around the world are going to become more clear--the despot and dictators who ravage the landscape and kill the spirit of their people will be evident. In 2014, we saw the senseless murder of children.. women.. babies.. we know the enemy. The enemy is seemingly not of this world. I hope 2015 is the year when the world puts its hands together and deals with the disgusting vermin who inhabit far too many towns and nations on this globe..
I think President Obama will have a better year.
There's something to be said for his critics. He has been far less in the change and hope category.
But Americans want to like their leader. This may be the year we finally do, the year we accept him as President.. I don't think Americans really did accept him yet. He was an obscure figure who inhabited the White House, someone who had a seemingly happy family and golfed .. In 2015, we will come to understand he's our president--but that does not mean we'll think he's good at the job.. instead we will realize he has the job.
2015 is a big deal--it's a marker in history.
It's been 15 years since Y2K did not kill us. It's been 3 years since the Mayan calender ending. Each non event become a new beginning.
I think 2015 is a new beginning.
Filled in my spirit, there is a great deal of enthusiasm for the year to come.. I pray it will not be 12 months of hell on earth, but instead each day may be the best day ever.
My son Ayden really got to enjoy a show this year, and you've most likely heard of it if you're under the age of 18 or have children under the age of 10: Phineas and Ferb. I actually got to love it, too.. The theme of the show was performed by the band BOWLING FOR SOUP--a big bad when I was around 21.. there is an extended version of the main theme called TODAY IS GONNA BE A GREAT DAY. Clearly the song has ludicrous lyrics.. until you really get to the point of the song. It's a song of hope and happiness. And watching my son, in all of his innocence, dance his head off when he hears this song, gives me hope and brings a smile to my face that often cannot leave, despite the negative world that exists around us. I suggest you make this song at least a brief part of your day. Enjoy it.. have fun. And dance like a child who innocently still looks at the world.
Maybe we all should do that a little more..
Dance like no one is watching?
Or dance even harder when they do watch..
HAPPY NEW YEAR
2015
-BRYAN SMOLOCK,
WWW.HORRORREPORT.COM
