Congratulations to James Franco for winning Best Actor at The Golden Globes tonight.

What a mighty way to kick off 2018, and it’s been a lovely ending to a beautiful 2017.

To close the year, the other day my fiancé and I shed our Christmas tree of ornaments and lights, removed the stockings from the mantle and left the family room noticeably drab after about a month of holiday cheer.

But I got a little sad.

The post-Christmas blues aren’t something I am terribly used to. That is to say, being sad because the holidays are over. I’m actually usually ready to see the holiday season go bye-bye. October kicks off an overly long quarter-year of commercial bombardment, pushing us to purchase unneeded things and possibly make us feel less than for any number of reasons – a never ending blur of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, strung together with no end in sight. That time of year can be most annoying and can show a horrible side of humanity.

I don’t want to sound Scroogy. Halloween has pretty much always provided fond memories for me and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday by far, and it has rarely let me down – a time for friends and family to come together, not for materialistic reasons, but to break bread together and enjoy each other’s company. You pretty much can’t beat that.

But Christmas has always been a love-hate relationship with me. Throughout my life, I never know what to expect from year to year. Happily, Christmas 2017 has been a good one. And, in fact, so has the year as a whole. Last year, I got engaged, became an award-winning journalist, hit the half-way point for My Big Break and became much more organized in the business of it, saw the Mockumentary come to fruition (don’t forget to donate here if you want to see more hilarious episodes), and enjoyed another wave that has become the strange success of The Room with Franco’s release of the Disaster Artist.

I’d say 2017 was abundant in its gifts.

And so as I lugged our Christmas tree from the house, only a few days later a new couch was lugged in to enshrine the beginning of 2018, a year in which I will get married for the first and last time. I will live in a new home with new things to look forward to. It will be one step closer to finishing My Big Break, and more relevant interviews for my podcast, On The Grid. In the coming year, I will try to be more generous to others and live a healthier life – both physically and mentally. Also in the works for Room fans in all parts not USA – I may have the opportunity for celebrity appearances in your neck of the woods. But that’s all I can say about that right now.

So, suck up 2018 with all your might and live the life you were meant to live.

Cheers!