Cheers to 2018!

This afternoon on the walk to work I strolled past a crazy person on the sidewalk prophesizing what was yet to come. I would have stuck around longer to listen but I was already running late and still had to pick up a bottle of bubbles.

This post comes to you directly from my writing desk here at the Fox Den. I just finished my last serving shift of 2017 and am now kicking it casual with a glass of Chilean red wine and “Oh Wonder” streaming on Youtube.

As a server, I am always relieved when the month of December comes to an end. While it is true that a ginger must remind themselves to be grateful for a full section, it is also true that serving back-to-back Christmas parties can drive a person nuts. Addiction aside, I have always found there to be an element of civility when waiting upon seasoned alcoholics. Festive cheer aside, there is no dignity when it comes to serving someone alcohol who is plastered after two sips of a cocktail.

I must say I am looking forward to introducing myself to 2018. Unlike this same time last year, when Trump was about to be inaugurated POTUS, and every time someone sneezed, another beloved public figured died, I think this January holds a lot of promise.

Looking back, rather than focus on the on the global destruction that 2017 brought with it, I have decided instead to centre my attention on everything good that came out of it. Full disclosure, I sat down to write this post two nights ago, and granted that it was miserable and pouring rain outside, within 500 words I was shocked to find myself turning into a Kleenex blowing Sad Sally. This time around I am trying a different approach.

The truth is, no matter what challenges have arisen in the past year, I have a boatload to be grateful for. Not only did I get to welcome seventeen thousand babies into this world, I also got to see the Backstreet Boys perform live in Las Vegas with my best friend Valentina. While my writing took a major hit, my pooch nephew Clark and I also became a comic strip, so that was a trade-off. And, in September I moved back into the West End and officially renewed my status as an eligible gay man.

Since taking up residence in the Fox Den, I feel as if I have been laying the groundwork for the years to come. I will be the first to admit that I have been more sloppy than savant during this process; but change is rarely pretty. Like my best friend Claire’s eight-month-old son Jack, I have been waking up each day trying to figure out who the man is that am becoming. While getting up on two feet has been a challenge (literally) I have also been taking each fall in stride. There is a large part of me that can see my potential lying crystal clear in the distance. Right now I am just having trouble reaching it.

Tonight at the restaurant I was asked what my goals are for the new year; a question which I usually shutter at. Except this time around (again new approach) I paused to think about it. Here is what I have come up with so far for 2018:

On the creative front, I would like to drink less red wine in order to better focus on publishing Rugged Fox, drafting the script for the hit television series “May I Speak?” (which is still in my head) and drawing more comic strips with Clark.

On the romantic front, I would like to drink less red wine in order to start kissing less toads at three in the morning, and start dating more princes in the early afternoon. While the Fox Den has quickly become a haven for mediocre sex, I would like to rekindle that passion I once had for sobriety and companionship.

And on the red wine front, I would like to start drinking more of the expensive stuff. While this fabulous West End life is great, now that my rent has doubled, my wine consumption has become unquestionably cheap.

Happy New Year folks!