Reality Bites by James Norton for the week of Jan. 4th

You can stick your Auld Land Syne where the sun don’t shine, sweet cheeks

I was actually thinking about writing something nice and mushy about the New Year – giving thanks for everything from this past year and looking ahead with a positive attitude towards 2006.  In the immortal words of Whitney Houston to her husband on Being Bobby Brown:  ‚ÄúHell to the NO.‚Äù
2005 was forgettable at best.  Sure, business was good all around, yippity bippity boo.  What‚Äôs left?

My health hit the toilet thanks to drinking for too many years and eating like an asshole every time I had a couple hundred bucks in my pocket.
My kids, well let’s not even get into their attitudes over the Christmas Holiday – the reality of them living in England is difficult enough to deal with.
Putting down the sweetest of our three dogs was a not-so-nice thing to watch my wife deal with (nevermind how I personally felt about it).  Did I mention at all that I sent my Mercedes Benz to a friend‚Äôs used car lot in Maynard, thinking that it might actually sell to some suburban high schooler for a fraction of the amount of money I put into it?
That was four months ago ‚Äì and it still hasn‚Äôt sold.  If anyone wants to buy a really nice Mercedes – VERY CHEAP – let me know, please.
My mother‚Äôs health deteriorated this past year due to stress from some asshole she worked with (I won‚Äôt even bother to mention the person‚Äôs name) ‚Äì that‚Äôs always lovely.  I got to sit beside my father and the former editor of this paper as they had their lives threatened by a really classless drunk asshole that just so happens to be a department head for the city and a supposed County Deputy Sheriff ‚Äì while at a public event.
I guess one good thing came about because of that last one ‚Äì my father and Neil both were stand-up guys for not having that moron arrested and making a big deal of it.  A far cry from the poor sap that got arrested just for making a threat indirectly to the mayor through his aide.  Read that last part again ‚Äì indirectly to the mayor through his aide.
That’s the difference between being men and being, well, classless.
For years around this city, the good old boys have always had the mentality of ‚Äúyou can‚Äôt have something that I don‚Äôt own part of‚Äù ‚Äì a kind of white trash version of Italian Mafioso principles.  It only works in movies, but don‚Äôt tell them that.
This past year has seen a metamorphosis of this mentality into something much bigger ‚Äì something more resembling an Oliver Stone movie than anything rational.  Conspiracy theories are running wild, back room and back door politics are at a height that couldn‚Äôt have been imagined even in the late 60‚Äôs and early 70‚Äôs around these parts.  And all the while, the whack-jobs they should be fighting against ‚Äì like the PDS ‚Äì keep slipping into elected office seats around here.
And they wonder why the Democratic Party locally is so screwed.
So here I am, once again, spouting off ‚Äì wondering if any of it is going to sink into the right people‚Äôs heads, not caring too much about losing a few of you readers because you may or may not know what I‚Äôm referring to.  Hell you might just like reading my bi-polar driven ramblings, who knows.  It‚Äôs at once both familiar and tiresome.
So here I look to 2006 – with much trepidation and concern for my health, my parents health, my kids living so far away and anything that will introduce more stress to the overall equation of life as I know it right NOW.
Here’s where the New Year’s resolutions kick in.
This year, I resolve to continue to be a good father, husband and son.  I will make my schedule less stressful and spend time working on repairing my health and spending more time with my family, while we are all still on this precious planet together.
I will try to make the peace everywhere I go and strive to make each day count for something I can be proud of.  I will work hard to make our family businesses grow, including this newspaper.
And I will continue to try and get through to certain people around here ‚Äì making them realize that we really aren‚Äôt the enemy – unless you treat us like the enemy.  Take a chance and reach out while there‚Äôs still time, you might just be surprised at the results.
Or will you?