As a personal social experiment, I lived for a month like it was 1985. Now I’m back with some insights and observations. First and foremost, it’s not easy pretending it’s four decades earlier when nobody else is playing along. The Internet has become mandatory for making restaurant reservations, planning trips, or buying insurance. Going without GPS, texting, or streaming also kinda sucks. But if I’ve taken anything away from my experience, it’s simply this: social media can go the way of the dodo. There is nothing to be gained from Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, or YouTube other than the loss of your happiness, sanity, and sense of self. We waste precious time making Mark Zuckerberg richer when we could be broadening our minds with the best humanity has to offer, and by that, of course, I mean reading a good book.
Looking back at 2024 is like brooding over my time on the battlefield. For over a month, I was poked and prodded in the middle of the night as I tried to sleep, and I was repeatedly poisoned to the point of near-paralysis, draining my will to do anything but stare at YouTube. My faith in humanity also took a blow in November after the thrashing of our democratic institutions to a wanna-be tyrant. Despite it all, I am still here kicking. Thanks be to Zöe, my leukemia has been defeated, though you can never know for sure—cancer is a lich that continues to lurk.
While I am not back to full hit points yet, I’ve returned to AENYA for my fourth adventure, The Magiq of Aenya. But if I am to be honest here, I remain a bit of a poser in the reading department. According to one poll, I picked up more books than 80% of Americans, but that’s really a knock on our Dumbfuckistan-nation and piss-poor educational system, which explains why half of us can’t recognize a wanna-be dictator when he rears his monstrous orange head. My count for 2024 stands at a measly 11~12 books, which is pathetic for an aspiring author like me because you cannot hope to achieve literary excellence without training your brain on the written word!
For my final novel for the year, I went back to Stephen King with The Shining, my 18th offering I’ve read of his so far. Again, I must admit, the MAN knows how to tell a compelling story, how to grip the reader, and how to make you want more—skills I continually strive to improve upon in my work. If you don’t know by now, The Shining is the simple tale of Jack Torrence, held up with his wife and son in the Overlook Hotel high in the Colorado mountains. His alcoholism and abusive anger issues combine with his increasing sense of isolation (cabin fever) to slowly drive him insane. Not to mention, the hotel is haunted by ghosts—traces of the many violent crimes having been committed there. His psychic son, Danny, helps to bridge the gap between the ethereal realm and the prime material plane (as we say in D&D), pushing Jack further over the edge and eventually into a murderous rampage. It’s a family drama like only King can tell it and a helluva suspenseful read, a young Stephen nearing his prime. Need I say more?
In this episode of The Story Matters podcast, I go over my trip to 1985, give brief reviews for all the books I read this year, and get into the gritty details of Stephen King’s The Shining.
The Art of Storytelling 
I am also a fan of The Shining.
I’m glad to hear you are in remission. I hope you have a much happier 2025.
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