Overall 2024 was a good year for us. It started out with a bit of a bang and ends in a more subdued fashion, but personally it’s been a good year.
The big answer to “what did you do in 2024?” would be that in February, 13-1/2 years into our relationship, Sue and I got married.
As the cake topper reflects, this was not something that we rushed into. Almost a year later as I write this we still crack each other up when we occasionally refer to each other as “husband” or “wife.” We’ve been together long enough that the change of status almost doesn’t seem real. We’re deeply grateful for everyone that was able to make it to the wedding or send their wishes. We just wish we had more time to spend with all of you. Time seems like the most precious resource now.
Travel this year was a bit limited. A couple of days after the wedding we flew off to Washington DC. Not a honeymoon really. Sue had to go for work, but since she already had a hotel reserved in DC all I had to pay for was my plane fare and I got to spend a couple of days wandering around various museums and monuments. We did manage to fit in a couple of nice dinners at DC restaurants, we met up with an old friend of Sue’s who lives in DC, and Sue got to go to a swank dinner at Mount Vernon.
Our other trip was an extended weekend drive to Gatesville Texas and back for the solar eclipse, stopping in New Orleans for a couple of nights. We’d actually reserved a hotel in Mazatlan, Mexico for the eclipse, but by the time we were able to reserve a flight the buzz had set in and flights became impossible to get. I tracked prices for a few months and never found flights cheaper than $2700. I just felt that was a little much so we eventually cancelled our Mazatlan reservations and planned for Texas instead. Mexico would have been nicer, but it worked out in the end. I cannot express how awe-inspiring it is to see a total solar eclipse, and we’ve managed to see it twice now.
Our one other highlight was adding Bert to our family. Bert has some special needs and requires a lot of care, but he’s definitely part of the family now.
In the entertainment realm, concerts have really tapered off since the pandemic. Many bands and venues are pretty open about the fact that they are struggling to make any money on touring as Ticketmaster/LiveNation are effectively a monopoly now. End result is fewer bands playing fewer shows and often skipping Florida where they lose a day traveling down the peninsula and back. Highlights of what we did get to see were Frank Turner, Bridge City Sinners, Amigo the Devil, Bad Religion, Social Distortion, Descendents, Circle Jerks, and Shemekia Copeland.
TV highlights were Succession, Money Heist, Battlestar Galactica (finally), Slow Horses, Bad Monkey, Silo, and Kleo. Ugh, I’m a person who watches TV shows now.
The only movies of note were Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and 3000 Years of Longing which is based on “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” by A. S. Byatt.
Notable books this year were Starter Villain by John Scalzi and Babel by R.F. Kuang.
That pretty much wraps up our year. I feel like we’re going to try to keep things a bit low-key for a while as there’s a lot of uncertainty on several fronts right now. Fingers crossed that Sue, myself, our friends and family, and anyone else reading this gets through 2025 unscathed. Hold on to your butts.