2018 Predictions

Let's do this!

• Democrats take the House but not the Senate (too many seats are in red states)
• Trump remains Trump- every other week a stupid and outrageous self-inflicted wound that causes outrage… until the next stupid and outrageous self-inflicted wound. 
• Trump not primaried on the Right- in the end, the party falls in line
• The left becomes a huge free-for-all with regards to getting in position for 2020, each one trying to outdo the other. 
• One name among the Democrats- Al Franken.  Franken finally steps out of office and uses his freedom to constantly attack Trump, being a zealot about harassment (“I screwed up- I apologized, I stepped away to learn, and I will use my Presidency to make amends”).  He will be the lightning rod among Democrats going into the Presidential campaign 

Onto non-political predictions:

• Houston shocks Golden State in the Western conference finals, 4 games to 3.  Golden State looks past Houston to a rematch with Houston, and Houston wears them down.  Houston/Cleveland goes 7 games, but Cleveland’s depth is too much
• LeBron does leave Cleveland- for New York.  The Cavaliers break up, while LeBron forms a new superteam around Porzingis
• The Yankees are the talk of baseball, as Stanton his 67 home runs… but they still come up short in the playoffs.  Houston-Cleveland are in the ALCS, and Houston prevails… but this time they lose to the Dodgers in the World Series
• The Browns take Sam Darnold and Minkah Fitzpatrick with their two draft picks. 
• The AFC title game is Pittsburgh—New England, with New England winning.  The NFC title game is Philadelphia-Minnesota, and Minnesota Wins… then shocks New England to win the Super Bowl (which is in Minnesota)
• The Infinity War is the first major stumble among the Marvel Movies- it’s a case of ‘too much’.  It still does great numbers, but that’s when everyone sees the Superhero movie trend has peaked
• The cascade of people outed as harassers will continue, as people will be called out for behavior of the last 30 years.

And personal prediction:

·        My ultimate goal is 190 pounds- I may not reach it, but I will be under 200 at some point of 2018

Closing Out 2017

2017.... It was a Year.

Looking back, the biggest story was the explosion of sexual harassment cases- Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Roy Moore, Al Franken, Matt Lauer.  The dam broke- good.  Maybe this time a better standard can be held for the future. 

It was also the year I gave up on politics.  There are two parties in the USA, and their defining characteristic is how much they despise people who belong to the other party.  Donald Trump is pretty much who we thought he was- a narcissist who lives to see his name in lights and has no shame or doubts about his own awesomeness.  In today's political environment, that behavior is rewarded.  I'm not asking that the two sides stop fighting.  I just wish they actually fought over ideas instead of personalities. 

Sports?  The Cavaliers are a great team that ran into a greater team in the Warriors.  The Indians had a great season- I would love them to win one title before their core gets old, but it's a fun team to watch.  And the Browns were awful and pathetic- for the sake of the city, I would love them to get better.

On a personal level... we lost our cat Pippin this November.  We still have two cats, but losing the big guy hurt.  I lost ~25 pounds and hope to lost another 20 or so to get down to 190 this year.  Work is fine, and we still perform at Dinner Detective. 

May 2018 bring everyone peace and happiness.