The world is coming to an end.
I just heard a dance mix version of "Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Brothers...and liked it. In a related development, the best new music I heard this year came from the Beatles, and half of them have been dead for 23 years (combined).
Welcome to the world of weird.
Virtually everything seemed turned upside down this year. Pop culture, personal and professional life - nothing was what I expected.
I started the year on unemployment, sleeping on my mother's spare bed. I'm ending the year with a gay jewish flight attendant for a housemate. In between, I got employed again and was rewarded for 6 months of extraordinary work by an email from my boss asking me what was my problem (actually he said "what is the problem" but I took it kind of personally). So I yelled at him and got a raise. Then they gave me another one. Then I was offered a new position and another increase - a nice one. Been there less than a month and I'm thinking about going into the office this week and yelling at my new boss...
What's going on in the world? Last night I watched something called UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championships - which is basically 2 guys in a cage beating each other to death while several thousand people stand and cheer and scream for blood. We've come a long way since the Christians and the lions...I watched the whole thing.
I bought a laptop computer this morning on a sadistic invention called eBay - I discovered it this week and may never leave my house again - not a good development for someone with shopping addictions. The only previous eBay purchase I ever made was my car (see 10/9/06 entry) so my judgment in these matters may not be the best...
I also sired no illegitimate offspring this year - this is not necessarily a strange circumstance, but the fact that I even have to mention it is, so I'm putting my blessings down on paper so God won't smite me with bad luck for being ungrateful.
Other weirdness at work - when I left my previous job, my employees were actually sad to see me go, even though I only moved 15 feet away. Actually, the fact they were unhappy was kind of gratifying, considering that the last couple of exits I made were accompanied by loud cheers and major partying after I left...
Want more proof that 2006 has been lived in some kind of alternate reality? It's the week after Christmas and I have money in the bank. Not a lot of money mind you, but still...something very odd is happening. More strangeness? My nephew, a dyed-in-the-wool Southern California mallchild and rabid opponent of any kind of change for virtually all of his venerable 15 years, is openly rooting for a move to Portland, Oregon (a hottie his age has been sending him emails from Seattle on myspace.com and he figures they're going to get together on weekends and live happily ever after while he works the counter at a local Starbucks - oh, to be an adolescent again). Anyway, he's jonesing for the move up north - no one has told him it rains there every once in awhile, and I don't plan to be the first.
In another bizarre development (for me), I now am the proud owner of both a laptop computer and a digital camera, and am currently shopping for a camcorder (latest bid for a Toshiba AV600 was $120 - I LOVE this online stuff...). Of course, this doesn't mean I'll actually be able to operate these gizmos, but the fact that I have them is a major step toward the 21st century, don't you think? Next thing you know I'll be using a palm pilot. (What? Someone just told me they don't exist anymore - now they're called PDAs...which stands for what - Pretty Damn Aggravating? - How come nobody keeps me updated on this stuff? Time to yell at my boss again).
All in all then, 2006 has been both strange and satisfying. Friends and family still love me, and even the people who work for me seem to appreciate me and want me around.
My boss? Not so much...
Got to go. There's only 47 minutes left on the Toshiba...
