Happy New Year, JMG Community!

Another action-packed year has come and gone for this here website thingy, which in a few months will mark its 18th anniversary.

In this post last year, I wrote, “I want to sincerely thank all of you, longtime JMG flying monkeys and newbies alike, for being here during what for many of us will be the most memorable year of our lives, if not also the worst. At least, let’s just hope it was the worst.”

Whether year one of the pandemic was worse than year two is arguable, of course, but nearly losing the country to violent insurrectionists puts 2021 squarely in the lead, to my mind.

And while the last two years have seemed like nothing but an unending loop of Shelley Winters’ most famous scene, let’s hope that 2022 is at least less terrible.

As I mention in this post every year, aggregating breaking news is like a homework assignment that is never done, but is always due. Per my dashboard, the past 12 months saw just over 15,000 JMG posts, which seems insane. But you all make it a lot easier with your emails, your story tips, and your participation.

I thank you all for your robust opinions and for making the JMG comments section, by far, the most lively in the entire LGBTQ blogosphere. I’m happy to have met so many of you at our JMG meetups over the years and while getting together in person has been pretty much impossible for the last couple of years, hopefully we can soon clink glasses at some treacherous homo dive bar.

Special thanks go out to our nimble JMG tech support guy Jack, who springs into action at all hours when the fuckheads try to fuck with us. With the help of a few defense programs, Jack and our host kept our 2021 downtime to just a few hours.

Lastly, I want to extend a big furry hug to all of you who hit the JMG tip jar. Digital ad rates have been cratering for years, half the world uses ad blockers, and brands that favor LGBTQ sites (travel, entertainment, etc) have had little to promote due to the pandemic. But thanks to you, we’re managing to keep the lights on.

Seriously, thank you.

NOTE: Don’t panic if we have a late start in the morning. As with last year, I’ve got a solid crew of gay homosexuals to ring in 2022 with on Zoom tonight and the vodka in the freezer is calling my name. I don’t even need to pick out a special outfit.