Goodbye 2012 – Things That Are Gone (And Won’t Be Missed)

How tumultuous was 2012 for you? Here are some things we won’t miss. What’s on your list?

Mayan doomsday stress – Dec. 21 came and went with nary a whiff of sulfurous ash. We’re here and calm, at least until the next bat-poo-caked antiquity is trotted out bearing portents of the apocalypse.

Presidential election season – By the time November rolled around, even the most hard-core political junkie wheezed “Enough, already!”  Our airwaves are now political advertising free – at least until next season starts in, oh, 12 months from now, for the 2016 election.

RIP journalism, 2012 edition – Last year we said goodbye to the print editions of Newsweek and The Sporting News; the Times-Picayune of New Orleans (whose reporters won a Pulitzer Prize braving Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath) had its delivery cut to semi-weekly; and single-community dailies like the Laurel Leader Call (MS) disappeared forever. Even The Daily, a Murdoch/Fox-backed new media tablet-targeted platform, failed to lure an audience.

Local bookstores – Yes, we all have our smart phones and tablets, but personally, we will miss wandering the aisles, chatting up the clerks and finding great titles without the aid of a computer. Picking up the latest Tween literary sensation at Costco along with 72-packs of toilet paper? Just not the same thing.

Twinkies – Though they long ago lost their rank as the go-to comfort food, we believe that, just like Cher and cockroaches, these treats are survivors and will be resurrected (under new ownership – the Twinkies, not Cher).