last year I got this out 5 days earlier into the new year, whoops:
1. What did you do in 2023 that you'd never done before?
so first: went to Vegas (twice) and Seattle (once) and I have been reminded that "time zone difference going to Czechia" I was a little loopy on the first day but fine by the 2nd BUT THESE FUCKIN WEST COAST TIMES DESTROY ME FOR WEEKS AFTERWARDs and I reallyyyyy don't fucking get it.
I also finally got to go to Pittsburgh and it was as great as I always dreamed it would be. I also worked at the Jackie Robinson museum AND GOT PAID FOR IT, same with a Manchester United game. Things I never would've dreamed I'd be able to do.
I visited Becca in her Queens hotel in Jan and it was worth having to take a lot of allergy pills afterwards to spend time with her and my cat freinds. In March, I went to a GCW show(s) and then mom and I went to the Philly flower show. She was not impressed with Jimmy Lloyds body odor but I was like well you knew he was a wrestler by his smell AND looks. I also befriended Effy out of the wrestling ring & horse show. I helped Teri move out in March and even though she wants to die, she is still living with Greg/really Dominican, he's the bad one.
I got to see baseball in Baltimore (shockingly lovely! the stadium I mean, I was always going to love the city even if we were there for 12 hours, learned there was Jimmy Johns (so Greg & Glenn got to have their first Jimmys Johns) AND that everything is accessible via public transportation so we'll be back one day) and Pittsburgh this year. Speaking of Teri, I took the NYC bus to Atlantic City and it was Very Not Good (tm) in regards to disabilities but otherwise fine/cheap.
I GOT TO MEET BOBBY HOLIK, WHILE WEARING MY PRAGUE HOOTERS SHIRT. nothing any of you can say to me can ever fucking hurt me. Also, I've always known that Bobby "bothers people because he talks too much and would read the newspapers on road trips" Holik and I would be Very Similar (do I mean autistic? do I mean a bitch? YES) but watching him interact with tiny children and say "I am not mean. ..... no matter what your father said in the car." MEANS SO MUCH TO ME, SPECIFICALLY
So with Pittsburgh, I was able to a) have a +2 who was actually capable and could do stuff on his own while also understanding when/why/where Greg & I had to be "on" and presentable. Glenn actually hated it because apparently people were being racist to him and he wouldn't/couldn't tell me and Greg who was because he knows I would get to stepping (and Greg would do his level) but we did have a nice heart-to-heart that Greg did not understand because a) vulnerable man but also b) he's not used to "Filipino man needs alcohol to be able to say what he really feels" whereas I was like naw this is fine Glenn, you keep speaking your truth. I did have him come out to eat with the half Korean girl we befriended because I knew it would make him feel better to have a quasi Asian to talk too (and all the Hot California Asian-Mexican guys we met too. Like. Yo.)
And for Seattle, things I had never done before: stayed in an airbnb for longer than 2 days (having my "own" "room" was life-changing after never getting to have something like that in these hoarded homes I've lived in), walked around a city by myself (and literally be "by myself" at levels of "Im not in the other ASGs where people could, technically, drive 12 hours to come save my ass" -- as mom was ready to get in the car and go fight the hampton inn in cleveland for saying SHE was a liar) and got to work a MLB Draft as well as be with the parents of MLB players and befriend one of them (who was a former Yankee but we mostly were talking about Nashville/Murfreesboro) during the Red Carpet Event which I had been to at Cleveland but only as a fan off duty not on duty. And in non-baseball news, yo. I went up a fucking mountain because I felt a strange and irresistible pull to go to Mt. Rainer that I can only blame slightly on Alice in Chains because it was definitely something fucking primal that told me to go climb that big mountain in the late afternoon and come home in the dark to get home.
Keeping it National Park-y: I got to go to the Hoover Dam twice which was cool as hell even if I had several historical questions about the lies they were saying and I went to Red Rocks (?) Nevada twice and it was super cool both times, even if this means the world is a lie and I did NOT get transported to Colorado.
Greg keeping me edumacated: we saw Black Odyssey (the odyssey stylized into a black american experience), X at the Met (about you know whom), Champion (about a PR gay boxer who killed a man), and we saw Sodheim's last musical with Bobby Cannavale and Denis O'Hare so you already know my ass was giddy for it.
Each adventure I realized that I AM capable and smart and can function in greater society no matter what I had been told (either with words or actions) all of my life by everyone but my mom/Aunt Sis.
I forgot the most important thing!!!!!!! And it's related to that last thought -- I actually worked concerts for Metlife. Prior to this, I was in a tin can with a bunch of security guards (which ended up helping this year when I needed help) "working" concerts which was cool because I got to hear a lot more music, even if it was usually only the first 30 minutes of concerts. NOW. THIS YEAR. I WORKED a bunch of concerts (to be counted below) and except for the fact I couldn't hear the two I wanted to hear (Metallica & Taylor Swift), I MADE MONEY. SO MUCH MONEY DAD IS WORRIED IM GOING TO LOSE MY BENEFITS whereas I have pointed out that I make so little it'll just make me be normal poor instead of po' without the letters. MY MUSIC DESIRE AND LOVE OF PEOPLE AND ABILITY TO HANDLE HIGH STRESS SITUATIONS CAME IN GREAT.
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Every year, meme. Every year.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Kelly Kelly had her miracle twins! Thankfully that is it. I'm done being a godmother, stop making babies.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Tina Turner, Ducky, Wednesday (who I once said hello to at a Chiller), and Bull died. People who I was not close to but also felt immense sadness over included Norma Lear, Peewee (who Ulkie and Andy said Hello to at a Chiller), Harry Belafonte, Matthew Perry and Tony Bennet.
I am never going to emotionally recover from Frank Wycheck being gone nor Andre Braugher or Tim Wakefield. God is cruel and God is unfair.
5. What countries did you visit?
I STILL HAVE YET TO GO TO UTAH now that I know how close it is to Nevada. But! I got to go to Mt. Rainer (truly it's own orbit) and Seattle, Pittsburgh, Arizona (!!) and I stepped into California for 2 hours and I am counting it. My countries are growing!
6. What would you like to have in 2023 that you lacked in 2022?
the few times I was home, I wish I was able to be happier at home but my sister is a destroyer of worlds and moods and she brings everyone down with her everything and it's only going to get worse the older she gets.
7. What date from 2023 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I am terrible at times and days BUT BOBBY HOLIK WAS SOMETIME IN APRIL, WHICH IS WHEN PATRIK ELIAS IS BORN SO HOORAH APRIL!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I worked the concerts
9. What was your biggest failure?
my biggest failures are not related to me, literal, but me in general -- my sister still lives here and she is still such a fucking self centered bitch who really doesn't understand that our parents are disabled and she is also disabled and we have to be able to work TOGETHER (socialism) and instead she can't stick to anything and all it does is ruin it for all of us.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I possibly had covid again in November but nothing was official because I probably did it (the testing) too early but dear god was it terrible. And then I got sick after December 20th but that was A Cold because that was from Leilani sucking her 5 year old thumb and then wanting to hold Aunt Sarah's hand + my immune system already being low as hell. I also had a terrible diverticulitis attack and it was after YET ANOTHER healthy wrestler almost died from one (Kenny Omega, who I once saw in a boys & girls club), so I really do need to be better at watching myself.
Earlier in the year my Lady Doc wanted me to get blood work to see if my blood pressure was too high because of The Pill and I went to the doctor who gave me a low grade pill (because I am sure given my family health I need it) but I then had no time to actually go to the doctor to get my blood taken out. And I saw Lady Doc again after T. Swift's concerts because my hoohaw was a boo-haw (actual quote I heard in the metlife bathrooms) but she said it wasn't viral, I probably got dehydrated during the 4 days of T. Swift in May and then just never really relaxed long enough for it to feel ok by July.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
tickets to Seattle. PIergoi pins in Pittsburgh. Squishmellows for airplane trips (they make good pillows/ways to stop the pain of seat-belts digging into your body). I bought a lot of stuff this year because I am depressed about my sister and how I'll never be able to recover from living with her so I turned to hoarder tendencies (books, miniatures, etc)
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The Ghost of Tom Petty, who is now DOCTOR Tom Petty
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The guy who runs livejournal (for reals) for re-starting the war. Anyone who doesn't believe in genocide. Or that being pro palestine doesn't automatically mean I hate Jews?????????
14. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I wrote this last year since I did this sometime in the middle of Jan, so it still counts:
Dad and I were talking (in 2023) and he was telling me about his enemy he has in the bodega, you know, old white men with blood feuds
and I said "yes daddy, yes, that's right. We all need enemies in this family because it keeps us going." and he was like "YES. That's right. I have an enemy but he's a Bad Enemy!" and I'm like, yes, most enemies are bad, dad.
15. Where did most of your money go?
I have been trying to pay off other peoples debts. I always said I would do that when I was rich. I'm not rich yet but I am better.
16. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
SEATTLE. PITTSBURGH. HOOVER DAM?
17. What song will always remind you of 2023?
This years Cardi B lyric that I fucking *feel* :::
My back shots sound like bongos / I ain't scared to admit, I'm a freak ho
At least I'm gettin' my money / Y'all hoes broke, pussy took more turns than a keyhole
[she finally broke up with her baby daddy so I am sure next years lyric will be more relevant to my life, but this one is definitely amazing]
Tie me to a tiny wooden raft
Burn my body, point me to the undertow
Push me off into the void at last
Watch me drift and watch me struggle, let me go
'Cause I really wanna know
Will anybody ever love me? (Love me)
For good reasons, without grievance
Not for sport
Sufjan Stevens - “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”
18. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? I am unsure so we'll say middle
ii. thinner or fatter? definitely middle because I got some of my fat back but not enough that normals could tell.
iii. richer or poorer? Taylor Swift paid for my trip to Seattle so I am in the black, not the red this year.
19. What do you wish you'd done more of?
slept. worked longer at the concerts. watched more tv.
20. What do you wish you'd done less of?
not been so mushy and in my bed (we call it "Cousin Allie")
21. How will you be spending Christmas?
People were still getting over their sicknesses from Thanksgiving giving my parents Covid, and probably me and Jamie but we weren't literal positive just gross feeling (jamies gross doesnt count because she's always sick).
22. Did you fall in love in 2023?
no, but Rya fell in love with a Finn named Ka and my life will never be sane.
23. Did your heart break in 2023?
genocides everywhere.
24. How many one-night stands?
Glenn and I shared a room with Greg and even though BOTH those bitches snored, it was fine because he is a lot quieter than Adiela.
25. What was your favorite TV program?
I've been keeping track of my movies & tv but nothing really sticks out. Maybe the show about a First Nation girl who learned she was stolen in the 80s.
26. Where were you when 2023 began?
as I say every year: I think it was just me and Rya, which was ok because when the bright lights end and the world turns to darkness, that's really all I will need.
27. Who were you with?
I just told you, bitch.
28. Where will you be when 2023 ends?
I worked a football game, came home, took a nap and woke up around 10:30 PM and stayed up talking to Rya for a bit before sleeping after 1 AM (12 PM Nashville)
29. Who will you be with when 2024 starts?
Same.
30. What was the best book you read?
I read a YA about jack kerouac (sorta) that I want to donate to Daisy next door, I'm rereading one of my Florida books (or possibly I never read it before because I literally don't remember it)
31. What was your greatest musical discovery?
This is where I am supposed to say Taylor Swift because she made me rich. I listened to the same things I have for the last 15 years.
32. What did you want and get?
Seattle. Working concerts.
33. What did you want and not get?
freedom from my sister. People always say you'll miss them when they are gone, but I have never believed that about this one.
34. What was your favorite film of this year?
Anything Spencer Tracy was in but also A Man Name Otto in ones within the past 5 years.
35. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Greg and I went with an idiot who wasnt able to follow along, about a show called Black Odyssey -- it was the Odyssey goin through all of the Black American experience. It was delightful. Dailin had no idea what was happening.
36. How many different states did you travel to in 2023?
I STILL HAVE YET TO GO TO UTAH and I actively sorta kinda do want to. weird religious cults & white trash. everything I love.
Nevada, Cali, Arizona, Washington State. I will only go to Oregon if forced to for my god dogs, not the hetero man.
37. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2023?
same as its always been. now with more cocktail dresses for opera.
38. What kept you sane?
music, Rya, sports, literally the same things as always.
39. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Elias, it's always going to be him.
40. Whom did you miss?
Everyone & my sanity.
41. How many concerts did you see in 2023?
So in 2022, I ended up ghosting Thursday & Dropkick Murphys. I got to see (and live out my true 'I've always been The Mom' things by taking a youngen who turned out to be an 18 year old girl down to South Jersey where there is no real public transportation) to see Thursday.
Champion in April about a gay Spanish boxer opera was beautiful. X was a lot but beautiful in the Fall. We Shall Not Be Moved was an opera/dance experience about the Philly 1980s MOVE bombing where they blew up an entire Philly block & she is haunted by the ghosts with her brothers and it was so amazing to see it in Pittsburgh and I grabbed the girl after to give her Greg's card as he was choking on food (and the fact that he Has A Type). During the summer we (me him & Glenn) saw Candide and the guy in it was Filipino and Glenn was excited and kept re-singing the main chorus for the rest of the summer. And a cute kids opera called Rip Van Wrinkles about kids being in the middle of upstate new york nowhereville (aka cooperstown) and there being no wifi so they are like rip van wrinkle. I did not go, but we befriended a giant Colombian man (like 6'6'') who was in Romeo & Juliet where I apologized to Glen about forcing him to see it but I was never going to see the 4 hour opera.
Broadway wasn't that many this year; The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window had Oscar Issac in it and it ended up being amazing as a play and a life thing. No wonder Mel Brooks and his wife went crazy trying to get people to see this in the 70s, but this was definitely perfect for the 00s. And I saw THE SHARK IS BROKEN about the Jaws guys with the son of the actual actor in it and beetlejuice from broadway. Greg was bad this year and did not have his shit together so I went to see a bunch of stuff on my own.
In actual music Broadway though, I saw the Imelda Marcos musical Here Lies Love (because, Here, lies love or here LIES love) by David Byrne and even though some did not like/understand it, me and the other Filipina aunties in the cheap seats had a great fucking time. I sat next to a very autistic person telling her girl friend all about the history of broadway and the theater we were in and then he did not know the characters were going to be Marcos' so I butt in to be like hey bro here's that part of the history and we were giddy history gays about it, but oh my god the music was so catchy. The story was frightening because it was real. ALLEGEDLY. Just amazing all around. A fucking disco in a theater!
Wildwood was mildly disappointing for most of the days but it was ok because we spent time with Mrs. Murphy AND Hootie of the blowfishes was well worth the money I put down. He was so good. I would see him again in a heartbeat. And Lainey Wilson was amazing. I got to see her from "sitting at the guardrail backwards waiting for West Virginia Bubbas" to come on and she was so good. And I apparently knew A LOT of Blake Shelton songs. Like, I was surprised at how much and he was drunk because it was his birthday and it was a pretty decent time.
But, Kid Rock was bad in ways I never expected (I left as a social statement but really .... hearing "fucking playboy bunnies with matchbox twenty money" doesn't really ..... hold up 20 years later, you know???? It made sense in 1997 but?????? HARDY had a really good opening because it was the real bastard son of Kid Rock in that he was singing about murdering and death metal into his country but then it went to the boring bro country stuff, but those first couple of songs?????????? fuck yeah my brotha. Lady A was also like Blake in that I knew it, it was boring, it was fine. But, you know what was shocking good to my 1998 system???? Deana Carter. It turned out she was so good because her daddy was a country pop singer and it makes sense why she still has staying power.
So, the Metlife adventures: 4 fucking days of Taylor Swift. She can return whenver she wants. SADLY I was in the Pepsi corner and that one is so close to the drums that you can't hear anything because you are too close. We never had a break during T. Swift. I got to hear Khalid and Ed Sheehan and they were a good show. would I have spent the money? to be one of 90k? no. but I did buy myself a bracelet because it was cheap and it was part of my MATH SKILLS that if I make commission on everything I sell, I should buy shit for people (in this case, myself for Papa) to then resell. The security guards, as always, taught me that one. I also worked Manchester United v Arsenal and I now know it was a test with an old filipina lady no one wants to work with and The Head of the Store's Idiot Cousin and I was able to whip them into tolerable enough shape to prove my worth. I did yell at Carlos that he had on too much cologne and I was going to kill him. But, because I did that (including??? the threats) and I slept under the table because I was so tired/it was so hot), I was gifted the ability to make commission at the Jets in Florham Park's swamp. While there, I said, out loud where people could hear, I think I have sweated to death and died and again, no one stopped me.
Then I did Beyonce, who I could hear and was not impressed with but I really rarely ever have been, but the costumes were amazing and I made a couple of gay friends (including a dog in leather who I talked into "get the hell out of that and go drink some water after you buy this shirt" because it was 900 degrees and a woman in a wheelchair who I was like, give me your cash, I dont care if its not the right amount, I got chu. AND I helped out a guy who I had never met before but he was with his entire family and was tryin to show off that he worked at Metlife (but you could tell was even below me) and I made sure I helped him out, even as my Vet yelled at me but I ignored. And he sucked his teeth at Dom, so this is how I knew I loved this Jamaican man.
LATER ON DURING A HEATWAVE: This man remembered me (because I cant remember names but I can remember faces) and he brought me a shit ton of stolen fruit & ice water. ALWAYS MAKE FRIENDS.
Metallica was two nights and I was pissed that I was back at the place where I couldnt hear anything (so, again, for the two I was excited for!!!!! I could not hear) because they had Pantera, but check out 2024 for hopefully a good ending to my sadness. We were in the "cant hear SHIT" section but it was by the techs and my security ladies who came to protect me . Springsteen was bad for $ but good for me because I stood in the middle of the lot dancing to it. I couldnt always hear his voice but I know enough of that music to be able to sing along to it. A great time, I just wish Clarence was alive (a thing I said often the last however many years).
The last concert was Karol G, where I did not understand her music (literal) but I got the gist (women love her and she was in a breakup and now she is out there doing shit for herself. so some good empowering latinx shit). I also danced in the middle of the lot for this but I was also using my poor spanish to tell girls we still had merch left because it was the end of her tour and so most of our stands didn't have anything so this got us to be almost done.
And then there was football but also the HBCU which I didnt get to make $$ but I got to spend the time with my old man security man who I kept fed when we got fed by Springsteen so it was good to check in with my friends and people who are good to stay friendly with.
42. Who were the best new people you met?
I met a lot of new people at Metlife but I know almost none of their fucking names. at enterprise, I went to pittsburgh and returned to find they had hired 7 new people all at once. A real shit show. Bouncy is already gone (real name Rolanda) but she was the most ditzy person I ever met since my childhood friend Erika. Rahmir is going to be a football star outta Paterson and is autistic as shit but does not know it because SPORTS. Michelle is a depressed Italian Slovak (to quote mom, "all the ethnicities that want to kill themselves") who is older than me literal but younger than me mentally. Her husband (who was in jail!) died a few months before she got this job and life was going poorly and now life is going ok for her and I am glad. Albert is Sam's brother, mentally ill and a vet. We talk a LOT and I love my Bubba. It took him 8 months but he finally asked me the other day if "by partner" I meant im a big ol lez and I was like yep~ and now he wants to know if I can fix his sister (not sexually but just in general, and I was like I've been trying but I can't do anything if she doesn't want to change herself, just like you and your schizofriendlya!). Hassan is a smart young man with a real job and he's happy in life and doesn't think he'll be at enterprise after college and he wants to be a franchisee. And my best son is Justin who the old men don't like because he's slick but I literally love that about my son WHOSE PARENTS WERE IN QUEEN LATIFAH'S MUSIC VIDEO and his grandma found out and beat her daughter for hanging out with the hoodlum who would become his dad (and they are STILL married which I love)
Qici I had already known but this was the year we got to talk without New Drew her boyfriend around (he's not controlling, he is just controlled by terrible ADHD that he got drugs for this year) and so we are now on an even better spiritual awareness of each other while both randomly in Seattle.
43. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023:
make money, fuck bitches* *he meant fuck like to have sex with them. I mean fuck in this case as a comma and murderin' my sister, a bitch.
44. What are your plans for 2024?
Philly for Wrestlemania and the flower show. More weird opera adventures. Hopefully Canada with Crips. No baseball this year, though Teri is trying to push me towards spring training. Pantera in Jan because my mom won tickets through her radio station. Jason Isbell for reals in Feb. And John Mellencamp if HE doesn't die. Paullette wants to go to Florida so we'll see. Nichole's coming to NJ so I won't be going to Vegas this year unless lucked into it. As far as I am concerned, I'm done with the west coast, but I love her and her family too much. I'm going to be seeing Luke Bryan and a bunch of other cool names in Wildwood.
so first: went to Vegas (twice) and Seattle (once) and I have been reminded that "time zone difference going to Czechia" I was a little loopy on the first day but fine by the 2nd BUT THESE FUCKIN WEST COAST TIMES DESTROY ME FOR WEEKS AFTERWARDs and I reallyyyyy don't fucking get it.
I also finally got to go to Pittsburgh and it was as great as I always dreamed it would be. I also worked at the Jackie Robinson museum AND GOT PAID FOR IT, same with a Manchester United game. Things I never would've dreamed I'd be able to do.
I visited Becca in her Queens hotel in Jan and it was worth having to take a lot of allergy pills afterwards to spend time with her and my cat freinds. In March, I went to a GCW show(s) and then mom and I went to the Philly flower show. She was not impressed with Jimmy Lloyds body odor but I was like well you knew he was a wrestler by his smell AND looks. I also befriended Effy out of the wrestling ring & horse show. I helped Teri move out in March and even though she wants to die, she is still living with Greg/really Dominican, he's the bad one.
I got to see baseball in Baltimore (shockingly lovely! the stadium I mean, I was always going to love the city even if we were there for 12 hours, learned there was Jimmy Johns (so Greg & Glenn got to have their first Jimmys Johns) AND that everything is accessible via public transportation so we'll be back one day) and Pittsburgh this year. Speaking of Teri, I took the NYC bus to Atlantic City and it was Very Not Good (tm) in regards to disabilities but otherwise fine/cheap.
I GOT TO MEET BOBBY HOLIK, WHILE WEARING MY PRAGUE HOOTERS SHIRT. nothing any of you can say to me can ever fucking hurt me. Also, I've always known that Bobby "bothers people because he talks too much and would read the newspapers on road trips" Holik and I would be Very Similar (do I mean autistic? do I mean a bitch? YES) but watching him interact with tiny children and say "I am not mean. ..... no matter what your father said in the car." MEANS SO MUCH TO ME, SPECIFICALLY
So with Pittsburgh, I was able to a) have a +2 who was actually capable and could do stuff on his own while also understanding when/why/where Greg & I had to be "on" and presentable. Glenn actually hated it because apparently people were being racist to him and he wouldn't/couldn't tell me and Greg who was because he knows I would get to stepping (and Greg would do his level) but we did have a nice heart-to-heart that Greg did not understand because a) vulnerable man but also b) he's not used to "Filipino man needs alcohol to be able to say what he really feels" whereas I was like naw this is fine Glenn, you keep speaking your truth. I did have him come out to eat with the half Korean girl we befriended because I knew it would make him feel better to have a quasi Asian to talk too (and all the Hot California Asian-Mexican guys we met too. Like. Yo.)
And for Seattle, things I had never done before: stayed in an airbnb for longer than 2 days (having my "own" "room" was life-changing after never getting to have something like that in these hoarded homes I've lived in), walked around a city by myself (and literally be "by myself" at levels of "Im not in the other ASGs where people could, technically, drive 12 hours to come save my ass" -- as mom was ready to get in the car and go fight the hampton inn in cleveland for saying SHE was a liar) and got to work a MLB Draft as well as be with the parents of MLB players and befriend one of them (who was a former Yankee but we mostly were talking about Nashville/Murfreesboro) during the Red Carpet Event which I had been to at Cleveland but only as a fan off duty not on duty. And in non-baseball news, yo. I went up a fucking mountain because I felt a strange and irresistible pull to go to Mt. Rainer that I can only blame slightly on Alice in Chains because it was definitely something fucking primal that told me to go climb that big mountain in the late afternoon and come home in the dark to get home.
Keeping it National Park-y: I got to go to the Hoover Dam twice which was cool as hell even if I had several historical questions about the lies they were saying and I went to Red Rocks (?) Nevada twice and it was super cool both times, even if this means the world is a lie and I did NOT get transported to Colorado.
Greg keeping me edumacated: we saw Black Odyssey (the odyssey stylized into a black american experience), X at the Met (about you know whom), Champion (about a PR gay boxer who killed a man), and we saw Sodheim's last musical with Bobby Cannavale and Denis O'Hare so you already know my ass was giddy for it.
Each adventure I realized that I AM capable and smart and can function in greater society no matter what I had been told (either with words or actions) all of my life by everyone but my mom/Aunt Sis.
I forgot the most important thing!!!!!!! And it's related to that last thought -- I actually worked concerts for Metlife. Prior to this, I was in a tin can with a bunch of security guards (which ended up helping this year when I needed help) "working" concerts which was cool because I got to hear a lot more music, even if it was usually only the first 30 minutes of concerts. NOW. THIS YEAR. I WORKED a bunch of concerts (to be counted below) and except for the fact I couldn't hear the two I wanted to hear (Metallica & Taylor Swift), I MADE MONEY. SO MUCH MONEY DAD IS WORRIED IM GOING TO LOSE MY BENEFITS whereas I have pointed out that I make so little it'll just make me be normal poor instead of po' without the letters. MY MUSIC DESIRE AND LOVE OF PEOPLE AND ABILITY TO HANDLE HIGH STRESS SITUATIONS CAME IN GREAT.
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Every year, meme. Every year.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Kelly Kelly had her miracle twins! Thankfully that is it. I'm done being a godmother, stop making babies.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Tina Turner, Ducky, Wednesday (who I once said hello to at a Chiller), and Bull died. People who I was not close to but also felt immense sadness over included Norma Lear, Peewee (who Ulkie and Andy said Hello to at a Chiller), Harry Belafonte, Matthew Perry and Tony Bennet.
I am never going to emotionally recover from Frank Wycheck being gone nor Andre Braugher or Tim Wakefield. God is cruel and God is unfair.
5. What countries did you visit?
I STILL HAVE YET TO GO TO UTAH now that I know how close it is to Nevada. But! I got to go to Mt. Rainer (truly it's own orbit) and Seattle, Pittsburgh, Arizona (!!) and I stepped into California for 2 hours and I am counting it. My countries are growing!
6. What would you like to have in 2023 that you lacked in 2022?
the few times I was home, I wish I was able to be happier at home but my sister is a destroyer of worlds and moods and she brings everyone down with her everything and it's only going to get worse the older she gets.
7. What date from 2023 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I am terrible at times and days BUT BOBBY HOLIK WAS SOMETIME IN APRIL, WHICH IS WHEN PATRIK ELIAS IS BORN SO HOORAH APRIL!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I worked the concerts
9. What was your biggest failure?
my biggest failures are not related to me, literal, but me in general -- my sister still lives here and she is still such a fucking self centered bitch who really doesn't understand that our parents are disabled and she is also disabled and we have to be able to work TOGETHER (socialism) and instead she can't stick to anything and all it does is ruin it for all of us.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I possibly had covid again in November but nothing was official because I probably did it (the testing) too early but dear god was it terrible. And then I got sick after December 20th but that was A Cold because that was from Leilani sucking her 5 year old thumb and then wanting to hold Aunt Sarah's hand + my immune system already being low as hell. I also had a terrible diverticulitis attack and it was after YET ANOTHER healthy wrestler almost died from one (Kenny Omega, who I once saw in a boys & girls club), so I really do need to be better at watching myself.
Earlier in the year my Lady Doc wanted me to get blood work to see if my blood pressure was too high because of The Pill and I went to the doctor who gave me a low grade pill (because I am sure given my family health I need it) but I then had no time to actually go to the doctor to get my blood taken out. And I saw Lady Doc again after T. Swift's concerts because my hoohaw was a boo-haw (actual quote I heard in the metlife bathrooms) but she said it wasn't viral, I probably got dehydrated during the 4 days of T. Swift in May and then just never really relaxed long enough for it to feel ok by July.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
tickets to Seattle. PIergoi pins in Pittsburgh. Squishmellows for airplane trips (they make good pillows/ways to stop the pain of seat-belts digging into your body). I bought a lot of stuff this year because I am depressed about my sister and how I'll never be able to recover from living with her so I turned to hoarder tendencies (books, miniatures, etc)
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The Ghost of Tom Petty, who is now DOCTOR Tom Petty
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The guy who runs livejournal (for reals) for re-starting the war. Anyone who doesn't believe in genocide. Or that being pro palestine doesn't automatically mean I hate Jews?????????
14. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I wrote this last year since I did this sometime in the middle of Jan, so it still counts:
Dad and I were talking (in 2023) and he was telling me about his enemy he has in the bodega, you know, old white men with blood feuds
and I said "yes daddy, yes, that's right. We all need enemies in this family because it keeps us going." and he was like "YES. That's right. I have an enemy but he's a Bad Enemy!" and I'm like, yes, most enemies are bad, dad.
15. Where did most of your money go?
I have been trying to pay off other peoples debts. I always said I would do that when I was rich. I'm not rich yet but I am better.
16. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
SEATTLE. PITTSBURGH. HOOVER DAM?
17. What song will always remind you of 2023?
This years Cardi B lyric that I fucking *feel* :::
My back shots sound like bongos / I ain't scared to admit, I'm a freak ho
At least I'm gettin' my money / Y'all hoes broke, pussy took more turns than a keyhole
[she finally broke up with her baby daddy so I am sure next years lyric will be more relevant to my life, but this one is definitely amazing]
Tie me to a tiny wooden raft
Burn my body, point me to the undertow
Push me off into the void at last
Watch me drift and watch me struggle, let me go
'Cause I really wanna know
Will anybody ever love me? (Love me)
For good reasons, without grievance
Not for sport
Sufjan Stevens - “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”
18. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? I am unsure so we'll say middle
ii. thinner or fatter? definitely middle because I got some of my fat back but not enough that normals could tell.
iii. richer or poorer? Taylor Swift paid for my trip to Seattle so I am in the black, not the red this year.
19. What do you wish you'd done more of?
slept. worked longer at the concerts. watched more tv.
20. What do you wish you'd done less of?
not been so mushy and in my bed (we call it "Cousin Allie")
21. How will you be spending Christmas?
People were still getting over their sicknesses from Thanksgiving giving my parents Covid, and probably me and Jamie but we weren't literal positive just gross feeling (jamies gross doesnt count because she's always sick).
22. Did you fall in love in 2023?
no, but Rya fell in love with a Finn named Ka and my life will never be sane.
23. Did your heart break in 2023?
genocides everywhere.
24. How many one-night stands?
Glenn and I shared a room with Greg and even though BOTH those bitches snored, it was fine because he is a lot quieter than Adiela.
25. What was your favorite TV program?
I've been keeping track of my movies & tv but nothing really sticks out. Maybe the show about a First Nation girl who learned she was stolen in the 80s.
26. Where were you when 2023 began?
as I say every year: I think it was just me and Rya, which was ok because when the bright lights end and the world turns to darkness, that's really all I will need.
27. Who were you with?
I just told you, bitch.
28. Where will you be when 2023 ends?
I worked a football game, came home, took a nap and woke up around 10:30 PM and stayed up talking to Rya for a bit before sleeping after 1 AM (12 PM Nashville)
29. Who will you be with when 2024 starts?
Same.
30. What was the best book you read?
I read a YA about jack kerouac (sorta) that I want to donate to Daisy next door, I'm rereading one of my Florida books (or possibly I never read it before because I literally don't remember it)
31. What was your greatest musical discovery?
This is where I am supposed to say Taylor Swift because she made me rich. I listened to the same things I have for the last 15 years.
32. What did you want and get?
Seattle. Working concerts.
33. What did you want and not get?
freedom from my sister. People always say you'll miss them when they are gone, but I have never believed that about this one.
34. What was your favorite film of this year?
Anything Spencer Tracy was in but also A Man Name Otto in ones within the past 5 years.
35. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Greg and I went with an idiot who wasnt able to follow along, about a show called Black Odyssey -- it was the Odyssey goin through all of the Black American experience. It was delightful. Dailin had no idea what was happening.
36. How many different states did you travel to in 2023?
I STILL HAVE YET TO GO TO UTAH and I actively sorta kinda do want to. weird religious cults & white trash. everything I love.
Nevada, Cali, Arizona, Washington State. I will only go to Oregon if forced to for my god dogs, not the hetero man.
37. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2023?
same as its always been. now with more cocktail dresses for opera.
38. What kept you sane?
music, Rya, sports, literally the same things as always.
39. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Elias, it's always going to be him.
40. Whom did you miss?
Everyone & my sanity.
41. How many concerts did you see in 2023?
So in 2022, I ended up ghosting Thursday & Dropkick Murphys. I got to see (and live out my true 'I've always been The Mom' things by taking a youngen who turned out to be an 18 year old girl down to South Jersey where there is no real public transportation) to see Thursday.
Champion in April about a gay Spanish boxer opera was beautiful. X was a lot but beautiful in the Fall. We Shall Not Be Moved was an opera/dance experience about the Philly 1980s MOVE bombing where they blew up an entire Philly block & she is haunted by the ghosts with her brothers and it was so amazing to see it in Pittsburgh and I grabbed the girl after to give her Greg's card as he was choking on food (and the fact that he Has A Type). During the summer we (me him & Glenn) saw Candide and the guy in it was Filipino and Glenn was excited and kept re-singing the main chorus for the rest of the summer. And a cute kids opera called Rip Van Wrinkles about kids being in the middle of upstate new york nowhereville (aka cooperstown) and there being no wifi so they are like rip van wrinkle. I did not go, but we befriended a giant Colombian man (like 6'6'') who was in Romeo & Juliet where I apologized to Glen about forcing him to see it but I was never going to see the 4 hour opera.
Broadway wasn't that many this year; The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window had Oscar Issac in it and it ended up being amazing as a play and a life thing. No wonder Mel Brooks and his wife went crazy trying to get people to see this in the 70s, but this was definitely perfect for the 00s. And I saw THE SHARK IS BROKEN about the Jaws guys with the son of the actual actor in it and beetlejuice from broadway. Greg was bad this year and did not have his shit together so I went to see a bunch of stuff on my own.
In actual music Broadway though, I saw the Imelda Marcos musical Here Lies Love (because, Here, lies love or here LIES love) by David Byrne and even though some did not like/understand it, me and the other Filipina aunties in the cheap seats had a great fucking time. I sat next to a very autistic person telling her girl friend all about the history of broadway and the theater we were in and then he did not know the characters were going to be Marcos' so I butt in to be like hey bro here's that part of the history and we were giddy history gays about it, but oh my god the music was so catchy. The story was frightening because it was real. ALLEGEDLY. Just amazing all around. A fucking disco in a theater!
Wildwood was mildly disappointing for most of the days but it was ok because we spent time with Mrs. Murphy AND Hootie of the blowfishes was well worth the money I put down. He was so good. I would see him again in a heartbeat. And Lainey Wilson was amazing. I got to see her from "sitting at the guardrail backwards waiting for West Virginia Bubbas" to come on and she was so good. And I apparently knew A LOT of Blake Shelton songs. Like, I was surprised at how much and he was drunk because it was his birthday and it was a pretty decent time.
But, Kid Rock was bad in ways I never expected (I left as a social statement but really .... hearing "fucking playboy bunnies with matchbox twenty money" doesn't really ..... hold up 20 years later, you know???? It made sense in 1997 but?????? HARDY had a really good opening because it was the real bastard son of Kid Rock in that he was singing about murdering and death metal into his country but then it went to the boring bro country stuff, but those first couple of songs?????????? fuck yeah my brotha. Lady A was also like Blake in that I knew it, it was boring, it was fine. But, you know what was shocking good to my 1998 system???? Deana Carter. It turned out she was so good because her daddy was a country pop singer and it makes sense why she still has staying power.
So, the Metlife adventures: 4 fucking days of Taylor Swift. She can return whenver she wants. SADLY I was in the Pepsi corner and that one is so close to the drums that you can't hear anything because you are too close. We never had a break during T. Swift. I got to hear Khalid and Ed Sheehan and they were a good show. would I have spent the money? to be one of 90k? no. but I did buy myself a bracelet because it was cheap and it was part of my MATH SKILLS that if I make commission on everything I sell, I should buy shit for people (in this case, myself for Papa) to then resell. The security guards, as always, taught me that one. I also worked Manchester United v Arsenal and I now know it was a test with an old filipina lady no one wants to work with and The Head of the Store's Idiot Cousin and I was able to whip them into tolerable enough shape to prove my worth. I did yell at Carlos that he had on too much cologne and I was going to kill him. But, because I did that (including??? the threats) and I slept under the table because I was so tired/it was so hot), I was gifted the ability to make commission at the Jets in Florham Park's swamp. While there, I said, out loud where people could hear, I think I have sweated to death and died and again, no one stopped me.
Then I did Beyonce, who I could hear and was not impressed with but I really rarely ever have been, but the costumes were amazing and I made a couple of gay friends (including a dog in leather who I talked into "get the hell out of that and go drink some water after you buy this shirt" because it was 900 degrees and a woman in a wheelchair who I was like, give me your cash, I dont care if its not the right amount, I got chu. AND I helped out a guy who I had never met before but he was with his entire family and was tryin to show off that he worked at Metlife (but you could tell was even below me) and I made sure I helped him out, even as my Vet yelled at me but I ignored. And he sucked his teeth at Dom, so this is how I knew I loved this Jamaican man.
LATER ON DURING A HEATWAVE: This man remembered me (because I cant remember names but I can remember faces) and he brought me a shit ton of stolen fruit & ice water. ALWAYS MAKE FRIENDS.
Metallica was two nights and I was pissed that I was back at the place where I couldnt hear anything (so, again, for the two I was excited for!!!!! I could not hear) because they had Pantera, but check out 2024 for hopefully a good ending to my sadness. We were in the "cant hear SHIT" section but it was by the techs and my security ladies who came to protect me . Springsteen was bad for $ but good for me because I stood in the middle of the lot dancing to it. I couldnt always hear his voice but I know enough of that music to be able to sing along to it. A great time, I just wish Clarence was alive (a thing I said often the last however many years).
The last concert was Karol G, where I did not understand her music (literal) but I got the gist (women love her and she was in a breakup and now she is out there doing shit for herself. so some good empowering latinx shit). I also danced in the middle of the lot for this but I was also using my poor spanish to tell girls we still had merch left because it was the end of her tour and so most of our stands didn't have anything so this got us to be almost done.
And then there was football but also the HBCU which I didnt get to make $$ but I got to spend the time with my old man security man who I kept fed when we got fed by Springsteen so it was good to check in with my friends and people who are good to stay friendly with.
42. Who were the best new people you met?
I met a lot of new people at Metlife but I know almost none of their fucking names. at enterprise, I went to pittsburgh and returned to find they had hired 7 new people all at once. A real shit show. Bouncy is already gone (real name Rolanda) but she was the most ditzy person I ever met since my childhood friend Erika. Rahmir is going to be a football star outta Paterson and is autistic as shit but does not know it because SPORTS. Michelle is a depressed Italian Slovak (to quote mom, "all the ethnicities that want to kill themselves") who is older than me literal but younger than me mentally. Her husband (who was in jail!) died a few months before she got this job and life was going poorly and now life is going ok for her and I am glad. Albert is Sam's brother, mentally ill and a vet. We talk a LOT and I love my Bubba. It took him 8 months but he finally asked me the other day if "by partner" I meant im a big ol lez and I was like yep~ and now he wants to know if I can fix his sister (not sexually but just in general, and I was like I've been trying but I can't do anything if she doesn't want to change herself, just like you and your schizofriendlya!). Hassan is a smart young man with a real job and he's happy in life and doesn't think he'll be at enterprise after college and he wants to be a franchisee. And my best son is Justin who the old men don't like because he's slick but I literally love that about my son WHOSE PARENTS WERE IN QUEEN LATIFAH'S MUSIC VIDEO and his grandma found out and beat her daughter for hanging out with the hoodlum who would become his dad (and they are STILL married which I love)
Qici I had already known but this was the year we got to talk without New Drew her boyfriend around (he's not controlling, he is just controlled by terrible ADHD that he got drugs for this year) and so we are now on an even better spiritual awareness of each other while both randomly in Seattle.
43. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023:
make money, fuck bitches* *he meant fuck like to have sex with them. I mean fuck in this case as a comma and murderin' my sister, a bitch.
44. What are your plans for 2024?
Philly for Wrestlemania and the flower show. More weird opera adventures. Hopefully Canada with Crips. No baseball this year, though Teri is trying to push me towards spring training. Pantera in Jan because my mom won tickets through her radio station. Jason Isbell for reals in Feb. And John Mellencamp if HE doesn't die. Paullette wants to go to Florida so we'll see. Nichole's coming to NJ so I won't be going to Vegas this year unless lucked into it. As far as I am concerned, I'm done with the west coast, but I love her and her family too much. I'm going to be seeing Luke Bryan and a bunch of other cool names in Wildwood.