Because what kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t offer up some kind of year-end list? These are the events, happenings, releases and occasions that left a significant mark on me in 2012:
- Oikos University. Aurora. Sikh Temple. Sandy Hook Elementary.
- A bunch of heroic nerds landed the Curiosity Rover on Mars. This made way for, among many other things, the creation of the hilarious Sarcastic Rover Twitter account.
- Using the Large Hadron Collider, scientists found the Higgs Bosson, or the “God Particle,” without accidentally creating a black hole that sucked us to our doom. In the immoral words of Jesse Pinkman, “Yeah, science!”
- The Supreme Court upheld the the Affordable Care Act. Conservatives responded by calling Justice Roberts, whose job is—theoretically—to be guided by constitutional interpretation and not ideology, a turncoat.
- Mainers have a disturbing preoccupation with whether or not people they know have paid for sex.
- Despite the fact that single weather events can’t serve as indications of shifts in climate trends, the massive drought and Hurricane Sandy makes Americans consider that the climate is not changing. It has changed.
- If you are confused as to why he lost the election, Mitt Romney’s donors actually hosted a yacht party fundraiser on a vessel called Cracker Bay. No, seriously.
- Occupy Wall Street turned one-years-old and began to focus it’s attention and action.
- “Gay marriage” no longer exists in this state. Now it’s just marriage. Well played, Maine.
- Oh, that weed thing too.
- When Congress decided that it was going to take on “Anti-Piracy” bills, mass Internet-rooted protests ensued and “upended traditional lobbying.”
- The topic has been so polluted with Election Year politics, I am honestly still unsure of how to process the horrible events in Benghazi (Thomas Ricks’ appearance on Fox News sums up my feeling on said politicization). To all those who perished in the event, rest in peace.
- Shown the face of the GOP’s position on rape and abortion at its most essential, Americans supported reproductive rights more resoundingly than any time in recent memory. Speaking of which, the Komen Foundation fell flat on its face because of its plan to de-fund Planned Parenthood for disingenuous and politically-motivated reasons.
- The most moving and poetic testament of the indestructibility of love written in who-knows-how-long, Andrew Solomon’s Far From the Tree, was published.
- There was Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange, the brilliance of which I understand but never really care to casually listen to. (But that performance on Fallon… Christ, that was beautiful). And there was Sleigh Bells Reign of Terror, which I feel similarly about. And then there was Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, which fuels my day-to-day and feels like it changed everything.
- Facebook went public in underwhelming fashion.
- The Chicago Teachers held their strike; Walmart employees and worker advocates made their voices heard; strippers are organizing too; right-to-work laws are being sneaked into existence. Overall it was a mixed year for organized labor.
- The Master, Argo, The Dark Knight Rises, The Dictator, and 21 Jump Street, because I enjoy infantile humor, guys who have revenge and rubber fetishes, international thrillers, and existential anguish.
- Adrienne Rich, Mike Wallace, Whitney Houston, David Rakoff, Adam “My man MCA’s got a beard like a Billy Goat” Yauch, Ambassador John Christopher Stevens, Russell Libby, Trayvon Martin, all of the war dead everywhere.
- So long, Sandusky.
Note [2:00p]: When I originally published this list it was only 18 items lost, as gay marriage was omitted due to a formatting error that occurred while editing. The 20th item, the legalization of marijuana, was—perhaps fittingly—forgotten entirely until after I published the list the first time around.
