2015 In Review
Dec. 31st, 2015 02:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hkellickWow. Last time I posted was about this time last year. That's a thing worth thinking about.
Anyways, 2015 was an even better year than 2014. There was some drama along the way, but... a lot of good things too. My family and I got to do some really cool things.
So... 2015 In Review
January
January 7 – Two gunmen attack the office of the Charlie Hedbo magazine
January 21 – Had to mention this. Chris Pratt and Chris Evans put a bet down regarding whose team would won the superbowl. The winner? The kids from both of their hospitals of choice who got to meet both Star Lord AND Captain America.
February
February 7 – R’s birthday party at Jump Zone.
February 15 – We get a phone call at 1:30 AM to tell us that R is in the hospital, that his rash developed badly, that he can’t breathe. K and I freak out a bit because it’s 1:30 and he’s in the hospital and we’re in Pittsburgh. Everything turns out OK, obviously.
February 21 – After two weeks in Buffalo, K’s father and my father meet us just south of Erie to bring R back home in what turns out to be a bad snow storm in Pittsburgh. I swear we’re done with February drives through Erie!
February 26 – The Dress.. Is it white and purple? Black and blue? Red and Green? NO ONE KNOWS!
February 27 – Leonard Nimoy dies. :(
March
March 2 – The NY Times report that, as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton used her personal email account for official business.
March 3 – A Justice Department Memo shows patterns of Police Bias and Excessive Force in Ferguson.
March 3 – Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech in Congress
March 4 – We sign up R for his very own E-Nable hand.
March 5 – EA closes Maxis, swears they will continue to develop stuff for The Sims, but I guess that’s it for SimCIty.
March 12 – Terry Pratchett dies. :(
March 26 – Indiana Governor Mike Pence signs the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and then walks it back (sort of) as the backlash begins, including boycotts from everyone from the NCAA to numerous cities.
March 28 – K and I are in Buffalo for “Sip and Paint”, painting the peace bridge while others drink.
April
April 2 – President Obama brings home a HUGE Nuclear Deal with Iran that actually might make the Middle East a safer place to be.. as soon as we deal with the Syria mess.
April 8 – Dzhokar Tsarnaev found guilty of the Boston Bombing.
April 13 – A Maryland couple who allowed their kids to walk a couple of blocks to a park gets investigated for child neglect.
April 16 – TMBG concert at Mr. Smalls
April 19 – Freddie Gray dies from a spinal injury while in the custody of the Baltimore Police.
April 21 – Iceman of the X-Men came out as gay? At least the young one did. I bet it’s already been RETCONN’ed with the last Secret Wars.
April 25 – An earthquake strikes Nepal.
April 27 – Rioting starts in Baltimore in regards to Freddie Gray’s death.
May
May 6 – Let go of my job from Rizzo. Which was actually good news, in disguise.
May 11 - R's 3D printed Spiderman Hand arrives
May 17 – Weirdest Bridal Shower Ever. Youngest brother and his wife invite me to the Bridal Shower. I feel like I stuck out like a sore thumb.
May 23 – Ireland approves marriage equality
May 29 - Robert's "Graduation" Ceremony from Pre-School, with songs! :D
May 31 – Weird Al Concert with my wife
June
June 5 – Superhero Run 5K in Buffalo.
June 7 - K goes to her high school 20th Anniversary
June 8 – First day at Penn E&R
June 17 - Dylann Roof busts into an episcopal church in Charleston. It turns out he was a white supremacist who likely picked that church because it has historical ties with the civil rights movements. This leads to a long debate about how appropriate it is to fly the confederate flag on state grounds.
June 18 – Mollie Elizabeth Tozer, my niece, is born.
June 26 – Supreme Court makes marriage equality the law of the land in all 50 states.
June 29 - K finds out, via a google search, that her paternal grandmother died, and no one had bothered to tell her family.
July
July 14 – NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft completes it’s first fly-by of Pluto
July 14 – In the middle of major surgery, the doctors pinch a nerve in my father’s arm and he loses all movement for a while.
July 20 – Ashley Madison site hacked.
July 25 - K gets a brand new laptop! My turn next! :D
August
August 1 – Trip to Victory Pointe, a really awesome local arcade place, worth mentioning because it was AWESOME!
August 7 – Fantastic Four is released… just in time for the director to say this wasn’t the movie he wanted to make. The movie was universally panned as just BAD.
August 8 - K, R and I go to Steel City Con where R gets a Yellow Voltron Lion. This is noteworthy in that it led to an ultimately successful search on Ebay for the other four lions.
August 10 – Waste from a mine leaks into the Colorado River.
August 14 – A bunch of people from Calorie-Count all got together for a great couple of days to support a sick friend, KathyGator.
August 23 – OK. So… we had some massive storms about a week before and they led to the power flickering a couple of times. So for a week we try to work out Network with Verizon. We tried a reboot, a new router and ended up making an appointment.. for the weekend I was supposed to go to Buffalo to meet my niece. K and R went without me and I sat at home, only to have them cancel because of overebooking. Finally, on the 23rd they showed up super late and.. it needed a reboot.
August 25 – Laid off from Penn E&R due to lack of work.
August 26 – R’s first day of Kindergarten.
August 28 – KathyGator passes, but the community lives on.
August 29 - K, R and I go to the Kids' Comedy Cabaret in the university district and really enjoy ourselves. Though
September
September 2 - Celebrate Monroeville at the Convention Center. Was surprisingly fun. Will need to do again next year.
Early September - Rowan County, KY county clerk Kim Davis makes a name for herself by refusing to grant marriage licenses to gays and lesbians, eventually getting jailed for it.
September 14 - Ahmed Mohammad brings his homemade clock to his school in Texas and is arrested for a "faux bomb hoax".
September 19 – R gets his first pair of glasses!
September 19 - K gets a new-to-her car in preparation for my new job in Canonsburg
September 28 – NASA announces proof that liquid water flows on Mars.
October
October 2 – My brother, Josh, marries his fiancee, Kristy. I get to be a groomsman. R was the ring bearer.
October 2 – Marc decides to propose to his girlfriend.. about 2 hours before Josh’s wedding. What a dick.
October 5 – First day of work at Langan.
October 10 - A Doctor's Without Borders Trauma Center in Afghanistan is bombed maybe accidentally on purpose by the US army..
October 10 – K, R and I all go to see Marvel Live.
October 17 – Bachelor Party for my BIL, Indi. Realized I kinda like Hard Cider.
October 29 – John Boehner booted out of his role as Speaker of the House for working with liberals. Paul Ryan gets the job.
October 31 – K and I sign up to support Rachel and Miles XPlain the X-Men via Patreon.
October 31 - R, K and I dress up as characters from the Lego Movie (R was Emmet, K was WyldStyle, I was Vetruvius.)
November
November 10 – Asked to drive to NJ to help give a presentation on FEMA Floodplains
November 13 – ISIS attacks Paris, killing 130.
November 14 – K’s sister and BIL’s wedding celebration.
November 20 – K and R head off to Light Up Night to see the Pittsburgh Christmas Tree go up.
Late November’ish – The country debates letting Syrian Refugees in.
November 21 – Newsworthy. K and I stop in at Target for some stuff and find two whole end caps of Hannukah stuff. We were thrilled.
November 27 – Robert Lewis Dear busts into Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs and starts shooting.
December
December 2 – Two terrorists connected with ISIS open fire in San Bernadino.
December 7 (maybe) – Donald Trump, the GOP front runner, calls to bar ALL Muslims from entering America.
December 10 – My father calls me to tell me that Marc’s wedding is off.
December 10 – K and I invest in Marvel Unlimited.
December 12 – A landmark climate change agreement is reached in Paris.
December 21 - SpaceX launches a rocket that leaves the atmosphere, launches some satellites, and then comes back to earth, landing vertically.
December 26 - My father lets me know that Marc is potentially suicidal. *sigh*
December 27 – Niece’s Baptism in Buffalo.
Video Games of the Year:
I got A LOT of Video Games this year.
The ones that stood out the most
Lego Dimensions - For best R friendly/family friendly game.
Witcher 3 - For best RPG / Game I spent the most time with.
Cities: Skyline - For being the best city builder I've played in a LONG time.
2015 in Review Playlist
The Black Keys - Fever
Billy Talent - Fallen Leaves
Five Year Mission - Arena
Five Year Mission - I. Mudd
Sia & Beck - Moonquake Lake (from Annie soundtrack)
DJ Morgoth - Changed The Way To Enter Papillon Sandman
Fun. - Some Nights
Cody Simpson - La Da Dee
The Piano Guys - I Want You Bach
Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk
Arrogant Worms - River of Snot
They Might Be Giants - All The Lazy Boyfriends
Andy Grammar - Honey I'm Good
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - My Heart Will Go On
They Might Be Giants - Starry Eyes
Miracle of Sound - Messing With The Best
David Unger - Clever Girl
Walk The Moon - Shut Up And Dance
Disturbed - The Sound of Silence
Kula Shaker - Hush
Iron Horse - Enter Sandman
The Maccabeats - Oh Hannukah
Anyways, 2015 was an even better year than 2014. There was some drama along the way, but... a lot of good things too. My family and I got to do some really cool things.
So... 2015 In Review
January
January 7 – Two gunmen attack the office of the Charlie Hedbo magazine
January 21 – Had to mention this. Chris Pratt and Chris Evans put a bet down regarding whose team would won the superbowl. The winner? The kids from both of their hospitals of choice who got to meet both Star Lord AND Captain America.
February
February 7 – R’s birthday party at Jump Zone.
February 15 – We get a phone call at 1:30 AM to tell us that R is in the hospital, that his rash developed badly, that he can’t breathe. K and I freak out a bit because it’s 1:30 and he’s in the hospital and we’re in Pittsburgh. Everything turns out OK, obviously.
February 21 – After two weeks in Buffalo, K’s father and my father meet us just south of Erie to bring R back home in what turns out to be a bad snow storm in Pittsburgh. I swear we’re done with February drives through Erie!
February 26 – The Dress.. Is it white and purple? Black and blue? Red and Green? NO ONE KNOWS!
February 27 – Leonard Nimoy dies. :(
March
March 2 – The NY Times report that, as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton used her personal email account for official business.
March 3 – A Justice Department Memo shows patterns of Police Bias and Excessive Force in Ferguson.
March 3 – Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech in Congress
March 4 – We sign up R for his very own E-Nable hand.
March 5 – EA closes Maxis, swears they will continue to develop stuff for The Sims, but I guess that’s it for SimCIty.
March 12 – Terry Pratchett dies. :(
March 26 – Indiana Governor Mike Pence signs the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and then walks it back (sort of) as the backlash begins, including boycotts from everyone from the NCAA to numerous cities.
March 28 – K and I are in Buffalo for “Sip and Paint”, painting the peace bridge while others drink.
April
April 2 – President Obama brings home a HUGE Nuclear Deal with Iran that actually might make the Middle East a safer place to be.. as soon as we deal with the Syria mess.
April 8 – Dzhokar Tsarnaev found guilty of the Boston Bombing.
April 13 – A Maryland couple who allowed their kids to walk a couple of blocks to a park gets investigated for child neglect.
April 16 – TMBG concert at Mr. Smalls
April 19 – Freddie Gray dies from a spinal injury while in the custody of the Baltimore Police.
April 21 – Iceman of the X-Men came out as gay? At least the young one did. I bet it’s already been RETCONN’ed with the last Secret Wars.
April 25 – An earthquake strikes Nepal.
April 27 – Rioting starts in Baltimore in regards to Freddie Gray’s death.
May
May 6 – Let go of my job from Rizzo. Which was actually good news, in disguise.
May 11 - R's 3D printed Spiderman Hand arrives
May 17 – Weirdest Bridal Shower Ever. Youngest brother and his wife invite me to the Bridal Shower. I feel like I stuck out like a sore thumb.
May 23 – Ireland approves marriage equality
May 29 - Robert's "Graduation" Ceremony from Pre-School, with songs! :D
May 31 – Weird Al Concert with my wife
June
June 5 – Superhero Run 5K in Buffalo.
June 7 - K goes to her high school 20th Anniversary
June 8 – First day at Penn E&R
June 17 - Dylann Roof busts into an episcopal church in Charleston. It turns out he was a white supremacist who likely picked that church because it has historical ties with the civil rights movements. This leads to a long debate about how appropriate it is to fly the confederate flag on state grounds.
June 18 – Mollie Elizabeth Tozer, my niece, is born.
June 26 – Supreme Court makes marriage equality the law of the land in all 50 states.
June 29 - K finds out, via a google search, that her paternal grandmother died, and no one had bothered to tell her family.
July
July 14 – NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft completes it’s first fly-by of Pluto
July 14 – In the middle of major surgery, the doctors pinch a nerve in my father’s arm and he loses all movement for a while.
July 20 – Ashley Madison site hacked.
July 25 - K gets a brand new laptop! My turn next! :D
August
August 1 – Trip to Victory Pointe, a really awesome local arcade place, worth mentioning because it was AWESOME!
August 7 – Fantastic Four is released… just in time for the director to say this wasn’t the movie he wanted to make. The movie was universally panned as just BAD.
August 8 - K, R and I go to Steel City Con where R gets a Yellow Voltron Lion. This is noteworthy in that it led to an ultimately successful search on Ebay for the other four lions.
August 10 – Waste from a mine leaks into the Colorado River.
August 14 – A bunch of people from Calorie-Count all got together for a great couple of days to support a sick friend, KathyGator.
August 23 – OK. So… we had some massive storms about a week before and they led to the power flickering a couple of times. So for a week we try to work out Network with Verizon. We tried a reboot, a new router and ended up making an appointment.. for the weekend I was supposed to go to Buffalo to meet my niece. K and R went without me and I sat at home, only to have them cancel because of overebooking. Finally, on the 23rd they showed up super late and.. it needed a reboot.
August 25 – Laid off from Penn E&R due to lack of work.
August 26 – R’s first day of Kindergarten.
August 28 – KathyGator passes, but the community lives on.
August 29 - K, R and I go to the Kids' Comedy Cabaret in the university district and really enjoy ourselves. Though
September
September 2 - Celebrate Monroeville at the Convention Center. Was surprisingly fun. Will need to do again next year.
Early September - Rowan County, KY county clerk Kim Davis makes a name for herself by refusing to grant marriage licenses to gays and lesbians, eventually getting jailed for it.
September 14 - Ahmed Mohammad brings his homemade clock to his school in Texas and is arrested for a "faux bomb hoax".
September 19 – R gets his first pair of glasses!
September 19 - K gets a new-to-her car in preparation for my new job in Canonsburg
September 28 – NASA announces proof that liquid water flows on Mars.
October
October 2 – My brother, Josh, marries his fiancee, Kristy. I get to be a groomsman. R was the ring bearer.
October 2 – Marc decides to propose to his girlfriend.. about 2 hours before Josh’s wedding. What a dick.
October 5 – First day of work at Langan.
October 10 - A Doctor's Without Borders Trauma Center in Afghanistan is bombed maybe accidentally on purpose by the US army..
October 10 – K, R and I all go to see Marvel Live.
October 17 – Bachelor Party for my BIL, Indi. Realized I kinda like Hard Cider.
October 29 – John Boehner booted out of his role as Speaker of the House for working with liberals. Paul Ryan gets the job.
October 31 – K and I sign up to support Rachel and Miles XPlain the X-Men via Patreon.
October 31 - R, K and I dress up as characters from the Lego Movie (R was Emmet, K was WyldStyle, I was Vetruvius.)
November
November 10 – Asked to drive to NJ to help give a presentation on FEMA Floodplains
November 13 – ISIS attacks Paris, killing 130.
November 14 – K’s sister and BIL’s wedding celebration.
November 20 – K and R head off to Light Up Night to see the Pittsburgh Christmas Tree go up.
Late November’ish – The country debates letting Syrian Refugees in.
November 21 – Newsworthy. K and I stop in at Target for some stuff and find two whole end caps of Hannukah stuff. We were thrilled.
November 27 – Robert Lewis Dear busts into Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs and starts shooting.
December
December 2 – Two terrorists connected with ISIS open fire in San Bernadino.
December 7 (maybe) – Donald Trump, the GOP front runner, calls to bar ALL Muslims from entering America.
December 10 – My father calls me to tell me that Marc’s wedding is off.
December 10 – K and I invest in Marvel Unlimited.
December 12 – A landmark climate change agreement is reached in Paris.
December 21 - SpaceX launches a rocket that leaves the atmosphere, launches some satellites, and then comes back to earth, landing vertically.
December 26 - My father lets me know that Marc is potentially suicidal. *sigh*
December 27 – Niece’s Baptism in Buffalo.
Video Games of the Year:
I got A LOT of Video Games this year.
The ones that stood out the most
Lego Dimensions - For best R friendly/family friendly game.
Witcher 3 - For best RPG / Game I spent the most time with.
Cities: Skyline - For being the best city builder I've played in a LONG time.
2015 in Review Playlist
The Black Keys - Fever
Billy Talent - Fallen Leaves
Five Year Mission - Arena
Five Year Mission - I. Mudd
Sia & Beck - Moonquake Lake (from Annie soundtrack)
DJ Morgoth - Changed The Way To Enter Papillon Sandman
Fun. - Some Nights
Cody Simpson - La Da Dee
The Piano Guys - I Want You Bach
Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk
Arrogant Worms - River of Snot
They Might Be Giants - All The Lazy Boyfriends
Andy Grammar - Honey I'm Good
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - My Heart Will Go On
They Might Be Giants - Starry Eyes
Miracle of Sound - Messing With The Best
David Unger - Clever Girl
Walk The Moon - Shut Up And Dance
Disturbed - The Sound of Silence
Kula Shaker - Hush
Iron Horse - Enter Sandman
The Maccabeats - Oh Hannukah
