That Was The Year It Was - 2005

Thinking back over the past year, while it had some high points, it's not going to rank up there with Fun Years in Jackie's Life. Not by a long shot.

Not thinking of myself, when I think of the past year I feel sadness. Sadness for those whose lives have been affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (amongst others); sadness for the New Orleans that should be; sadness for those who are in Iraq fighting a war which never should have been; sadness for those who lost their lives for no good reason, and for their families.

Bologna. Yep. That fits a lot of this year for me. Thinking over 2005...

I wrecked my knee just by walking in late June. Just walking. I was out of work for over three months and had to have surgery. At this time, the knee will never be the same again. Next stop, TKR. Argh. I'm not old enough for this! While the summer off was actually kind of nice, I couldn't really go anywhere or do much of anything between not being able to walk and little cash flow. Pain hurts. My knee hurts all the time now. In that respect, it's a life-changing year for me. I already had a bad knee with the other one, but this one is dramatically worse. Most of my medial meniscus cartilage has been removed and I have advanced arthritis in the knee. Need I remind you? I'm not old enough for this! Waah.

Then there's been AOL trials and tribulations. I was a Volunteer Community Leader for nearly a decade on the service at first creating content and programming, then mainly hosting message boards. I actually hosted them -- didn't just monitor them. AOL, in its infinite wisdom, has all but killed Community on the service by hiring an outside company to monitor some boards, let the other boards and chats go to ruin all while letting anyone with a free AIM account take part. Now, instead of having folks who actually answer questions and help members, there is nothing. The monitored boards are hit and miss while the minimum wage post removers often have no clue what's on topic or not. I was so pro-AOL for so many years. I don't even know the service anymore. They're pretty much telling members not to let the door hit them on the way out. It's no longer Community. AOL no longer cares anything about their paying members in good standing. It's sad. :-(

On a more positive note, I've been heavy duty blogging. My TV blogs covering 'Big Brother', 'Survivor: Guatemala' and 'The Amazing Race' were huge successes. The 'Big Brother' one hit a half million visits in the three months of the show. I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do for the new seasons, but I'm exploring different venues, including ones which may actually pay me to blog about the shows. I come with a TV fan following, so if anyone out there is looking for a TV blogger, zap me an e-mail. Another venue may be my own domain and ads (not like AOL's annoying banner ads on their Journals product). Not TV related, my Adventures of the 2-Faced Baseball blog won a peer award for Most Creative/Original AOL Journal of 2005. That blog is on hiatus at this time, but will be resurfacing sometime soon, perhaps not on AOL.

On Good Food Finds This Past Year, I've discovered Coke Zero which I mentioned here. I've also become a Trader Joe's Trader Giotto's Imported Italian Chocolate Gelato addict. Oh... and their Garlic Roasted Chicken Sausage, too.

In other Good News of the Year: My brother, whose wife died a few years back, met the new love of his life and remarried this past summer. Due to the wedding, I reconnected with a niece (from another brother's first marriage) that I haven't seen since she was a toddler. She's about 30 now and a fantastic person. I also reconnected with her mother -- a childhood friend of my own, in addition to being my sister-in-law back in the mid-70s. My two cats, despite the fact that they'll be 13 in June, are healthy and lively. Well, except when they're sleeping, they're lively. I still have a roof over my head, which is always a good thing. I have good friends, too. So, 2005 hasn't been a horrible all 'round year at all.

In the upcoming year, while I won't make New Year's Resolutions (as I never keep 'em), I want to focus more on my photography (perhaps new equipment!) and writing in hopes to earn more money from those endeavors.

2005