Out With the Old, In With the New! The New Year's Thread

[D'Snowth]

 

[Any Del]

OK, I'm pretty sure we all can collectively agree that this year was a donkey's ***. Either way here's my Pros and Cons for this year.

Pros:
Getting my Associates degree and making it to the Dean's list TWICE.

Tara Strong giving me a birthday shoutout (thanks to an AMAZING salty pal of mine @LittleJerry92)!

Hearing some therapeutic words from Vic Mignogna to cope through this year.

Putting HUGE amounts of work into my TV pitch project! (Feel so proud)!

Both my channels Any Del and Patrick Star blowing up with many subscribers.

Watching Spies In Disguise and Sonic the Hedgehog

Binge watching EVERY episode of ****'s Kitchen

Camaraderie here on Muppet Central.

Finding and watching some old Cartoon Network and Courage the Cowardly Dog videos/production art from the internet archive and @D'Snowth

Turning 21.

Old McDonald Trump has lost and Biden has won office. O - Double F - I - C - E. O - Double F - I - C - E. O - Double F - I - C - E and Biden has won office.

Cons:
COVID-19

George Floyd riots (seriously I thought this world was turning into a war zone)

Deaths of my Rastor Vector professor I had back in Fall 2018. Kobe Bryant and Chadwick Boseman.

My stress levels went up that I had high blood pressure (slightly) 133/130.

With so much crap going on in this world I've never felt so ashamed to be an American.

Kitchen ceiling crumbled down during Christmas.

Donald Trump and his possy of politicians

Dealt with a website that was unprofessional.

One of my videos from 2014 got reported from a petty user who felt that it needed captions.

Financial aid issues from my college.

My phone keeps acting up.

Some issues with my parents and sister.

The workload from some of my classes gave me a headache.

Hearing Tom Kane having a stroke and may no longer do voiceovers anymore.

My mentality for 2021 and beyond is "whatever happens, happens." Hopefully the vaccines will be out so we can go back to our normal lives.

 

[fuzzygobo]

This was not the best year for many. But my highlight was coming off dialysis on my birthday. That’s as good of a present as anyone can get. I have my health, I have my peace.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Yeah...... I think it goes without saying I will not miss this year. At all. I already knew it was going to be absolute **** with how political as **** it would get, but I did not expect it to be THIS bad. And I can easily say this year definitely brought the worst out of me.

What I can at least thank this year for is helping me to be honest with myself, shaping myself up and learning my own issues I have, and just showing me how stupid people are. I mean, honestly. Having a temper tantrum over a piece of cloth that goes over your face? Another thing I can also thank this year for is showing me just how dishonest people are, and the George Floyd incident alone is a great example.

It showed me how ignorant and racist people can be (like honestly all the victim blaming **** I saw over his death. Yeah, how DARE his using a fake 20 dollar bill not allow the cop a free pass for putting his knee on his neck seriously, these people were just angry because riots were going on). With that said, I hated seeing the country have to fall apart like this, but the fact that there were people more concerned about buildings being destroyed than a guy losing his life over a fake 20 dollar bill says enough. I even had to cut ties with an old friend who labeled black lives matter as a “terrorist group.” And just the fact alone that it took the whole world being destroyed to open up the eyes of the fact that police vs black people has been an ongoing issue for years also says a lot. Which leads me to this.

The riots definitely proved how dishonest people are when it comes to how they see equality. Instead of actually facing the issues going on, businesses left and right suddenly make these changes to remove offensive stuff like the confederate flag and Aunt Jemima. And I appreciate that they’re addressing it, but they have made it so obvious they’re just doing it so they don’t end up getting themselves in legal trouble, not out of sincerity. One of the stupidest changes I have seen in my life is the Dixie Chicks changing their name to “the chicks.” Wow! Such an original name! the biggest unecesarry change for me though was seeing some Caucasian voice actors come out and “apologize” for voicing colored characters, and while I support their decisions, a lot of them came off completely dishonest with their “apologies.” One good example is Vanessa Marshall (voice of Irwin from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy). She literally only “apologized” because another voice actor (GK Bowes) forced her in a tweet because she thinks she speaks for everyone waiting for an apology (“we’re waiting.” I called her out for it and got blocked. I’m not sorry at all). Literally just because of that. And now she never references Irwin anymore, and I have a good feeling she’d probably ignore or reject a request on cameo if it involved Irwin in it. Then there were voice actors from Disney and Netflix shows that had to quit as they came out with “apologies.” And guess what I found out? They only “quit” because they were fired. Great cover up mask there. Just goes to show how woke as **** these companies are. I would like to mention I have mixed opinions on Caucasian actors voicing colored characters; if it’s a lead or main character then it should go to the respective race. Otherwise if it’s just a side character then whatever. And I do think it’s fair that actors of the respective race get their share of auditions as well. Otherwise, if you can capture the character well but appropriately, I’m fine with that. If I am lucky to get into this industry, I’ll only audition for characters I’m “fit” for, but only to avoid getting blacklisted because again, the entertainment industry is just woke as **** like that.

But anyway, those were probably the two biggest headaches for me of this year. While I do have stuff to be grateful for there are a lot more negatives than positives:

Pros:

Coming out bisexual

Shaping myself up and learning issues I have with myself

Being honest with myself

Got a portal voice over booth and mic in my closet

HBO Max releasing old SS episodes (and big thank you to @Froggy Fool for all your help capturing those clips for me) and just giving us the nostalgia of old shows and giving us new content like the new Looney Tunes cartoons

We got a new Muppet series

The new Animaniacs series

Getting to take a voice acting class with FUNimation actor Chuck Hüber (and made some connections)

An awesome video shout out from Vic Mignogna (courtesy of @Any Del)

My first experiences with Galaxy con with Jodi Benson AKA the voice of Ariel, and a second time meeting Tara Strong (both pricey as well but worth it)

An awesome birthday cameo shout out from Grey Delisle-Griffin

The orange idiot losing this election

Stills from the infamous cancelled season 2 episode of Thomas and Friends “The Missing Coach” leaked out to make a good reconstructed episode

Cons:

The constant stress of having to sell my old house which I miss greatly (I am grateful I can still visit my old neighborhood and I have a picture hanging up next to my bed, but I am so angry at what the new neighbors have done to it).

Covid and its stupid lockdown and limitations, not to mention all this stupidity over a ******* mask

The fact that we also got the worst democratic nominee against stupid orange man, Mr. I can say racist **** and be sexually inappropriate with women because I’m a democrat

The George Floyd incident leading to these riots and unecesarry changes

The death of my grandma on my mom’s side and an old friend of mine from college

Having to cut ties with so many more toxic friends, one of which even sexually harassed me for years

Moving into this new apartment, with just how thin these walls are and all the noise I gotta put up with. Not only that, but it’s easily increased my insomnia

Gained a lot of weight I burned off from stress eating

As two folks I looked up to, the death of Canadian voice actor Kirby Morrow and now hearing Tom Kane had a stroke.

Having to spend the holidays alone

Flash will be gone soon (bye bye old miniclip, kongresgate and new grounds games)

and overall feeling like my depression and anger has only increased. It got so bad to the point I just didn’t even want to exist anymore and hoped I was forgotten. And literally half of this year I was pretty much high as a kite. I can’t tell you how much weed I went through.

With that said, my expectations for 2021 are very, very low. And if I’m being honest, I only expect it to be worse. Otherwise, at this point..... whatever happens, happens. That’s all I can say.

 

[LittleJerry92]

 

[D'Snowth]

So, let me take a look back at 2020, and see what's been going on. . . .

Pros:

• We had the most normal September we've had in practically a decade! No prolonged summer heat, no above average conditions, just an absolutely normal September, my favorite month of the year - it was probably the biggest highlight of the year for me.
• We actually had some sweater weather days in May! That almost never happens, but it sure was enjoyable!
• The first White Christmas I've ever experienced!!
• I got new, upgrades equipment for Christmas, most important actual lighting, and even an actual tripod dolly, which are things I could really use.
• Actually being able to hold onto a somewhat affordable health insurance plan for the entire year without lapsing on it! I say somewhat affordable because since it's similar to ACA (aka "Obamacare"), there are no outrageous deductibles or out-of-pocket expenses I had to meet! The monthly premium is a little higher than I was willing to pay, but it's a compromise, I guess . . . I just wish Biden had a better healthcare plan, which he doesn't.
• Sid Krofft's weekly live streams on Sundays actually giving me a reason to use Instagram more regularly. And speaking of which. . . .
• I showed Sid one of Steve D'Monster's videos (specifically, his satirical anti-drug PSA, in which he makes a cryptic mention of Krofft shows), and he liked it!

Neutrals:

• I've had another new Steve short in the works this year: I had hoped to have it completed and released back in October, but I've run into some snags, so I've pushed the released date back until early February; now that the holidays are over, this gives me about five and a half weeks to figure out some way to finish what I'd like to film, and if not, I'll just have to release it as-is.
• Once again, I wrote another spec script for a popular animated series, and this time, I was far more confident in it that I was the last time I did such (for ARTHUR) . . . unfortunately, unlike last time, there was no way for me to actually legally submit it, so that was a closed door.
• A former lady friend of mine whom I used to be in love with for the longest time severing ties with me, which I actually feel better about than I should, since these last four years have revealed her true colors of what a racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, blind sheep she really is.

Cons:
Where do I even begin?

• I had two new Steve D'Monster shorts I was planning on making this year, both of which had to be scrapped. One of which was going to be a snow day short, which had to be shelved because, well, we hardly saw any snow accumulation this past winter season. The other was going to be a surprise Sweet Sixteen special in which he actually gets a new car and takes it out for a joyride, which had to be scrapped because, you guessed it, COVID.
• Another COVID-related con: I was really looking forward to meeting people at the Knoxville Fanboy Expo this year, including Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr, LeVar Burton, Jess Harnell, and others, but of course, that never happened.
• Another COVID-related con: my dad's been out of work, and since he's not very tech savvy, I've been having to fill out his weekly unemployment claims online for him all the weeks - it's really been a drag.
• Just COVID in general: having to wear masks out in public, all of the social distancing, certain businesses having to shut down, going through periods of shut downs, and of course, the gross mishandling of the pandemic by elected officials who treated it like a hoax, or a political opinion, or they just didn't give a $#!+, which just continued to make the pandemic worse in America than it needed to be (and their blind supporters and followers refusing to abide by the safety guidelines certainly didn't help either).
• The economy, which only continues to worsen. This was the first year I ever had to pay extra taxes, and a hefty amount at that! I typically got a couple of hundred or so in refunds every year, but nope, not this year, this year I had to pay over $1,600!
• Having the car temporarily repossessed and impounded.
• Suffered with another round of really bad sciatica this summer.
• My mom and sister have severed ties with one another, both of them making themselves out to be the victim in the scenario, and the other to be the one whose responsible for the their misery.
• Unlike September, December couldn't be normal this year - we had to go through a few days of unseasonably warm weather; I honestly can't even remember the last time we had a completely normal December.
• Getting robbed during Christmas.
• A lot of loved ones dealing with medical problems, such as my aunt having COVID, my uncle losing half of his nose to melanoma, my mom's best friend having knee surgery, etc.
• Dealing with toxic people in general for one reason or another.

Like Jerry, I really have no high expectations whatsoever for 2021 . . . sure, go back to accusing me of being a cynical and jaded pessimist who thrives on negativity . . . because I am. Trump and the current geo-political landscape of America has brought me back to this disposition again.

 

[LittleJerry92]

I gotta be honest with you though, I was actually surprised you of all people (sorry to say with an often negative attitude) were concerned when you saw some of my heated moments from the stress of this year. But I do appreciate it.

 

[D'Snowth]

I mean, yeah, I know you get really salty at times, but I really saw (and heard) an extremely tempermental side to you this year, and yeah, I was getting really concerned that maybe you were slipping into some serious anger management issues or something, because it's like when you lost your temper, all **** broke lose, and I was afraid you would end up doing something that could hurt or even kill yourself.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Well, again, I appreciate it. I am grateful to still be alive and well. If anything I went from temperamental to now just apathetic.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Alex, in spite of having a lot of crap to deal with, you still found things to be thankful for. I appreciate that.
And remember. We’re always going to have hard times. But that’s when we grow. the most.