Year-in-Review 2016, or The Last Thing Anyone Wants To Read Right Now

What a year it has been. Personally, 2016 was pretty good. Our child is now walking and talking constantly, mostly about Thomas the Tank Engine1. Some of my brothers got married (one literal, two figurative). I developed a fairly consistent note-taking habit, first with Workflowy and then with some Field Notes. Probably worth its own post at a later date.

Having a toddler means I don’t get out as much as I used to, so my Official Dad Best-Of–2016 awards go to Deadpool, the new Ghostbusters, and the newest season of The Venture Brothers. Rogue One was also pretty good.

The Rest Of The World

Professionally, and for the world in general, it has been a goddamn nightmare.

Here’s my list of (mostly terrible) things that happened, month by month, with some good tweets for flavor. I’ll try to avoid the elephant in the room.2

And I’m pretty sure nothing else happened. May we all take these lessons into the next year, lest history repeats.


  1. There is no fairer tyrannical ruler than Sir Topham Hatt. Also, how is the Man In The Yellow Hat not broke? Ten seasons and 4 movies later, Curious George should have put him in the poor house.  ↩

  2. via GIPHY ↩

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  1. (and 2017 as well)
    What a year(s) it has been. Even if I had written a year in review post for 2017, 2018 still felt like it was five and a half years. But, like 2017, I do not feel like writing one of these posts this year. Maybe it is because it is not as fun as it used to be. Maybe it is because all the things I would put here are already posted, categorized neatly without the need for an EOY summary.
    The major theme for me of the past 1-2 years is that I feel like I could not keep up. Everything moved fast, and seemed to constantly accelerate. Professional responsibilities changed, which was exciting and harrowing. Our toddler is a big kid, to the point where he wants to do everything but can’t just yet. The world at large seems to hurdle between inspiration and death spiral, practically minute to minute.
    So I’m going to use some of the scrum training we got this year for a full-blown retrospective.1

    what went well
    I enjoyed sharing my interests with our son. He is old enough to follow and play Telltale Lego games, and enjoys Lego Batman, the Incredibles, and playing as Cappy in Super Mario Odyssey. There was also at least one occasion where he got multiple KO’s in Smash.
    We were able to sell our house after failing to do so 3 years ago. It was a great starter house, but it was on the verge of becoming a burden, and now it is someone else’s problem.
    I am fairly sure I have not logged in to Facebook in 8-10 months. My wife finally got around to deleting her account – it is probably time for me to do the same.
    what didn’t go well
    I am consistently depressed by the state of America writ large, and unsure of how to improve it, which feeds the depression because I then feel complicit in the problem. This goes back to recognizing privilege.
    what to improve
    On a personal level, I need to address my more materialistic urges. I have plenty, and am due for a major konmari.
    I spend a lot of free time consuming things, and need to find a project where I can make something instead.
    I also need to keep up with the journal habit. In 2017 I filled 9 or 10 pocket notebooks, but only did 3 or 4 in 2018. I’ve picked it back up for this first week of 2019, and I already have a much clearer head.
    On a larger scale, I need to figure out how to engage with my community. It’s hard to find the time and energy and cause, but I still need to get out of my shell and help once in a while.
    for now…
    I will go drink a beer with a picture of a fish on it, and do some dad things.
    This is the most I’ve written in a long time – need to get back in this habit too.

    For media picks, here is my year in movies. Best games were Breath of the Wild and Smash Bros Ultimate. I am still listening to Masseduction and Everything Now – not sure there was any new music in 2018.