Over the holiday weekend, I updated the designs for this website, my Twitter feed and my Tumblr. Doing so always takes a great deal of time and effort, but I find these template alterations satisfy the new-year-clean-slate urge I get every January.
Hope you like the changes. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.
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(Warning: This video may make you weepy.)
Some people view obituaries as morbid stories, but in truth only one line of an obit deals with death. The rest of the story focuses on the amazing lives people lead. In 2014, these 15 obituaries were the people/stories that most resonated with me:
* Robin Williams, comedian and actor
* Josefa A. Platzer, restauranteur
* Archibald Andrews, comic book hero
* Philip Seymour Hoffman, actor
* Ben Bradlee, editor
* Jay Lake, author
* Margot Adler, author
* John Pinette, comedian
* Frank Mankiewicz, former president of NPR
* Hal Douglas, voiceover actor
* Eli Wallach, actor
* Mickey Rooney, actor
* R.A. Montgomery, author
* John Tull, survivor of the plague
* Timothy Dowd, police detective
Other wonderful obituaries that shouldn’t be missed (and people who shouldn’t be forgotten):
* H.R. Giger, artist
* Arthur Gelb, journalist
* Edwin Kagin, atheist attorney
* Milton William Jones, one of the last Pullman porters
* Larry Agenbroad, paleontologist
* Jean Beliveau, hockey Hall of Famer
* Mike Nichols, director
* Betty Jo Simpson, Internet sensation
* Ralph White, actor
* Don Pardo, broadcaster
* Maya Angelou, poet
* Ruby Dee, civil rights activist and actress
* Shirley Temple Black, actress and ambassador
* Harold Ramis, director
* Joan Rivers, comedian
* Casey Kasem, DJ
* Lauren Bacall, actress
* Pete Seeger, folk singer
* Gabriel García Márquez, author
* Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier, ruler of Haiti
* Ariel Sharon, former Israeli Prime Minister
* Marion Berry, former DC mayor
* Oscar de la Renta, fashion designer
* Sir Richard Attenborough, director
* Sid Caesar, comedian
* James Garner, actor
* Elaine Stritch, actress
* Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, boxer
* Joe Cocker, singer
* Ann B. Davis, actress
At the end of the year, I always take a moment to examine the ups and downs I experienced, both personally and professionally. What follows is my accounting of 2014:
* Produced hundreds of breaking news stories, including Boko Haram’s kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls, three aviation disappearances, numerous police killings and protests, the battle against ISIS, the Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar, the Veteran Affairs scandal, the Ebola epidemic, the conflict in Gaza, the dangerous California drought, the midterm elections, the cafe hostage-taking in Sydney, the vote for Scotland’s independence, the ALS ice bucket challenges, the Sochi Winter Olympics, the World Cup and the Philae’s successful landing on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
* Blogged for The Obituary Forum, The Blog of Death and Afterthoughts.
* Passed the 36,000th tweet mark on my personal Twitter account (@jadewalker)
* Penned 64 journal entries.
* Worked on my novel.
* Walked 1.2 million steps (more than 500 miles) and climbed more than 1,000 floors.
* Read 50 books and countless magazines.
* Watched more than 35 films.
* Took classes in terrorism, astrobiology, social media and forensic science.
* Updated The Written Word and The 10th Muse.
* Participated in the The Society of Professional Obituary Writers, New York City Writers Group, the South Florida Freelancers Group and the Journalism & Women Symposium.
* Went house-hunting in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.
* Dyed my hair red.
* Traveled to New York City and Seattle.
* Tended a garden of basil, oregano, catnip, romaine lettuce, mint, thyme and flowers.
* Saw Bill Cosby, Hal Holbrook and Christopher Kimball in concert.
* Shot off a large cache of fireworks.
* Gave a talk to a writers group in Keene, NH.
* Tried a new drug to limit my migraines.
* Attempted several “firsts” (chased by zombies, letterboxing, vegetarian for a day, took virtual French and piano lessons and stood up for a cause I believed in).
* Celebrated my 5th wedding anniversary.
* Lost my eldest cat, Brat Child.
* Turned 41.
Goals for 2015
* Save up enough money for a down payment on a house and move.
* Work on my fiction.
* Write more obits.
* Read at least 50 books.
* Walk 15,000 steps in a single day (previous record is about 13,000)
* Experience fewer migraines.
* Win the lottery.
