A wild and weird 2010 recalled
All I can say about 2010 is: Thank goodness it’s over.
Not only was 2010 a tough year for so many people because of the
economy, it was also an extremely weird year.
How weird, you ask? Weird enough that people were sampling snail
mucus as a cure-all, an oil spill and a volcanic eruption showed
that Mother Nature isn’t just fooling around, an octopus predicted
the winner of the World Cup, and Jerry Brown is governor once more
in California.
A wild and weird 2010 recalled
All I can say about 2010 is: Thank goodness it’s over.
Not only was 2010 a tough year for so many people because of the economy, it was also an extremely weird year.
How weird, you ask? Weird enough that people were sampling snail mucus as a cure-all, an oil spill and a volcanic eruption showed that Mother Nature isn’t just fooling around, an octopus predicted the winner of the World Cup, and Jerry Brown is governor once more in California.
On this New Year’s Eve, it’s time to look back at some of the things that happened in 2010, most of which we forgot about two weeks after they happened.
– It may well be that 2010 will go down in history as the year of disasters. A massive earthquake in Haiti, devastating an already brutally poor and disorganized country, followed by cholera. The Iceland volcano that spouted off and disrupted air travel around the globe. The oil spill in the Gulf that wiped out marine habitats, tourism and fishing, all in one fell swoop. And a 60-mile-long traffic jam in China that lasted for nine days.
– As usual, people found many ways to behave badly. A man in Canada ordered a pizza and tried to pay for it with marijuana. Bank robbers did all manner of stupid things, like the one in Oregon who stopped for a cup of coffee following his heist. A Florida woman tried to sell her newborn baby to buy a car. And so on, and so forth, ad infinitum.
– A Taiwanese woman could not find anyone suitable to marry, so she decided to marry herself. Complete with photos, flowers, and a wedding banquet.
– Politicians also shot their mouths off in record numbers. There was Carl Paladino, Republican candidate for governor of New York, who proposed teaching personal hygiene to the poor, on the theory that that was why they couldn’t find jobs. He also threatened to punch out a newspaper editor.
– The governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, wants to pardon Billy the Kid, who died in 1881. And Christian conservative Pat Robertson says possessing marijuana shouldn’t be a crime, while Vice President Joe Biden would rather see stricter penalties for it … go figure.
– We spent our time watching YouTube videos of cats and dogs doing cute things, people doing stupid things, and Lady Gaga.
– And speaking of Lady Gaga, who we could not escape in 2010 even if we tried, she also wins the award for most gag-alicious fashion. All I want to know is, was her meat dress made from skirt steak?
– Celebrities in general did not impress me this year, except for Jeff Bridges, who somehow won an Oscar, and is now competing against himself at the box office, in “Tron: Legacy” and “True Grit.” Two more different films you could not have imagined if you tried. As for the others, it was like this: Snooki goes to jail. Lindsey Lohan goes to rehab. Repeat. Repeat again.
– And then there was the economy and the politicians, who seemed to fiddle while Rome burned. Lots of arguing, not much accomplished for the ordinary Joe who was out of a job. The economists said things were getting better, although I’d venture to say the vast majority of us weren’t feeling it.
– The snail mucus story, in case you were wondering: Dozens of people got sick in Miami after tasting mucus from a giant African snail, said to have healing powers. What were they thinking? Snail mucus? Bleah.
– And Paul the prognosticating octopus passed away in October after his prodigious feats of prediction. His feeding behavior correctly forecast the winner of each of Germany’s seven matches in the World Cup, and he also picked the top spot going to Spain on July 11. No foul play was suspected in his death – he actually lived a longer than normal lifespan, for an octopus.
Happy New Year to you all – may it be a happy and healthy one, with a few laughs along the way. Write to Kathy Nichols at ou************@ya***.com.
