Goodbye 2014

WOW, it's been 10 months since I last posted anything on this particular blog. OK..

2014- for John C Thomas, 2014 is the year of LOSS. Tremendous. Just caps off a very, very bad year for me personally. My mom type Edith passed away days before Mother's Day via complications from liver cancer. Devestating. One of my MAIN heroes, Robin Williams passed away via a cowardly act- no matter how dismissed or explained away. Harold Ramis' death affected me nearly as much. As a matter of fact, the Comedy genre as a whole took a tremendous hit. 2014 was no laughing matter for Comedy- along with the Bill Cosby controversy, check out the legends and talent the world of comedy lost just THIS year: Joan Rivers, David Brenner, Sid Ceasar Jan Hooks, Rik Mayall, Mickey Rooney, Ann B Davis.

I worked with, admired, and was influenced by the following broadcasters and announcers who passed away. Russ Cassell, Monty Dupuy, Casey Kasem and Don Pardo. Musically Johnny Ramone, Jimmy Ruffin, Joe Cocker, Bobby Womack and Johnny Winter left us. Steeler coach Chuck Knoll died. Though I didn't agree with her politics, poet Maya Angelou is a loss that didn't go unnoticed by me. What little TV I watch is about to get smaller. Kinda sucked saying goodbye to the The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and The Colbert Report w/ Stephen Colbert on the same day. The HBO series Boardwalk Empire ended in a very rushed and shortened season. Mad Men and The Late Show w/ David Letterman are ending. Colbert will take over for Dave next year.. LEMONADE!!

Other prominent 2014 things I didn’t care for were:

• Obamacare
• The ebola madness
• Death by cop incidents
• Cuba kiss and make up
• Celebrity nude photos leaked
• NFL domestic violence issues an their reaction/action
• The whole Sony Pictures debacle that turned into an international incident
• The Democrat. Republican, Constitution, Libertarian, AND Tea Party political parties
• Tar heel football frustration
• Drones -both private and government/ military
• Isis and their beheadings
• My personal decline physically/ mentally, and spiritually.
• The days and weeks of “Black Friday” madness
• Crashing Spacecraft
• Gay marriage – almost as ridiculous as traditional marriage.
• Merry Friggin Christmas- one of Robin Williams' last movies- what a stinker
• Christmas 2014 madness
• Legal refer madness
• The Stock Market –artifical inflation thereof this pyramid/ ponzi scheme
• TV/internet/ radio ads for lawyers suing pharmaceutical and other corporations
• Ice bucket challenge madness
• 130+ kids among the 141 killed by terror bastards in Pakistan

I do feel fortunate and lucky in many ways. News wise, landing on a comet was pretty cool. The ice bucket challenge, while annoying as crap to me, WAS actually kind of good. CDC oil legalization is a triumph for our state. Still working. Still recovering from my accident 2 years ago. All good.

A couple of months ago, I read a fortune cookie that suggested I tell people how I feel about them. I had mixed results with this one. Probably a mistake as some people don't want to know the seriousness of how someone feels about them; especially unsolicited. Very awkward with negative and positive results. Also made me very sad one case. OK to good in others. Emotional liberation has it's price.

Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family.

The most positive, the most important thing to happen to me this year was my personal resolve to get closer to my family and those I care about. I made it a goal in my life to let those I care and love about KNOW how I feel about them. Especially my wife and close friends. Despite all my personal loss and decline this year in nearly all aspects of my life/faith/financially, I have my family and those I love and care about. Everything I do good or right, all my talent, everything I have achieved, overcame, enjoy, will do, means nothing without my family. Everything is meaningless without them. And my close friends.

I am a very thankful and consider myself lucky. I am a wealthy man in some things. I just hope to stop this downward slide. In 2015, I hope to accept my past without regret, face my future with confidence and without fear. Thanks to everyone out there.#BringIt.