It’s that time of year when you can’t turn on a radio, or the television, without hearing a recap of what happened during the year, or predictions about what’s in store for us in the coming year.
My crystal ball is in the shop for some fine tuning, so I’ll stick to the past, and what were a few high points for me.
Writing. Let’s get this out of the way. I worked hard, formatted, reformatted, designed covers, marketed, reformatted again and then wrote some more. At the end of the year I topped out at sixteen books, five of which I wrote some time ago. But hey…they all count.
Ryder Hesjedal won the Giro d’Italia, and he did it without doping. Ryder is from Victoria, on Vancouver Island and all Canadians are proud of him.
Korean rapper Psy broke onto the music scene with “Gangnam Style”. The video, seen on YouTube, surpassed one billion views on 21 December. Chances are that by the end of 2013, we won’t be able to remember who he was, but it was fun while it lasted.
50 Shades of Grey took the world by storm. Copycats abound, many of them with tongues planted firmly in their cheeks. Does this herald a new acceptance for erotica? I have no idea, but it will be interesting to watch.
The Oreo cookie turned 100.
Magic Mike hit the big screen, raising the heart rate of women everywhere.
American singer/songwriter Sixto Rodriguez finally had his day, thanks to a documentary by Malik Bendjelloul, a Swedish filmmaker. I wish him well.
Phyllis Diller died in August. Her self-deprecating humour rarely failed to amuse.
I had a short holiday in San Francisco in early September and explored some delightful restaurants. I would definitely revisit State Bird Provisions, Cafe de la Presse in Chinatown, and Pier One, where next time I’d sit at a stool and eat Chinese noodles for breakfast.
As for 2013, who knows what will happen? I’ll still be writing, as long as it’s fun. I’ll keep you posted.