Friday Filler- Dear EA- Please Make Some New Resolutions!

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

I am writing this early, knowing that by the time you read this, I will either be, (1) At the Amazing WWII Museum in New Orleans (2) on a plane after a week in NOLA, another year older, but likely not much wiser (3) recovering at home after a night of flying, then driving after a week in NOLA, (4) writing this posthumously, as a week in NOLA killed me.

All of the above may be true.

The one very obvious thing is that I hardly tapped…because I hardly HAD to tap.

You can look at this event as the “Last BIG EVENT of the year!” or the FIRST BIG EVENT of the New Year!.” And the fact is, it is the exact format of the first event of last year…and that is not a good thing.

It’s that time of year…when we all make resolutions to make changes, and become the best “we” that we can be. (or as Melania says…”Be Best”).

DEAR EA…PLEASE RESOLVE TO…

TRY!!!  Because in the end…all we can ask is that you TRY a little bit harder to care. 

It’s funny…the year 2020 seems so futuristic. But of course, the term 20/20 seems the exact opposite. I kept hoping to see Barbara Walters appear on NYEve, just long enough to say, “I’m Barbara Walters…and THIS is 20/20.”

But of course, in “20/20 Hindsight,” that just wasn’t going to happen. The airwaves instead are dominated by the banal and insipid Ryan Seacrest, who was thankfully NOT joined by his former hostess, Jenny McCarthy. She had apparently opted to stay home with her kids and husband.  According to the Daily Mail (which is the authority on all things banal), “is taking the year off in order to spend time with her husband, New Kids on the Block member Donnie Wahlberg, and their extended family. This will mark the first time in 10 years that the former host of “The View” will be missing from the ABC broadcast.”

This is the kind of “news” that I hope to ignore in the coming year….But, I Digress. 

Where was I? Oh…that’s right…RESOLUTIONS!

The funny thing about making New Year’s Resolutions, is that we rarely take them seriously. That’s why the BEST time to buy new exercise equipment isn’t the first of the year, when they are “On Sale.” It’s at the end of February when everyone has quit using them…and you start seeing all of those “Almost never used” ads on Craig’s List.

I have more pride than that!  I have a BowFlex, two stationary bikes, and a rowing machine that I won’t sell, until I lose a bunch of weight.  Nothing is more embarrassing than clearly being twenty or thirty pounds overweight (Hey…I was in NOLA for a week!), and selling your gear…from your own home. You can see the, “REALLY? Shouldn’t you hold on to this, buddy?” look on their face.  I resolve to avoid embarrassing situations like that in 2020. 

And speaking of resolving…I resolve to be kinder this year.

Of course, something like that is pretty lame when you put the “er” on it. Being kind, with an “er” just means “a little more.”  If you are a crankyoldratbastid like me, being a “little more kind” doesn’t move the meter much.  But, hey…it has as much credence a saying saying, “I’m going to lose some weight.”

For the love of God…Of COURSE I’m going to lose weight…as soon as I get out of the place that only sells deep-fried, highly seasoned, amazing tasting food on every corner, along with “signature drinks” that have more shots of rum and “added flavors”(more alcohol) than you can shake a gator at. In fact, I will probably lose weight the minute I stop eating deep-fried gator…with or without a resolution.

But I resolve to TRY…

And in the end…that is the best kind of resolution we can make. To TRY.

It is only after we admit our weaknesses…admit that there is always room for improvement…but also admit that the first step toward really improving is to resolve to be more kind to yourself…and stop setting ridiculous goals that are based on self-hatred (and we all have something that we hate about ourselves), that we will be free to simply be kind to others.

In a world that is increasingly less kind these days…where is is so easy to pick a target and unleash the vile vitriol that comes from hopelessness and ignorance…the real trick is to step back, ask questions, and try to see things from a different perspective. Things always seem different when you are standing on the outside. Resolve to TRY to be a joiner…someone who brings others together, instead of celebrating or highlighting the differences between us.

If your team wins (THE DUCKS WON THE ROSE BOWL!!), don’t be an ass…and shake your fists in the air at the fans who lost.  Be gracious.  In every contest, there are winners and those who didn’t win...but still tried. The REAL losers are those who don’t try.

So…once again…no matter what you do this year, simply resolve to do your best…and TRY to improve whatever you are working toward. Be kind…keep a smile on your face..try!

I write all of this in hopes that EA stops “phoning it in,” and at least TRIES to make the coming year in TSTO worth playing. It’s not that hard.  Shake it up a bit. Instead of four mini-events that have almost nothing in common, being called a “Major Event,” try taking ONE of those events…and actually building a theme…and sticking to it for 4 weeks?  Add a little “razzle dazzle” and “secret sauce” with a challenge or two…and maybe bring back the little somethings that you had to tap…like ants…or spiders…or ghosts…or gators.  Come on. Just TRY!!

Let’s TRY and just be kind…let’s TRY to actually enjoy our game, and our little community of tappers…and let’s TRY to leave the world a better place than how we found it. Is that too much to ask? DONATE HERE.

Let’s also not kid ourselves. Nothing “Magic” happened when the ball dropped on 2020 (except that I was celebrating with my family…while the “Dirty Dozen Brass Band” played from the stage and we went nuts).  OK. That was pretty magic. But, you know what I mean.

We all know that 2020 is going to be a crap-fest.  Sorry. Can’t be avoided. We have been building to it for years.  BUT…The REAL CHALLENGE is to Resolve To Make It Work…no matter how it all turns out. We can do that.

I Resolve to Make 2020 the Year of the Beignet!   No..I don’t mean eat more…because that would mean having to stay here to get authentic beignets at the Cafe Du Monde.

No…what I mean is resolving to learn to savor the best in the simple things in life! 

I present to you, the Beignet. Amidst a city awash in glitter, bombast, celebration, and excess, the best tasting meal, is a simple, lightly deep fired ball of dough…smothered in powdered sugar.  You get THREE for $3.40.  Three!  And each bite is better than the last. You don’t get a hangover…you aren’t left with the feeling that you “over-did” and will pay the price tomorrow.  You simply get a small, wonderful, taste of happiness, in a place that has been serving happiness for more almost 160 years!!

So…when you make your resolutions this year…resolve to be more like the beignet. Simple. Sweet. Wonderful! 

OH….and for those who asked...”so what did you do on your week in NOLA?” Here’s a taste…

We did a haunted cemetery tour and actually got EMF hits off of one of the tombs.  Creepy…

Saw the best Dixiland Jazz in town, at the Spotted Cat on Frenchman St.

Went to the New Oreleans National Jazz Museum….Louis Armstrong’s FIRST Cornet!

Did a riverboat jazz tour on the Steamboat Natchez up the harbor and onto the Mississippi…very cool!

Watched the Rose Bowl in the Lounger section of Manning’s…ESPNs huge sports bar!  WE WON!!

Brought in the New Year and my Birthday at The Maison…with the amazing, world famous, “Dirty Dozen Brass Band.”

Went to the Sugar Bowl Parade…got loads of beads.

Went to the amazing New Orleans Park Christmas Lights tour by train…more than Two MILLION lights!

Did a long walking tour of the Garden District where all of the super-beautiful mansions are.

Former NFL Great and NO Saints QB Archie Manning’s place…

And a mansion that is NOT Archie Manning’s or Anne Rice’s Place.

Be Kind. Be like a beignet… simple and sweet! 
Happy New Year!

What were YOUR RESOLUTIONS this year? Tell us…so we can hold you to them!