Ridiculous in the City

*Kara Walker’s epic “Sugar Baby” at the old Domino Sugar factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.*

If you are anything like me, 2014 was a very ridiculous year. To say nothing of your sorted personal life, global ridiculousness reached epic proportions as governmental secrets were revealed, the Sochi Olympics apparantly took place, we all figured out what Alibaba was to the tune of about $25 billion and, in the midst of volatile protests in Ferguson, Missouri, Berlin celebrated an anniversary of freedom and the restoration of the most basic of civil rights, a dichotomy rooted in the very essence of harsh ridiculousness.

In the US, another election cycle brought the ugly combativeness that has become commonplace in the never ending battle of my beliefs versus yours and gravely misdirected voters voting against their own best interests. The worst drought in twelve hundred years ravaged California while the East Coast was annihilated by snow. People with functioning brains became obsessed with cat memes and Twitter exploded with demands for an NSYNC reunion—as if they could get across the street without JT.

It was one ridiculous year, but before we tack up our 2015 “Haunted Lighthouses of New England” calendar and feverishly look to see what day our birthdays are on (“Tuesday, shit.”), let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the more ridiculous aspects of 2014; the good, the bad, and the absurd, as only Ridiculous in the City can do.

Oh, 2014:

Jon Stewart: Utters the phrase, “Why are you being such Moby Dicks about this?”
Idea that Feminism is “back:” Meets with a ridiculous reception from actual women
Edward Snowden: Getting a lot of chicks in Russia. Yuck
Sony: Hacks us
US legal system: Jacks us
Rosetta satellite lands on a comet: I repeat, satellite lands on a comet!
Bill de Blasio: What de Blasio is going on, man? Seriously? And this is only year one
Sons of Anarchy: We weep for the end of this ridiculously epic show. Kurt Sutter, you are a bad mofo
Taxi of Tomorrow: What began as a mild fascination with NYC’s new cabs has become a full-blown addiction. I must have you cab of the future!
Lauren Bacall dies: Ridiculously fabulous has left the building
Scientists prove climate change is real, again: What to deny next? Oooh, how about Babies?! Yes, reproduction is a myth!
Cosmos: The Spacetime Odyssey rocks the world. Neil, I love you
Jack Ma: Says “cash money” will be name of his next grandchild*
Beyonce: #Badbitchwalking
Silicon Valley on HBO: If you don’t know, now you know. Erlich Bachmann in 2016
Joan Rivers: Goodbye to a woman who was truly ridiculous in the city
Save Domino: The fight to save Brooklyn’s storied sugar factory took on new, ridiculous meaning when Kara Walker’s amazing “Sugar Baby” showed us her front, and her back. Incidentally, it was the best crowd watching of the year
Kale: No one had a bigger 2014 than kale. Literally

Yes, people, 2014 was full of ridiculousness. Many ridiculous things came to an end while new ridiculousness began, the life cycle of the ridiculous. But that’s what makes the world great, always something more ridiculous around the bend. And doesn’t that feel good?

Global ridiculousness, it warms the heart. Auf Wiedersehen, 2014.

*Some of the facts revealed here may not be entirely true.

The end of another year always brings the usual litany of year-end wrap ups, lengthy year’s “best” lists and endless reels of clips showing the year’s highlights, as if we have already forgotten what happened three months ago. For some, it can bring closure to a project or a fourth quarter they’re happy to be done with. For others, the end of a year can mean saying goodbye to a productive period of time or formally moving on to the next chapter. Whatever the year’s end signifies, it brings with it one thing above all else, the promise of a new year.

A new year. The year. The year when it all finally happens, when you do it, achieve it, receive it; a year that holds the possibility of being just one big fucking great year.

In preparation for this upcoming, epic year of life, many of us will begin to prepare ourselves. We’ll shake off the past twelve months, and take stock of where we are and where we wanted to be just one short year ago. We will cleanse our minds of what didn’t happen and wipe the life slate clean, preparing to take in the new, hopeful energy that comes with the year’s renewal. Yoga, juice cleanses, martinis, our methodology for slate cleaning is as varied as our life experiences.

And why not feel the positive energy? This year you’ll celebrate another birthday, another anniversary; have another visit with your brother and your beloved pet pigeon. You’ll get to see your dentist, plumber, gynecologist (insert joke about plumbing and gynecology here), mailman, maybe even get to go on another glorious trip to the DMV. You will go back to that place you love, listen to your favorite Foreigner song once more; hear that one about the priest, the rabbi and the stripper, and laugh harder than you did the first time. This year, you will have an opportunity to do it all again, an opportunity to truly win one for number one.

Resolutions will be made, as they often are in the spirit of renewal. Making a resolution allows us a chance to verbalize a goal, a desire, a need for behavior modification, and attempt to attain it. Some stick with these resolutions, basking in the semi-irritating glow of a goal achieved come December; some slack off on the resolutions, moving on to other necessities by mid-February. There’s no shame in that, you went with the infectious spirit of the season and tried something. Don’t be too hard on yourself in eleven months, there’s always next year to finally stop smoking Phillies Blunts.

So, as you take in the flurry of year-end enthusiasm, remember that it doesn’t have to be the end of a year to make a change. Planting the seeds of positivity and possibility can happen year round, just like being ridiculous. I give you permission to wipe your slate clean anytime you need.

Incidentally, vodka is great for cleaning.

2014: Can you say "Ridiculous?"

Plant a New Seed