Sharp Tools

The End of 2008

I don't know why I feel the need to recap, here, except maybe to convince myself that the year is actually ending. It's been a shitkicker, has 2008. I'll be glad to see the back of it. I don't know what to expect in 2009 - in some ways, such as economically, I can see the news getting worse for at least the first half of the year if not more. Everyday life hasn't yet really been slammed by the collapse of the financial pyramids. I'm guessing that here in NYC it's because businesses which are marginal have been desperately holding on until the end of the year to either try to survive via the holidays or to at least collect what takings they can before calling it a game.

Either way, I think a whole lot of businesses are going to close down in 1Q '09, with concomitant unemployment and gloom. Here in the City, where we all live in each other's pockets, that ripple happens fast and hard. I hope it doesn't happen, because i don't want to see anyone hurt, but realistically it's already happening. I'm concerned that NYC will fall back to early 1980s or 1970s status - high unemployment, low civic spending, crappy conditions. I think I'm the only person who watches early Sesame Street episodes and is depressed as fuck because I remember when what felt like the whole damn city looked like the grim-ass projects you always saw in those shows.

On a personal level - well, 2008 sucked too. Nothing really good happened, except that I finally moved back to NYC - but even that wasn't without all kinds of PITA side effects. Lots of bad crap happened that I'm still dealing with. I'm another year older (I really feel that on New Years' rather than my birthday, probably because it's easy to ignore my birthday) and still have no fucking idea what I want to do when I grow up - rather, I should say, that I realistically can do. I know what I'd like to do, but the government has pretty clearly told me I'm not going to get to do that. Another reason to find George Bush in a bar in ten years and kick his scrawny ass.

Well. Baconfest is coming up. Hopefully that will provide enough of a lift to get me through January and some of February. It usually does.

Posted by jbz at December 31, 2008 4:55 PM | TrackBack