2017 - The Year in Review

Much like it's predecessor, 2016, this year, 2017, has been strange.

Same old same old on the political front? Well, in some ways yes, and of course, in some ways, no. Things are never normal when you have someone like who we have now in charge. But you elect a clown, like this nation did in 2016, and you have to expect a circus.

This was the year that Donald Trump officially became President when he officially went through the Inauguration and took the oath of office.

Since then, it has largely felt like a nightmare on many levels ever since. The United States just passed this horrendous tax bill, where some high-ranking Republican government officials that made sure it would become the law of the land - specifically, Senator Marco Rubio and, most noticeably, Donald Trump himself - have admitted that this bill primarily benefits the wealthiest Americans, with Trump telling all of his rich, elitist friends in Mar-a-Lago that he made them all a lot richer, and Rubio recently admitting that the bill probably goes too far in benefiting corporations.

This year, under Trump, we also saw the United States become the first country to withdraw from the Paris Accord, and we now stand as the only nation to reject it on the premise that we do not fully believe in the science. In 2017.

Unbelievable. 

Trump also stood before the United Nations, right around Peace Day, and threatened to wipe another nation off the map. Nazis marched on the streets of one American town, and Trump seemed very hesitant to criticize them. And those are just some of the news stories from Washington, but enough about that idiocy.  Enough about Trump. Let me try to make this a bit more optimistic and positive than that.

So, 2017 was a cool year in some other ways. Science and technology continue to amaze, and to define our age. A mission to Mars will begin in the not so distant future. A new fast train was announced for the United States by Elon Musk. And digital currency, the Bitcoin, really took off in value, although there are some serious questions remaining about it. 

There were some good movies, including "The Promise," which featured a song by the late great Chris Cornell, who died this year. Some other great musicians who died this year include Tom Petty,  Chester Bennington, Chuck Berry, and Fats Domino. 

This was the year of the release of the second Star Wars, although the jury is still out on that one. Some fans loved it, and some hated it. I personally appreciated some aspects of it, and could have done without other things that were in the movie.

It was a good year for my son and I. We did not go on another huge western trip, although we took some smaller trips, including going up to Ottawa, Canada, for the 150th anniversary of Confederation. We also made it up to Québec City for a Tintin exhibit. We also took several trips to New York City, including one for the Paul McCartney concert that I really wanted to take him to for years! 

Finally, it was a very nice year here on the Charbor Chronicles! Earlier this year, I reached half a million views, far earlier than I could possibly have imagined! It was amazing! And recently, I noticed that there are some new followers, which is really cool and greatly appreciated. Welcome, old and new followers! I lost more than half of my followers when Google decided that only people with Google accounts could follow blogs like mine, which was annoying. But it is nice to see some new faces, some new interest. Overall, this was a good year for my writing, as I finally started getting a bit more serious about putting that first book together. Stay tuned for that!

All in all, a mixed year. Some things that I will not miss, but some things that I am grateful for, including the relative good health and happiness of family and friends.

Let's hope that 2018 is even better!