Okay, so for two years now, I've been sitting down to my trusty laptop (or, occasionally, the Disco Mac at work) on a daily (or every-other-daily, or occasionally weekly, when things got really busy) and writing about stuff that interested me. To my pearls-clutching shock, a few folks have actually cared. Which is pretty cool. When I started out, I was sufficiently satisfied with the fact that I finally had an outlet for the opinions that had been rattling around in my head more-or-less unexpressed. Since then, though, I've really started grooving on the knowledge that I have an audience, and I can't say for sure that I would have kept doing this if I hadn't gotten some kind of response. So, to my regular readers and commenters: this is your fault.
The old saying is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. So now, a look back at a few of the things that have changed since this time last year, and a few of the things that haven't:
Changed: My employment situation. I finally ballsed up and struck out on my own, which is not so great for the paycheck but far better for the advancement potential.
The Same: My standard of living. The cool thing about being broke-ass is that there's not much more broke-ass you can get until you hit "homeless."
Changed: Zarqawi, bitches. The head of al Qaeda in Iraq got a couple of much-deserved 500-pound bombs to the head, and uncharitable as it is, I think the world is all the better of for it. I know that I'm supposed to mourn all loss of life, even scumbags like this guy, but I'm just finding it hard to think anything but, "Score!"
The Same: Iraq. Scum rises to the top, and Zarqawi's replacement, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, has sought to prove that the new boss has even less of a soul than the old boss by brutally killing two kidnapped American soldiers. And for the record, torture is bad no matter who does it. It's the fact like guys like this do it and are proud of it that only underscores our need to act like actual human beings.
Changed: Gay marriage. The amendment to the Georgia state constitution establishing marriage as a bond between one man and one woman was overturned on the single-subject rule. The issue is currently under debate, but hopefully, Georgia voters will be given the chance to vote again, this time without legislators trying to pull a fast one and slip civil unions into the gay marriage debate.
The Same: Gay marriage. Still not legal in the vast majority of states, Georgia included. Despite concerns that legalization of gay marriage in Massachussetts would result in a tide of groom-on-groom weddings nationwide, the US remains 99 percent straight-married. And 62 percent straight-divorced. Nice work, folks.
Changed: Like, the entire staff of the White House. John Snow is gone. Scott McClellan is gone. Andy Card, out. Karl Rove, demoted. Never before have so many families had so much time to spend with their ex-White-House-staffer daddies.
The Same: Donald Rumsfeld. 'Cause it would be awful to change horses in midstream. Even if the horse we're on is lame. And old. And smelly. And constantly trying to bite us. And might actually be a donkey.
Changed: Iraq's finally starting to get its government together. Parliament has filled some important security posts, and although a few ethics questions have been raised, none of them concern anything that the US government wouldn't overlook in its own legislature. It's too soon to know if things are actually looking up, but at this point, they've got the potential for good things.
The Same: The rest of the stuff. Electricity. Bombings. Personal security. Religious freedom. For whatever reason, and I'm not trying to throw around blame here, Iraq citizens (especially those not living in the same neighborhood as a cabinet minister, by some strange coincidence) are still only without electricity about 16 hours a ridiculously hot day, and sectarian violence and intimidation is on an upswing. Hopefully, a complete and more stable Iraqi government will be able to make significant changes in those areas.
In other Same news, I'm still single, still po', still waiting to replace the mass airflow sensor in my VW, still waiting for Michael Buble to call. But I'm also still living comfortably, still eating daily, still surrouded by people who love me, and still free to post this stuff at my leisure for another year. Looks like I've still come out on top.
Keep reading, y'all. I love it.
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