2018 has been a hell of a year.
If you're the average Joe and/or Jane who stumbles across this place every so often, you may have noticed it's been pretty quiet around here. Aside from a spate of reviews here and there and the maintenance of the weekly Top 40/upcoming releases sections, it's been slim pickings for Sound Bites content (especially over the past four months or so). I've never claimed to be the most on-the-ball guy when it comes to posting, but even by my standards this year has been sub-par. For that, I apologize, and hope to do better going forward.
That said, though it doesn't excuse the silence, I'll try to explain how life got in the way this year without dwelling on details or laying it on too thick; those closest to me know all of this already, and there's no point in trying to get sympathy from strangers.
In April, my mother passed away; she had battled diabetes for decades, and after numerous trials and tribulations she lost the ability to fight the inevitable any longer. She was the strongest person I ever knew, and her life will always be an inspiration.
With the loss of my mother still weighing heavily on me, stress from work and the dissolution of an 18 year relationship looming, I finally sought help. Taking a leave from work for the first time in my life, I got to talk about all of my fear, depression and anxiety with a professional. I have been on medication since late July, and it has helped me tremendously during my most trying times.
In September, after about twenty years in Miramichi, I transferred to Moncton, where I now call home. I am still getting used to the place, but have settled in as well as I could have hoped for. My closest friends all moved here in the years leading up to my arrival, and being able to see them more has been invaluable to my recovery.
As I write this, I have a hope for the future that I honestly haven't felt for a long time. As drastic as this year's changes have been in my life, I believe I'm better having gone through them. There are great lessons in loss and, though I will always look back with fondness, it's looking ahead that's got me most excited.
So, as you might expect, Sound Bites kind of took a back seat for a while there; looking at the backlog I'm up against is admittedly a little daunting (I'm only 15-20 reviews behind), but I'll do my best to catch up this month. Reviews might end up bundled and/or shorter as I plow through them, but my intention is to have Year in Rock 2018 ready to go by December.
I didn't mean to neglect this, and I pride myself in providing the kind of content you come back for. Which leads me to a humble thank you for sticking around; even with an unreliable hack like me bailing on the place for weeks at a time, we're still getting about a thousand hits a month, which is mind boggling to me. I am grateful that you keep coming back, and I promise that if you choose to stick around a while longer, I'll do everything I can to get better.
At blogging, and at life.
Thank you.
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