It's an unhappy new year.
Most years, I go into the new year with optimism for a better me and a better world. It doesn't feel that way this year.
This past year, my mother passed away. That has left me with an emptiness. I've had some health issues. My world of production, working as a freelance gaffer with a lighting and electric rental business, is uncertain in general. I'm not sure my business model will still exist in a few years. Artificial Intelligence is posed to possibly upend everything. Then there is the state of our current government. This editorial in USA Today says everything I want to say about it:
And there this:
https://electricgrip.blogspot.com/2025/03/mikes-soapbox-why-do-we-elect-our.html
For over 20 years, I've had the tradition of sending fun New Year cards. I didn't make one this year. Sorry to everyone expecting one. I just wasn't in the mood for something fun. I had no ideas. Then I got sick right after Christmas, the time I would usually be making a card. It didn't seem right to me to be making a fun card since this is my unhappy new year.
There is precedence. My father-in-law died just before Christmas years ago. I was working on a card--I think it was going to be a good one--but never finished it.
If you are looking for some fun pictures, you can go to this link of my past cards:
https://electricgrip.blogspot.com/p/new-year-cards.html
Here is last year's card. I never added it to the main page:
https://electricgrip.blogspot.com/2025/01/happy-new-year-its-2025.html
For me, it's Unhappy New Year . . .