2023 was a year of 2 wildly different moods. There was a sense of helplessness and a lack of hope and fear of lethal abuses of power on one side, but on the other, there were enjoyable recreational experiences; great sports and video game memories and wonderful music as well as statements made towards 2024. I'm entering the next year with dread, but I do have things I'm looking forward to, and while I'm not sure where the road leads in a lot of areas, I am going to just have to live life and hope it stays at least mixed and I can find joy even in grief.
Let's get over the first side. There was a ton of senseless brutality in the world in 2023. Russia is still attacking Ukraine in Putin's mad quest to rebuild the Soviet Union, Hamas abducted Israeli civilians and slaughtered children and those attending a music festival, giving Israel an excuse to start a genocide of Gaza civilians, Texas ordered a woman to keep an embryo's corpse inside her, which likely would kill her, SAG went on strike against the CEOs and Producers and got screwed over by the deal they made, in which AI can be used to rob them of work and scan people in certain kinds of work so as to keep them working against their will, SCOTUS ruled Businesses can discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, which made me think they will rule that killing them doesn't count as murder so long as you can recite Leviticus 20:13 from memory and Jack Smith brought cases against the obese fascist whose last name starts with "T" before them, which made me think they'd rule all his horrors, war crimes and crimes against humanity would fall under the realm of the First Amendment, thus saying the quiet part out loud, Republicans have exclusive rights Democrats do not have, and they include murder. And don't get me started on the transphobia. I honestly have a hard time comprehending how vicious it can get.
It is little wonder, then, that my blood pressure has climbed significantly, and I feel almost constantly on edge. But, shortly after this past year began, I was treated to a cover of Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Daughtry and Lzzy Hale. Not long after that, I got Fire Emblem; Engage, in which I took Alear, a naive but kindhearted woman who is also a Manakete (capable of becoming a dragon, though she does not), and spent the game with characters like Marth (a noble, friendly hero voiced by Yuri Lowenthal), Yunaka (a hilarious, cute dagger-thrower voiced by Laura Post), Lucina (a hard-working heroine voiced by Alexis Tipton) and my old friend from Three Houses, Edelgard (an axe-wielding kind woman with strong convictions who can be hard on herself voiced by Tara Platt). There was a lot of good music this year, like Miley Cyrus' "Endless Summer Vacation" album and "Used to Be Young," Dolly Parton's "Rockstar" and Brandi Carlile's "Closer to Fine" with her wife/partner Catherine and "Dear Insecurity" with Brandy Clark, as well as The Beatles' last single, "Now and Then."
Also, while the Mariners didn't make the playoffs, the two games I saw had highlights and connections that will last for some time. There was a game in July against the Blue Jays, where former Blue Jay Teoscar Hernandez hit a walk-off single that scored the deciding run, winning the game for Seattle. The Blue Jays' first run came off the only home run I saw in person this season, Danny Jansen, who, in September, I saw a highlight clip of talking to George Springer's bat. Whatever he said must've worked, because next at-bat, Springer got a double. Julio Rodriguez robbed Fernando Tatis Jr. of a home run at the next game in August to our delight, and Logan Gilbert locked down the Padres with a career-best 12 strikeouts. And while we weren't as invested in the playoffs around here as we were last year, I still saw that Bryce Harper hit a home run on his birthday. He also shares his birthday with Sue Bird, formerly of the Seattle Storm, now retired.
I have a pretty full plate of entertainment for the year ahead. The first big thing is at the end of January, when I'm going to Anime Washington in Tacoma. I have made arrangements to stay at my Aunt's house, and am so psyched for it, I have already placed, effectively, props for photos I want to take with the voice actors I want to meet in a reusable grocery bag that has Godzilla on it in the style of Metallica's "Ride The Lightning" album cover. Namely, I have Edelgard and Byleth plushies for Tara Platt, a Wendy Marvell plushie for Brittney Karbowski and Yang and Blake figurines for Barbara Dunkelman and Arryn Zech. In March, I have a ticket to see Petty or Not, a local tribute band to the works of Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks. I saw a few videos on YouTube, and they do songs like "I Won't Back Down," "American Girl," "Runnin' Down A Dream," "The Chain," "Rhiannon," "Edge of Seventeen," "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and "Handle Me With Care" really well. In April, I aim to see the Seattle Kraken play the San Jose Sharks and the Seattle Mariners play the Atlanta Braves, the in May, I'm planning on seeing the Mariners play the Kansas City Royals and then in August, I plan to see the Mariners play the Phillies.
I'm honestly very concerned and dreading this new year because it's an election year. 2016 and 2020 were just plain awful, let's face it, and we had to deal with the uprising of this cult in America that drags Jesus' name into the mud with its obsession with punishment, oftentimes, violent punishment. I know we all can only do so much, but we must not let this win. My anxiety and depression makes emotions more raw to me than to others, and I watched my parents divorce in a stressful, screaming, arguing meltdown. I experienced the prototypical stage of this cult at the second main Church I have clear memories of, how you have to answer every question and conversation how they want to hear it, or you'll face a lecture. That may not sound like much, but to me, it's a warning before they start hitting you to straighten you out. That attitude then became the second-large political party in America's entire identity, and they are pursuing an ideal that is not God, is not Jesus, but is ultimately wrath and punishment and no consequence. Voting is what we should do against this, and I am going to do my best to limit certain social media websites until after election day.
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