Sayonara 2020. Hope that door hits you hard on the way out!

Riot’s 2020 Review:

(Writing while pumping Parkway Drive’s Reverence through my headphones)

F*** you 2020! An apt summation that I think few would disagree with. Full disclosure, I escaped 2020 relevantly unharmed but not unchanged. As a member of the high-risk population (due to living with an auto-immune disorder since 2013) I was fortunate enough to weather the Covid-19 storm at home in constant quarantine with my wife, who is also high-risk from an auto-immune disorder. 2020 served me a heaving helping in gratitude though, as I watched the world figuratively (arguably literally) crumble around me. I was taught to be thankful for the things I was able to control even while dealing with the overabundance of anxiety from the things that I couldn’t. I reconnected with friends (through Zoom, oh sweet blessed Zoom) I hadn’t spoken to in literally years and did my damn-dest to stay involved in the lives of the people I hold most dear. It’s interesting now evaluating the dichotomy between how the most “uneventful” year of my young life has become one of the most eventful, at least, one of the most memorable, all the while sort of dealing with my own mortality. There’s something about hiding from an invisible enemy that no movie or book can lend credence to. The difficulties of the year only reaffirmed many of the things I already believed but served as a constant reminder that it is important to make sure we check-in on and support the people around us and the people we love.

2020 is the year we all would like to immediately forget even though it was set up to be the most amazing year in literally decades. I mean, have any of you seen just how epic the holidays were supposed to be this year?! That alone should piss us all off. 2020 was supposed to be a great year in this household. My wife was supposed to begin her life as an in-person therapist and I was slated to graduate with a Master’s in Fine Arts from Southern New Hampshire University, something I was hoping would give me the kick in the pants to finally finish writing and publishing the novel I have been working on for over two decades. For myself, the graduation still happened (much excite) but the book did not and my wife’s career was indefinitely put on hold. The book became just another goal added to the 2021 New Year’s Resolutions. The other? To finally get started on an online presence/blog. So here I am, entering into 2021 and trying to make some dreams into reality. I don’t assume that I have anything more important to say than the next person, but I wanted to start this year off strong, diving into what I have always wanted to do; pursuing a literary career. The good news is, I’m almost to 100 pages of a 400 page novel and no one has claimed the rights to my domain name which I love! Another full disclosure, TheQuietRiot is my long-time gamertag. And I mean, since Halo 1 long-time.

What can you, my readers, expect from this blog? Hopefully a bunch of laughs to be sure but also some thought-provoking insight into some choice media. I will be focusing on three major things in my blogging:

1) Classic Literature Reviews: This was a recent idea, to read some of the classic lit books I have never visited and write my honest opinions of them.

2) Movie Reviews: Just something I’ve always wanted to do. I spend much more time watching films than I’d like to admit.

3) General Opinions on Life/Updates on my Novel: I’ve often been told that I have some unique views on the world that would be worth sharing (however controversial) but I would also like to keep readers updated on the progress of my writing career.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey and I look forward to exploring the new world with you as we all figure out just what the new decade has in store for us all.

-TheQuietRiot