edgeling2012 in 2013

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Anyone remember that name? When i first ventured on to the internet, i used “edgeling2012” as my first handle. I think the year was 1998, and i was listening to too much Coast-to-Coast AM, and just liked the idea that the year 2012 had some kind of mystical significance. Any trace of that superstition in my brain was gone by about 2002.

2012 is over and done. It turned out to be a pretty good year for me, all things told.

This year started out pretty rough, though. My brother and i were blindsided by that mess with Mary’s trailer, and we spent the first half of the year paying it off, cleaning it, and selling the damned thing so we wouldn’t have to face the unfathomable possibility of living in it. Thank god that all worked out. I did lose about $1,200 on the deal, but made it back gradually by doing drawings for money like the artistic prostitute that i am. I’m glad the universe balances out like that, but why can’t it just swing all my direction?

It was an interesting year at my crappy workplace, that’s for sure.

I had some lame coworkers at first. That lazy Springer guy held on for a few months before succumbing to… whatever was doing that to him. He got to the point where he looked like a reanimated corpse. Nobody that sleepy is able to work…

…and there were a few memorable months with that Whitaker kid, the 19-year old North Carolina babyface redneck drama queen…

…and a month or so with that Walker guy, who was middle-aged and more boring than anything. By then, i hadn’t had a decent coworker since the middle of 2010, and was resigned to working with stiffs and duds forever.

But then in June, Dahir appeared. And then Muna popped up in August. And it’s been smooth sailing ever since. Some of my best memories this year are those random nights posted up on the hill, watching old movies like Fire and Ice, Rock’n’Rule, and Heavy Traffic.

“What? Man, Darkwolf should have ended up with the girl at the end, not that soft nigga!

That was funny. Good times.

My workplace had that months-long flirtation with the Droid smartphone. Supervisors came and left. Parrish, Huff, and Brittnei Houston all vanished, which was sad. Morell vanished. Miss Hastings was fired. Reese was fired. The management kept screaming about a draconian new regime every month or so, determined to claw its way back into the city’s good graces. Last i checked, we’re still in limbo, just as we were on the first day of the year.

I worked about as much overtime as i did in 2011. Six days most weeks, and occasionally there was a five or seven day week in there. Luckily, i spent all of my time at the Stone Ring or good old KRH, with no jaunts over to Omohundro or Stormwater. Those places suck. Some of my other best memories of this year were those days i spent hanging out with Lewis at KRH, being busy and talking about Naruto and other random crap. He says that he might be gone soon as well, and it’s weird to think of that place with no Lewis. Literally, every day i worked at KRH in 2012 was with him.

So much work. I cashed in my vacation days. No vacation, didn’t miss a single day of work all year. I am a happy robot.

Good year. Not the best, but not bad.

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Yeesh, the holidays are over now. As always, i get depressed and think, was that it? Nothing else is going to happen?

And where’s the snow? Aren’t we going to get any?

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Wow, okay, i have two days off here. I thought i was going to spend them moving, but i was so diligent during the week — waking up early and taking over two carloads of stuff every night — that’s there’s really not much else to do until Saturday, when we get the U-Haul for the big things. This old apartment is stripped bare, nothing left but a couch, a TV, some empty bookshelves, and two beds.

Three more days here. I can’t fathom it. We’re leaving. We came here in the summer of 2002 and now we’re finally getting out. I love the new place so much more.

Random association: i recall that the week we moved in here, that was when Krysten and Justin were in France. I was working at Outback and was still sneaking into the college labs because i didn’t own my own computer. Ancient memories.

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The first thing i did in 2012 was drive from KRH to the Stone Ring while “Blinded by the Light” segued into “Tom Sawyer” on the radio.

The first thing i did in 2013 was to listen to a shitload of gunfire. The Stone Ring is right next to the hood, so there are always a few gunshots on New Year’s Eve. But this year, the hoodies were going nuts. We’re talking repeated shots for about 20 minutes, as if 3-4 people were just emptying clips into the air over and over again. Not a single cop showed up… nah, they only call in murders in this town.

Dahir and i went from “we should go inside” to “should we get under the desk?” at some point.

Fucking crap.

2013.

Hey, i had an idea. I’m going to ask my future self some questions, and answer them at the end of this year.

Hey! Marc sitting on your ass on December 31st, 2013!

Are you still working at the Stone Ring, or did that bastard Sylvain transfer you for no reason? Is Sylvain even still there? Did you ever get that raise?

Are either Muna or Dahir still there? How about the Oaf? Milliken? Mr. Robins? Nilley? Lewis?

Did you accomplish your lofty artistic goals? Did you draw those epic drawings you have in mind? Do you now have a portfolio that includes vehicles, animals, landscapes, and sketches? If not, why not?

Do you have galleries set up at the Behance Network and CGTalk? If not, why not?

Has everything gone well at Kingwood? Any weird setbacks or disasters?

Are your brother and Mary still together?

Are all three dogs still alive? Godzilla and Cooper are… getting old.

You went and saw Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 and Star Trek Into Darkness and The Man of Steel, right? You fucking nerd.

Have you overcome the PW issue? (Don’t ask.)

Is America still kinda lurching along like an overweight, drunken, but still somewhat vigorous middle-aged hobo?

Did you touch any boobies? Did you even get close? Fucking loser.

Yes.

Future Marc, this is a transmission from one year ago. I am you, from another era. I hope you are still okay and that nothing fucking catastrophic has happened in your life. Doom is out there, and if you dodge it for one more year, you’re doing pretty okay.

Excelsior.

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