Headlines such Pat Kane: Putting our finger on the year’s big-picture themes let us know it’s the season of old year reviews ad nauseam. Not that Pat Kane’s column is nauseating, at all. His exploration of how Twitter/X posting “maps your mind and interests over any time period” is rather interesting. The trouble is that it is only one of a plethora of such reminiscences with which we are regaled as the old year departs with a protracted theatrical flounce and wholly unwarranted fanfare. Personally, I wish 2023 would just fuck off. I am not at all eager to be reminded of all its low points. We are urged to be merry and even joyous in this period. It’s hard to see how that might be possible if we linger over a past year which leaves only despair and depression after the frustration and anger has burned out.
2023 should slink off in shame rather than proclaim its departure with a slew of reviews and recapitulations and reassessments. Just go!
It’s not all dwelling on the past. Another feature of December is the wishing of a ‘Happy New Year’ to all and sundry by all and sundry. Is it just me, or have these annual ritual felicitations grown increasingly fervent and desperate over the past decade? I hesitate to wish anyone a ‘Happy New Year’ lest I come across as naïve or facetious. Anticipating an improvement in the overall standard of years seems such a triumph of hope over experience. If anything, the year in prospect tends to be more dispiriting than the one past. There’s always the sense that no matter how worldly and cynical one may be, one is never worldly and cynical enough to foresee the ghastliness about to unfold. However bad you think 2004 will be, by December you’ll know just how much your expectations should have been lowered.
Were I to do a Pat Kane-style look back at my blogging for 2023 I suspect I’d be hard-pressed to find anything that could be described as positive. That’s not because I prefer to see the negative. It’s because there has been such a dearth of positive things to see and write about. I am constantly berated for being too negative and urged to be more positive. But when I ask for examples of things I might be positive about, a perplexed silence descends. The idea, I think, is that I am supposed to write positively about the negative things. Which seems dishonest. There is, in any case, no shortage of people frantically polishing the turd of the SNP/SGP Scottish Government’s performance over the past twelve-month. I am content to leave them to that endless, thankless, pointless effort.
When I started this blog, I made one promise – that I would always be honest. I would say it as I see it with no embellishments or spin. I have delivered as promised, I think. In part, that is because I’ve never been obsessed with stats. The site now has over 700 subscribers. Which I find remarkable. It’s not Wings Over Scotland numbers. But I’m a bit taken aback by the fact that so many people think my scribblings worth attending to. A not insignificant burden of responsibility attaches to this as well. If there are that many people listening, I have to say something.
I humbly thank each of those subscribers, all those who contribute so much with their comments and everyone who considers the articles worth sharing. A long overdue word of gratitude also to those who have seen fit to make a donation to help cover the costs of running this site. I have never thought of this as a money-making exercise. It definitely isn’t. But those donations aren’t just practical help. They also serve to make me feel guilty if I haven’t posted anything for a couple of days. Every time a payment arrives I can’t help seeing it as a pointed hint that I need to put in more effort. So, thanks for that. Bastards!
I now realise that this must read as if it’s my final post this year. It might be. I’m going to be over my self-imposed 3-drink limit for most of the coming week to ten days. Holyrood is closed for the duration. Social media will be bloated with the kind of seasonal bonhomie that makes you pine for cute pet pics and memes expressing banal sentiments with scant regard for the rules of spelling, grammar and punctuation. News site will, as previously observed, be littered with depressing reviews of 2023 and/or dismaying previews of 2024. So, I reckon I could be forgiven for steering clear of the whole thing. I do not, however, discount the possibility that some politician will do or say something so gob-smackingly stupid that I am unable to resist commenting.
Besides, I’m sure you all have better things to do than read this pish. Or maybe you don’t. Which is also depressing. I’ll end with what is the best I can muster by way of traditional seasonal greeting.
Have the best Christmas possible and may 2024 be more than just a different number.
Featured image is a still from the movie Violent Night (2022) which coupled with Bad Santa (2003) makes my perfect Christmas double-bill.
Peter A Bell 
Season’s Greetings, Pete. We can only hope that next year will be better.
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when alistair darling took on the 2014 scottish referendum – behind closed doors with blair mcdougal – it wasn’t just about the NO side winning, it was winning BIG – putting to rest scottish self determination, saw a quote somewhere they wanted YES below 20%
average poll now yes 50%+
that’s with SNP imploding
unionists always looking behind – offering less, to be kind delovolution
gordon brown doesn’t even know what home rule, federalism, devolution is, never mind labour
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Compliments of the Season, Peter.
When I think of the winter festive period this always make me feel better:
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Pat Kane and the rest of the ‘in-crowd’ and colonial payroll still can’t see clearly enough, their vision is impaired. They still need enlightenment, Peter:
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Colonial payroll, that’s a keeper. They are indeed deferential retainers content to remain in their comfortable subordinated status.
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Yes, that reminds me of the John Cleese comment:
“Why do we let half-educated tenement Scots run our English press ? Because their craving for social status makes them obedient retainers ?”
Postcolonial theory gives us numerous other terms including ‘colonial functionaries’ and ‘watchdogs of colonialism’, confirming that colonialism is always ‘a co-operative venture’ with native elites (Fanon).
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I clicked through the link to read that article in the National and jeezo Alf, you are NOT wrong.
Mibbes its just me, but Pat Kane seems to be being deliberately obtuse!
I say that because I had not until now thought that he was actually that superficial
(Admittedly I have not been paying much attention to him for a while now)
Anyhow, my comment got rejected – seems my subscription has expired.
I will have to consider seriously whether I am prepared to give the National any more of my money.
Where is their contribution to our National consciousness?
Where is their celebration of the essential indigenous nature of our culture?
I despair of them and their narrow minded attitudes. 😦
Onyhoo here’s the comment that I didnae post there. 😉
“Indy four steps forward, three steps back”
Jeezo Pat have you been hitting the Christmas sherry too hard?
Where were the 4 steps forward?
I remember only one, and really it was only half a step forward, because half of its strength was dissipated by factionalism removing half of the YESsers who were so disgusted with the NuSNP they refused to participate.! 😦
More like 1/2 a step forward and three steps back. 😦
Still, your point about the Nation of Scotlands international standing was driven home by our First Minister only being allowed to participate in a backroom side meeting for ‘non self governing sub state regions’ at the International COP gathering in Dubai.
You cannae say our non-self-governing sub-state entity wasnae represented at the Big Table can ye eh! .
O wait…
And Thank Christ we don’t suffer under an authoritarian autocratic anti-democratic regime trapped in a blatant resource exploitation territory eh?
We can count our blessings in this blessed land this year eh?
Festive Greetings tae ye Peter and all who read and post here!
aLurker
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Keep pointing this benighted polity in the right direction. We live in hope
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We don’t always see eye to eye, but at least we both know a turd when we see it!
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Apologies for delayed posting of some comments. For some reason, Akismet is identifying legitimate posts as spam. Please don’t take this personally.
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Focus (for the sake of sanity it’s a must) for the next year on all of us working better together to benefit and reform our nation.
The only way is up. (He says while grinding his teeth)
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Can’t agree at all I’m afraid. 2023 has been a wonder. Fantastic Christmas.
2023 was and is the year our first grandchild was born via IVF – first time lucky! Free for the first. Thanks to the wonderful people of the Fertility Centre in Glasgow. He’s great 🙂
“Scotland is proud to be the only UK nation to provide up to three full IVF/ICSI cycles on the NHS for eligible couples with some of the highest pregnancy rates and lowest multiple births across all UK nations.”
Song of the year 2023 I guess is this one, a catchy little number:
All the best for 2024, may all your dreams come true, and I do mean ALL!
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