So, 2025 is over now. All I can say is it's about time. Not gonna lie, 2025 kind of sucked.
I usually do an annual review of the past year on Facebook, but I've decided not to do that anymore. If I want to share anything of that nature, it'll be in a blog entry like this one. However, due to so much going on with me in the past 12 months, I'll admit that this one was a bit of a blur. So, some things won't be covered, unfortunately (or is that fortunate?). In the meantime though, I'll do my best not to rant and rave too much with what I do remember - and what I'm ready to talk about at this time. Bear in mind, there are still a few things going on that haven't been made public yet. All in due time for that though.
Anyway, to kick things off on the most calm note possible... WTF happened?
In all honesty, not a lot that I recall, at least at the beginning of the year. Like I said, bit of a blur.
For starters, I've had to look at my other blogs from 2025 for reference - only 4 entries! The year had been either so dull and boring, or so mind-numbingly hectic, I just didn't have time to say much. But for the sake of having something to mention in this one, I'll do a little recap:
March: I updated my YouTube playlist for my "Forgotten Favourites" radio show by splitting them into 6 parts instead of just one. Yup. That was it for the first 3 months of 2025. A good thing, but quite small too. I did mention, though, that events took place prior to posting the blog that I couldn't talk about yet (as mentioned above), so there is that.
April: My reviews on funny April Fool's Day posts I found on the Internet that day, just like I did the year before. Another positive moment, but mainly confined to a 24-48 hour timeframe.
July: I took a moment to reissue a bunch of my n-Somnia releases that were, until this point, deleted from my catalog. The reissued versions, however, bear a slightly different tracklist to suit the occasion, and for other reasons as well. Want to know more? There's a link available that'll take you to my archived posts. This blog entry also covered some of my future plans, but also mentioned the disappointment of a few things getting in their way. Yeah, get used to that...
August: In this entry, my final one for 2025, I posted about my latest n-Somnia album release called "Night Rhythms". What I failed to do, though, is mention the promo single that came shortly before it - called "Eat Fresh", which was made in response to a competition by Subway, who were celebrating their 60th birthday. So, there's something positive in this one.
Speaking of unmentioned events, there were a few others that weren't so great, which is to be expected from 2025, I guess.
First of all, my father-in-law, Colin Brown, passed away back in May. We knew for a long time that the day was coming, but he hung in there for a while. He managed to reach age 80 in the end, which was quite the milestone for him.
Secondly, in the latter months, I had a major change in the tech department. It's both bad and good. Allow me to explain why:
With Microsoft doing what they did a while back with stopping support for Windows 10, it was a matter of choosing either jumping over to Windows 11 or be a part of the ESU (Extended Security Updates) for Win10. After all I've learned about Win11, I wasn't gonna have anything to do with that, and I wasn't quite ready to part with Win10 yet, so I opted for the ESU. Thankfully, I was able to enrol for free, so that's a bonus. However, this would be rather short-lived, as for reasons unknown (but I suspect some foulplay in the midst), I had a major Windows error and got a blue screen, for what would be the first time in years at this point - right after setting up the ESU. Suspicious timing, don't you think? However, I had a plan and I'd already prepared myself for it...
After the PC crashed the first time (it happened more than once), I was able to make a boot disk out of a USB drive that I have. A boot disk for a different operating system. You may have heard of it... Linux. A boot disk for one called Linux Mint, to be precise (there's many different Linux systems, called "distros" - Mint is just one of them). To be doubly sure (literally), I even made a second one, just in case. So, by the time the second Windows crash happened, I'd had enough. After having previously read instructions, and while using my phone for reference, I decided to use the boot disk, format the drive and start a new path in computing with a Linux-based system (oh, and I was able to backup important files before the second crash, by the way).
What was it like after the first installation? Quiet. You don't realise just how loud a Windows system truly is until you've purged it from your life. Think about it. No ads (unless you go to certain websites, of course), no unnecessary programs running in the background, no data mining (that's a big one right there), no bloatware, nothing. And with it came extra speed. If you want a faster computer, do yourself a favour and ditch Windows. You and your PC will feel a lot better. Of course, starting on a new operating system comes with the learning curve. This version of Linux may look like a Windows system, but there's a lot about it that differs from the other. I'm still learning to this day, but most of the time it's pretty much straight forward. There is also, however, the downside of certain Windows programs not being compatible anymore. I've heard of a program called Wine, which is supposed to help overcome that hurdle, but my experience with it so far has been quite dismal. If that keeps up, I may have to use my second PC that's stored away just for Windows programs I can't get running on Linux. Which, by the way, includes a lot of my games and music production software, which is a kick in the teeth. Sure, I can run some of these things on Linux, but it's not entirely simple to achieve. Like I said, I'm still learning.
Moving on. Everything else about 2025, however, is a little too private to go over at this point. I don't want to disappoint anyone, but some things need permission from others before I go over any of it here. All I can say is that it's health-related. I hope you understand.
However, I can say how I feel about it all happening at once and all at the wrong times. Let's just say, I've been putting most of my projects on hold as my role as a person (without saying too much about my personal titles) have become rather important. While I don't mind helping out where I can, it has exhausted me to the point where I feel like I'm back at work again. It does get to me sometimes and I do need a break, but right now that's not possible. I'm working on it though. As soon as I'm allowed to make things public, I'll be more clear on this subject. Until then, I am sorry - and I'm also sorry if I seem stressed if you ever see me in person.
So, for now, I'll leave it there. I'm done talking about 2025. Some say, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." In this case, I've crossed that bridge, now I'll burn it. Unfortunately, the bitterness from the past year has overwhelmed the sweetness and has kind of leaked into 2026 already. The year didn't end as well as hoped, which means this year hasn't had the best start either. I'm at a point in my life now where I try not to get my hopes up anymore. That way, when something good does happen, it'll be a surprise. I like positive surprises.
To close, I mentioned on my Facebook pages about my music releases on Bandcamp. As of a week before Christmas, every available release is now 100% free to download at your own leisure. I also mentioned that it's not just a Christmas gift - it's a permanent decision. In my post, I said I'd mention here that I'd explain why. Basically, it's out of protest, in a way. Bandcamp have changed who they prefer to pay artists through. For a while, PayPal was the only option. I have a PayPal account, so it worked for me. Now it's changed to a different service. One that I've read about since learning about the change, and I'm not too keen on what I've read about them. So, no, I will not be creating a new payment account with them. I'm sticking with PayPal (for now), even if it means not having revenue from my Bandcamp releases. So, unless another option comes up that's more to my requirements, this is how it'll be from now on. If I plan on making money from my future music projects, I'm sure I'll find a way to do it, but not right now though. Watch this space, I guess.
So, up yours, 2025 - 2026, watch your step...
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