Being that it’s the last week of the year, I know the world is begging for one more year-in-review column. One more best-of or worst-of or just a recap of the highlights, because we can’t get enough.
So I will do my best.
Regrettably, I’m a bit behind the eight ball on this best-of, worst-of recap of the year, for no other reason than I didn’t participate much with the world for the past 12 months. Think cloistered nun.
This was the year of editing my book, specifically, editing it down to size. The manuscript began the year at 221,000 words. My job was to get it down to 120,000. As in, half the book had to go if I expected any chance a publisher would take it on. Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. After six months, I got it down to 191,000. Ack. Is that all? After much rending of garments and tearing of hair, it was time to start thinking outside the box. So I did. Just like that I got rid of 47,000 words in one fell swoop, which I did by cutting out one of the two storylines in the book. I’ll come back to those 47K in a minute. But for now, that meant the manuscript was down to 154,000 words. After another six months of cut, cut, cut, I got it down to 110,700 words. Wow. It’s almost like coming in under budget.
But it’s not. Remember that 47,000-word storyline I cut? I can’t just get rid of it. Somehow I have to get that storyline condensed (more like pulverized) and back into the book. Because that storyline is why I wrote this book in the first place. Without that story, the book has considerably less meaning, at least for me.
I’m going to take a few days off, do some outside the box thinking, and figure out how to get 47K down to 10K. I know, it’s math. But that’s next year’s problem.
As for the year gone by beyond my manuscript angst, what else happened in the world?
Oh, right. AI. Way back when, the only AI was a Spielberg movie. For most, AI has been a slow burn for years. Then all of a sudden, this year, Boom! And you know we’re just getting started.
Data was another huge topic this year. Everything is about data now. Data is so big, they have to build data centers to store all that data. The more data (and there is always more), the more centers, and the more centers, the more need for power. Unbelievable amounts of power. Nuclear is unquestionably the answer, so that’s coming.
Another big word this year was financialization. It’s all about the money (not your money or my money, but their money). And a lot of that money is debt. On a personal level, that’s not working out so good for a lot of people these days. But that’s pennies compared to the national debt, yowsa. I thought my 221,000 was a big number. The national debt today is $38.4 trillion. I would say cut, cut, cut, cut, but the government is not taking my calls.
Speaking of pennies, the big story this year is they’re not going to mint pennies anymore. When you owe $38.4 trillion, pennies just won’t cut it.
I’ll be sad to see it go. No longer will it be a penny for your thoughts. But look on the bright side. What with inflation, they’re worth at least a quarter these days anyways.
Another of my favorites, from k.d. lang …