Matthew Osborne
I’ve never been good at the whole “New year, new me” phenomenon. In fact, entering 2023 doesn’t make me feel all that different than I did a few days ago.
We entered this new year in the most stressful way possible, as Ohio State’s kicker was lining up for a potential game-winner in the College Football Playoff against Georgia, but we all know how that turned out.
Now that we survived that, things are relatively normal, although I will be writing 2022 on checks for a while still, I’m sure.
My wise old friend Dr. Tom Johnson told me the other day that he does not care for New Year’s revelry and in fact finds it to be the biggest waste of time of any holiday. Being as I called him to reminisce, though, I figured we would talk a little about the year gone by and one to come.
Tom got on a tangent about how movies and television shows now all have an angle of some kind. Even if the show is not political in nature, there is always a political message hidden inside, he said.
There could be some truth to that, and as he told me that he has no interest in seeing the new Indiana Jones film this year, among others, he said something I did not expect.
“Now, Cocaine Bear … that can unite the country.”
Wait, what?
For anyone not familiar, there is a movie coming out in February called “Cocaine Bear” that seems to deliver exactly what the title promises – a bear, high on cocaine, on a rampage. Simple enough, I suppose.
“See, there’s no pretense to that,” Tom said. “There’s no political message to that. It’s just Cocaine Bear. It’s all of us just running through life and trying to make sense of it all.”
I’ve got to tell you, that’s deep.
While I do not want to come into 2023 like a bear on cocaine, there is certainly plenty to be done in the coming year.
Yeah, I need to hit the gym sometime, like everyone else. No, I don’t have a new Peleton bike that will just be a coat rack later.
I don’t really have any specific goals and resolutions that I did not have on Dec. 31. Just rise and grind, and take care of business. Try to be a better father and husband, and try to make decisions that are in the best interests of my family and the community.
If we don’t have those goals every day, it won’t matter what the calendar says.
As for Cocaine Bear uniting the country, I will reserve judgment on that point for now. But I am sure we will see the film and attempt to ascertain its proper place in the zeitgeist.
See, I’m off to a good start already. Thanks, Word-A-Day calendar 2023.
Matthew Osborne is the editor of The Northeast Georgian. Reach him at 706-778-4215 or editor@TheNortheastGeorgian.com.