Eyes on 2017

[Baloki]

It’s been a bumpy year for the world stage, but honestly, that’s not everything!

Tell us your highs and lows from the year of 2017.

[Loony BoB]

My low was the turn of the year, when I fell apart over New Years and felt like I lost a good friend because I got drunk and voice called them and was massively embarrassed over it afterwards so stopped talking to them for a while. It's only got better since then. :) High was everything related to Sarah, from revealing we like each other to hooking up to meeting in person to travelling around Australia to just spending time together. Oh, and friend I felt I lost is very much a friend still and keeps up with me so that got resolved too. :')

Uncle John passed away this year too and that was a sad time for my family, he was such a great person in all ways.

[Night Fury]

The good


Moved into our own place - it's fancy as fuck too
Started my first real full time job
Started saving and getting pretty good with money
Did some traveling around Australia
Made some wonderful friends over here and started to feel like I belong and started building my own independent circle.
Got my permanent residency for Australia - only took 5 years yo'
Quit a sucky fucking job and landed in a fucking awesome job
I'm alive and healthy and still kicking :D


The bad

My nana died in February and I missed all of that/funeral and stuff
My family back in the UK had a mega fallout after nana died and I don't think it's resolved still
Went through an absolute shithouse at my work and had to deal with a horrible bully senior
My anxiety came back for a while in October/November and was really horrendous.

[Sephex]

It's been a rough year for myself and my family.

My dad had to get an operation to fight a low grade version of cancer. To make a long, depressing story short, the operation didn't go quite right and he had to undergo an emergency operation. He could have easily died. After a month in the hospital, he finally got barely good enough to get home. That was back in June/July. I would say around October my dad truly showed very positive signs of recovery. He is much more independent now. There are still a couple of hurdles he will need to clear, but it seems that my dad might be okay.

Friends of mine got divorced. That's also a long story and it wouldn't be right to air other peoples dirty laundry. I'll just leave it as that the situation was obviously tremendously stressful for all involved.

Childhood friend of mine got killed by someone that hit and ran him over. I haven't physically seen him in years, but we did chat through social media. I was lucky enough to share some pictures with him and remind him of all the awesome stuff we did together as kids. I'm still processing this one as this happened fairly recently.

In general my emotions have been a mess because of this year. But...

I am trying to get better. Despite the holiday season, I have finally been making a true effort to lose weight. So far I am closing in on 20lbs lost. I have lost a lot of weight before, so I have experience doing it. Though last time I was 19/20 as opposed to be being in the dead center of my 30s, but it looks like the changes I have made to my diet are working.

I also got off my ass and cleaned my condo (mostly). My girlfriend and I are lazy housekeepers and we just have too much stuff. During my time off around Thanksgiving, I literally woke up upset about me leaving a wrapper on my coffee table. For whatever reason that started a vicious cleaning frenzy. My bedroom looks like crap still because, again, we have too much stuff, but all other areas look the best they have been since I moved in, and I am keeping it up (this is nothing short of a miracle for me). I mean, when I have people over we aren't going to hang in my bedroom anyway, so it feels nice that all areas people will be at least look someone passable at worst.

So I am trying hard to unfuck myself. I generally feel great because I just came off a great Christmas yesterday. I am hoping that 2018 will be a better year. Even if not, I am determined to get both my emotional state and my physical state under control. I don't have to be a perfectly chiseled muscle man while never being emotionally compromised, but just getting better helps tremendously. As far as the weight thing goes, I forgot how much better you feel when your body suddenly realizes it doesn't have to manage as much weight as it used to, as well as generally having more energy and not feeling like a beached whale that lit itself on fire as a protest.

Oh shit my break is over.

[Levian]

2016 was the year everything happened for me, mostly good stuff, so 2017 has been quite stable. But let's try to remember some events.

Good stuff:
-Got my driver's licence! At the refined age of 31. I'm somewhat to blame for the procrastination, but I mostly blame youtube regardless.
-Got a permanent contract at work, been on a temporary contract for a year or so after switching workplace in 2016.
-Went on a bike trip from Oxford to Bath. Saw beautiful things.
-Went to Gibraltar, and a monkey TOUCHED ME! :love:
-Went to Malaga and walked El Caminito del Rey. Been dreaming of that ever since that one youtube video went viral many years ago.
-Went to Budapest, and explored the crap out of that city. Most fascinating city I've visited so far.
-Been getting into some cryptography over the year, interesting stuff.

Bad stuff:
Nothing much really, but I've felt I've lost contact with some friends and family, and I'm hoping it won't be hard picking things up from there. I definitely need to prioritize maintaining relations in 2018.

[MJN SEIFER]

For the most part, 2017 has been an awesome year for me, as have all years as of late, but of course there were some low points as well. In no real order, the good and the bad are as follows.


The Good

1. Made a start on my YouTube channel, as I now want it to be (it's a small start, but still a start).
2. Turned thirty, and had an awesome party to celebrate.
3. Took some awesome vacations, Spain probably being my favorite, but they were all awesome.
4. Discovered some great new shows, not all if of them created in 2017 (if any), but as it was 2017 I discovered them, they are "2017 shows to me", if you get what I mean.
5. Saw some awesome movies, and yes My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) is included.
6. Saw some inspirational Jukebox Musicals (hope to try my hand at that someday).
7. Finally discovered the identity of a cartoon I have been trying to find again for years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDTyDIbQ5Fg) and a cartoon I have been curious of occasionally (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP_f-klArPs) respectively.
8. Finally checked out the identity of a mascot that I have been curious about for years (https://www.lechepuleva.es/documents/13930/99394/Puleva-Max-Prisma-Imagen-Relacionado-Grande.png/e0791feb-358a-4d61-90ab-5c97684655a9?t=1456492244000), and found some cool (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPa2KxdyX7s) foreign (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiPY108LPAA) adverts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jQY3vEHfCQ), some of which gave me another character to like the design of. (https://www.deviantart.com/art/Pink-Lynx-in-the-city-23842510)
9. Continued to appreciate the music in the world, and dislike less and less songs now (if any at all).
10. Took the first steps to getting my animated series published (again, a small step, but I'm closer than I expected to be).
11. Continued to gain inspiration and ideas for other projects.

The Bad

1. Robert Miles, the performer of my favorite song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcqNRaQRUog) died.
2. Despite having a positive out look on the year, and respecting the opinions of others, having to see negativity for the sake of it can get tiresome (e.g. I love YouTube, but while I know it makes mistakes, I think some commenters focus on the negative stuff too much, and seem like they're actively avoiding things to like about the site, or writing it off as "dead" rather than making videos themselves to make it better - which to me it is already).
3. Two DeviantArtists, who I have shipped for years, broke up.

For the most part, 2017 was an awesome and nostalgic year.

[Shauna]

I started 2017 in a bit of a funk.

I posted somewhere about how I was just feeling a bit... unsure of where I was and what I was doing. Looking back on it, I now believe that it was entirely related to being in a new job and all the related new job jitters. Although I was brought on in December, I didn't actually start doing the work until mid-late February, and I spent all the time before then essentially doing nothing. So the weird dip in my happiness, I guess, seemingly matches up with me finally having to adjust to the new workspace and colleagues, finding out what my work entailed, having to learn how to do my job, etc. But as everything started to bed in, things got better for me and I worked my way out of the weird funk I was in. It took a bit of time, but I got there.

As always when I look back on the year, I lament that I am a bad friend to many. Apologising into the ether and a promise that I will try to do better.
My best bud though is moving to Minnesota in a few months time, which was a bit of a downer when I first found out about it (it certainly didn't help my mindfunk). She lives in Cambridge currently, which makes it tough to see her as it is, but now there's gonna be a bit more than a train journey between us. So we are gonna have to double down on trying to be better friends to each other, as we are both bad at that whole thing.
But on that the other side of that, I also reconnected pretty strongly with a few friends, and have gotten some really good times out of this. Connecting more with people I've known for years, but we just never really fell within the same social circles enough. I also made some excellent new friends too, which is always nice.

Overall, my life and my headspace all balanced out quite well. Pepper in some great drinking nights, an excellent holiday to Rome, Distant Worlds, good video games and fun times, and I think I can call 2017 a success of a year.

I closed out 2017 feeling happier than ever. I am looking forward to what 2018 will bring.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I got married and went on a cruise, which was fun. Went to the emergency room a few days before my wedding which was less fun. Those were about the main standout things of last year for me. It was a good year.

I did also get back into reading more, and I’ve been reading most nights before bed, so that’s been good. I’ve felt in a funk with work though in that I want to be doing something different, but I don’t really know what. I’m hoping I can figure that out this year.

[Psychotic]

It was a pretty decent year. The highlight was my 30th birthday trip to Vienna but there have been other great moments too like the Distant Worlds concert recently. On a professional side of things I tackled that demon many of us have - public speaking! - and delivered and wrote some presentations that went down really well with audiences that are something of a world apart from yours truly. Finally, I'm also happy to have seen my fun little EoFF game project all the way to the end. Too many of my creative endeavours exist only in my brain! Again, the reception and support from this community is something I cherished.

[Wolf Kanno]

It's definitely been a year of ups and downs. RL drama has been a real pain with lots of friends and family having health issues causing stress and I've been placed on a bit of a financial pinch due to all of it. Most of this wrecked my plans to get myself into a better career position and I've ended up staying at a job I really dislike for a year longer than I had planned to.

On the brightside, despite all of the setbacks, I've been able to maintain a much more positive attitude about everything and while I'm not exactly in the position I really want to be in my life, I'm still pretty positive I'll get there in the coming year or so.

Creatively, it's been a pretty good year, I got my Top 100 Games list done which was a project I've wanted to do for awhile. I started a novel idea for NaNo that I've been wanting to do for a few years now and it's been helping me work through some personal issues I've been dragging around. I started prep work on another novel idea I've had on the backburner for some time. Got back to my main novel and put in some good refinement there. Came up with a really cool idea for a new story, started a demo tape, and I'm talking with an equally bored and wanting to get out of our boring day job coworker about working on a comic book idea. So yeah, it's been a great year creatively for me, though I now need to see some of these ideas to completion.

I also got to see my favorite movie of all time at the original theater I watched it in for my birthday, so that was a fun coincidence. Also, it's been a pretty good year for games for me which is always nice.

[Rocket Edge]

I ended 2017 happier than when I went in to it. I moved house in June and started a new job which is another stepping stone to where I want to be. This was the major event for me this year. There was some other highlights, like visiting Rome, my 30th birthday party, and going to a really enjoyable festival.

Not too much I can say bothered me. I feel like starting the new job alleviated some stresses. I didn't feel as nostalgic as I once did, if that makes any sense.

[Karifean]

2017... has definitely been an incredibly important year to me. I met people and got closer to others, with many leaving a lasting impact on me. I learned a lot about myself and, well, feel like I've grown a lot.

Many things contributed there, such as revitalizing and rediscovering the Mafia scene, which reminded me how much I love coming up with awesome weird game concepts. Having my first relationship, although it was just a short two months, came with so many ups and downs, firsts, and treasured experiences. Another warm thank you to everyone who was there for me when it got me down.

Things haven't all been rosy, in fact especially the two weeks leading up to and including Christmas were a pretty tough time. Although the final week of the year after it was blissful as if to make up for all of that. Getting the Bachelor's thesis done in time came with a headache or two as well; but then, on the flipside, I did get my degree for that this year as well and it worked out.

All in all... probably the most impactful year for me in recent memory, especially the latter half of it. Here's to great times in 2018!

[Del Murder]

Highlights:

Taking the family to Hawaii for our best family vacation ever!
8 days in Iceland with just me and Miriel. :love:
Whisking her off to Chicago just to see Hamilton.
Finding out we are going to have a new baby boy next May!
Great family trips to the woods and then SoCal to have quality family time at the end of the year.

Fantastic year for us!

[Pike]

The highlight was finding out I was gay and being really relieved about how that explains everything. The low point was all the weird fallout that resulted from that and having to shift my life around a bit. But it's all good. I'm going into 2018 feeling pretty optimistic about things.

[FFNut]

2017 was great.

Got a new job
Got engaged
Got my son full time

yup it was awesome and 2018 is going to be great too.

[Aulayna]

Good


Got promoted at work and achieved some really amazing results.
Completed my first ever half-marathon.
Made some new friends via Disneyland Paris.
Rediscovered my love for photography.
Saw some family I haven't seen in several years.


Bad

Came down with Achilles tendonitis.
Restructuring at work means a lot of office politics, micromanaging and other BS.
Mental health really took a dive toward the end of the year.

[Slothy]

2017 is the year I discovered medical marijuana so aside from all of the obvious world politics bullshit and a terrible boss it's been all right.

[botnslave]

I was laid off going into 2017, so not a great start. I took the opportunity to complete the technical training portion of my trade (construction electrician) found work in the trade in June, and have since got enough hours to become a journeyman. This is better, but I'm not sure this is a company I want to be with long term(a lot of work in nasty unethical hog barns Imo, and high pressure on the job in general) or frankly if this trade is what I want to be doing for another 25-30 years. Almost daily I have moments that make me feel like an idiot which has damaged my self esteem.
My mother in law has been living in our house all year, which is alright, but I think I'm becoming more and more estranged with my significant other. Not that it's bad yet but it's something I should work on, we have 2 awesome children together.
I've become more misanthropist than ever, and it's not a nice sentiment to say the song that most represents my current outlook is aenima by tool.
Otherwise I tend to try to maintain a positive outlook despite the crap I described above, I still know how to laugh, we have 14 acres of land that we'd like to build a home on that I really like and enjoy, hopefully 2018 will bring me some resolution and a better outlook. 😀

[Shoeberto]

Good:

My wife & my relationship grew a lot, as a direct result of the "bad" stuff.
Bought a house.
Lots of cool stuff accomplished with my job, including helping with a re-launch of our product.
I'm almost cleared of some long-term health issues that have been hanging over my head.


Bad:

Trump.
My rental house almost burned down, and my landlord didn't care.
Found our dream house after the above, but had to pull out due to it going into foreclosure.
Trump.
My wife's father passed away the same week we were due to close on the house we bought.
The house we bought had *way* more issues than the seller disclosed or the inspector found (the saving grace is that the price was unbeatable, and none of the issues are so damning as to outweigh the mortgage cost).
Trump.
Being constantly stressed out and broke, due to the above.
General feelings of alienation from the world & people I care about due to the complex set of feelings I've experienced resulting from reflecting on all of the above.
Trump.


2017 was a terrible year, really.

[Marshall Banana]

Well, I'm pretty sure someone put a hex on me! Overall, 2017 was pretty darn awful. Maybe one of the worst.

I really like the apartment I moved to, though -- probably my favorite place yet since leaving Kentucky. Also, Jeremy/Necronopticous has learned to make amazing pies. Also-also, I officially started learning to play the harp after wanting to for years, and I got my own harp for Christmas, which felt pretty amazing.

Also-also-also, I had the privilege of regularly dogsitting my dog's wifey, Fuzzy:

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From left to right: Fuzzy, Tobi (mine)
In fact, she stayed over last night! :D

Bonus pic:

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