Happy New Year! (Slightly shitty old one)

2015 was not bad, I guess, but there were some really striking low points and a variety of stresses.  The singers of two of my favourite bands, the Rebel Spell and Motorhead, died this year; while Lemmy's mortality was getting pretty obvious, the loss of Todd Serious was a huge shock to the scene here, and came way too early - he was someone with a lot of life left in him, and he had one of those rare lives that actually had a fairly deep impact on a lot of people, so it was a loss felt by many besides me (though I knew him a little offstage and liked him, so it was kind of personal, too). Plus my favourite Vancouver band doesn't exist anymore, which sucks. I sure would have gone to their last show at the WISE had I known it was going to be the last chance I'd ever get to see them play live.

My work situation has had its low points, too. Late in 2013, I'd gone back to my old dayjob for greatly reduced pay compared to what I used to make; this past summer, we went on strike, and ultimately won, sort of, but the upshot of that, added on to some dubious stuff happening at corporate level, was that student enrollment plummeted, and I ultimately lost my classes, which I'd managed to keep through to January of the previous year; my hours have been whittled down to the point where I now actually do need to look for new work. My Mom, meanwhile, isn't in great shape, and getting lonelier in Maple Ridge; but economics made it untenable to maintain a separate apartment out there, since I'm more or less living at my girlfriend's anyhow. That's worked out okay, but a bunch of my stuff is now in storage, and I end up riding buses and trains more than I would like; and I sometimes have felt like I don't really have my own space anymore.

But there were highlights of the year, too. I finally got to show a small but appreciative audience of Vancouverites the film Clearcut. I got to talk to Chris D. of the Flesh Eaters, and got to see that band in Seattle, something I *never* would have imagined would happen. Finally getting Unleash the Archers and David M. into the Georgia Straight was fun, and I'm a lot more keen about the NO FUN back catalogue now that I own something like 22 CD's worth of it (David will be performing a Ukrainian Christmas show January 7th, by the by, though I forget where). There was also a weirdly magical moment with my girlfriend on Bowen Island where a dragonfly allowed me to take pictures of us together; our trip there was definitely a high point, and something that needs to be repeated next summer. Also, I had fun doing articles on the Reverend Horton Heat and Dar Williams, mostly just to get my girl into both shows (which were both terrific). The article on the Rev was the first thing I ever did for the West Ender; I was glad to get another local venue for my writing, doing a few things for them, since the Straight hasn't been taking so many articles these days.

So, okay, there you have it, 2015 in review. I'd like to craft a somewhat different 2016 for myself, shake up my priorities and habits a bit. But I'm presently needing a nap, so I'll think no more on it for the moment... Hope your 2015 was at least no worse than mine.