With over 980 diaries tagged #TopComments, I wondered how many I’d written on either New Year’s Eve, Day, or nearby...
Turns out I’d written four on New Year’s Eve. The first was in 2013, where I talked about what was our first trip to a now-favorite local Ethiopian restaurant. My next NYE diary was in 2016, where I chose not to talk about the impending presidency of That Indicted Guy and focused on good things instead. I had back to back New Year’s Eve diaries in 2019 and 2020, and to say they were a tad different in tone is the understatement of the decade. Between an election and a pandemic, a lot happened.
I’ve also penned four New Year’s Day diaries. The first was waaaay back in 2008, and was only my sixth Top Comments diary ever. It also was the last year before Casa Brillig became a foursome, with the addition of K2. The next was in 2013, which means I penned both the first and last Top Comments diaries that year. I contemplated my goals (not resolutions) for the just-started year. I picked up the New Year’s Day pen again in 2015, the last year we had two kids in K-12 school. Fast forward four years to 1/1/2019, and I’d been home from a family vacation to Cancun (where we did NOT see Senator Rafael Cruz) for a little over 24hrs.
Even these past two years, when someone else had the helm on January 1st, I’ve written diaries keeping in theme with the New Year. Jan 3rd 2022 saw me musing on my Goals/Intentions for the coming year and I’m pleased that for the most part I managed to accomplish much of what I’d hoped (standalone, non-community dkos diaries, my evergreen goal). And just about a year ago, I had the day-after-New-Year’s-Day diary.
So, about the year just ended. I have to say 2023 was a pretty good year despite some devastating losses of people important to me, Casa Brillig (Mr Brillig, K2 and I) having covid for the first and hopefully only time in late August, and then Casa Brillig Annex (K1 and partner) having it over Christmas. We saw our Netroots Family in person for the first time since 2019, then had a spontaneous and memorable drive home from Chicago after our flight was cancelled. I traveled to Toronto to hang with my Jam Fam, as important to me as my dkos/NN folks. I had a great time as an election worker and can’t wait to do it again this year! We ate delicious food, enjoyed delicious beverages of all types, walked many miles with our now 2 year old pup, celebrated K2’s making Headmaster’s List twice at his school, and more.
And so we turn and look to the new… hey there 2024! It’s a HUGE election year and I hope the Universe (and every eligible voter in America) understands the importance of their vote. I’ll be doing everything I can to support returning our all-Democratic legislative block to Washington, and spending time every day making sure when 2025 begins we’ll be planning the second Inauguration of the Biden/Harris team. I’ll also be working on my annual fitness challenge (I’m committed to taking 3.2M total steps this year, or 53 miles more than in 2023. It’s just a mile extra each week!). We’ll see family in multiple states, head to Baltimore for Netroots Nation, mark K2’s graduation from high school and watch as he spreads his wings and heads to college, leaving our nest officially empty for the first time. And more.
May 2024 be all you hope for and more. May the highs outweigh the lows, and may we all be here next New Year’s Eve to see how it all went. A quick glance at the calendar shows my usual TC days will be Dec 23rd and 30th, and January 6th. Here’s hoping for uneventful days, all of them.
I’d love to know what things you’re mulling this first day of 2024. Let’s get through tonight’s Tops then chat in the comments!
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TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
From inkstainedwretch:
Nominating jkga’s reply to their prior comment, from the diary Dark Brandon Saved us From a Recession by GoodNewsRoundup (the person). The comment links to a months old cartoon on DKOS that I never saw.
From belinda ridgewood:
Happy New Year!
In this morning's APR by Greg Dworkin, Onomastic posted a gallery of art, music, and words, as she often does. But in honor of the new year, today's offerings are exceptional.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday (Sunday), December 31st 2023, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday (Sunday), December 31st 2023. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you to the wonderful dKos staff who made it possible to continue this feature in memory of jotter!