Buh Bye 2010!

    This is how we say 'goodbye' to someone we really don't like in Chicago.

    'Hello' if you're a pessimist.

    Some people call it the 'single fingered salute.'

    2010 was the worst, most painfull year of my life. Up to October 17th that is. But that's a story that I'm pretty sure will really be written in 2011 and beyond.

    I'm pretty much saying goodbye to everything that happened before that.

    You know what I'm talkin' about 2010.

    I've never had the urge to say goodbye to a year like this.

    2010 is the first... because it was the worst.

    I saw some pretty bad stuff go down in 2010... I hope never to see anything like it again.

    2010 almost took me down. Hard. And ugly. Out for the count! TKO! Finis!

    But you know what?

    I've said it before and I'll say it again... "almost don't count 2010."

    2010... you're a has been.

    A wanna be.

    You want a piece of me?

    You gonna hafta do better'n that 2010!

    Viewminder's got a date with 2011!

    And she's lookin' saweet!

    Buh bye 2010!

    You loser.

    You aint nothin'.

    It's me and 2011 now.

    Winna winna lobstah dinna!

    And 2011... she's gonna be so sweet on me.
    .
    .
    .
    Best viewed before midnight. On Black. Johnnie Walker.

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrlJiQ6A0OI&feature=related The Waterboys... 'The New Life Starts Here.'

    Comments and faves

    1. kait dowling (29 months ago | reply)

      i hope this year brings you much happiness!!

    2. is gone [deleted] (29 months ago | reply)

      And 2011 has arrived for us; that sorry excuse for a wretched year is done/over/gone with and with a swift kick. You can continue to kick it across the country......Happy 2011, may this be a good year - happiness, health, contentment

    3. bytegirl24 (29 months ago | reply)

      :-) Peace, Love and Light in the New Year!

      --
      Seen on your photo stream. (?)

    4. cre8iveaddiction (29 months ago | reply)

      Hell yes. I personally have no beef with 2010, happy that she was much more loving to me than her little sister 2009.

      Here's to creative horizons, no more regrets and tons of creativity in 2011.

      Happy New Year my friend.

    5. Andrea loves autumn skies (29 months ago | reply)

      Great and fitting shot to end the year with! Wishing you happiness, health and all that you wish for yourself in 2011!

    6. *Purple Cactus* (29 months ago | reply)

      2010 is so last year. 2011 is the new black!!

      --
      Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)

    7. JoGo... (29 months ago | reply)

      Lol, I think this is how most people say goodbye to people they don't like!!! Very creative shot :)

    8. Andrezza Dias Haddaway (29 months ago | reply)

      I wish all ghosts from the past stay in the past
      from now on "New Life" my friend!
      Peace, Love and Health is all I ask to myself and to everyone I know!

    9. Kat110168 (29 months ago | reply)

      Good riddance right?
      ;-)

    10. .dzika. (29 months ago | reply)

      well..good luck :)
      stay present..and all will be just fine
      best wishes of fulfillment and love in heart

    11. Loca Luna / Anna Gay (29 months ago | reply)

      2010 was nice to me, but since it was a bitch to you, I hate its ass! Peace out, 2010!!!!!!!!!

      Okay, so what's going to happen in 2011 *grabbing my popcorn!*

    12. Feldore (29 months ago | reply)

      Wow, powerful! I've got a feeling that 2011 has got to be better..Happy New Year!

    13. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thank you Ms. Kait. I hope you are the recipient of prodigious amounts of happiness and joy this year too!

    14. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thank you Ariel! It's been a wonderful year so far! 2011 is gonna be heaven! Happy new year to you. I hope in 2011 all of your dreams come true.

    15. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thats the recipe Audrey! I wish you all the same... plus I hope that untold riches befall on you.

    16. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Vanessa... I'm right there with you... it's been an amazing year so far... I hope 2011 is incredible and productive for you in every way... I hope it brings you peace, joy and very deep personal satisfaction and appreciation. You live as close to heaven as a person can get and still remain in the mortal form!

    17. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Andrea... it was an honest goodbye... no regrets... as long as there's no repeats! This is going to be a great year for you... I think you've got a really good headstart! Enjoy and appreciate with all of your hearts.

    18. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thanks Pete. I kicked 2010's lame little ass. It's good to be back in black! I'm never looking back. You have yourself a great year!

    19. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Jo... someone in London was foolish enough to rent me a car so I could drive to Stonehenge... what I found really amusing is that when I went to return this gesture on occasion to drivers who just didn't appreciate my driving style... I couldn't get used to doing it with the other hand! It truly is as universal of a gesture as you can get. Since motoring there has filled me with a deep love for the 'roundabout' the streets of Chicago will never be safe again. I hope you have the very best new year you've ever imagined. And then some.

    20. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Andrezza, your words are always as touching as your images. I wish you all the same. And I hope a large amount of money is accidentally deposited into your bank account with the error never being found. Happy new year Andrezza!

    21. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Kat... that door is closed and it aint nevah gonna open on me again! It's good and it's gonna get better. According to my interpretation of the laws of physics it has to. I look forward to your observatons on life and everything else in this new year. I hope that true happiness merges with the deepest form of personal satisfaction for you in 2011. I hope that you find THE answer and that you might share it with me. Happy new year Kat!

    22. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Agnieska I wish you all the same on your journey through 2011. I think we often have the same questions. Your advice I know is sound. Happy new year Agnieska! I hope you find everything you've ever dreamed of in the coming year.

    23. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thank you Anna. True friends always hate the shit that the other hates! It's good policy and it works. I gotta feeling that this year is going to be even kinder to you than the last! I so appreciate and value your friendship and I look forward to watching you continue to grow as an artist in the next year. If anybody evah gives you a hard time in the new year... please feel free to send them a copy of this picture. Happy new year Anna!

    24. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Feldore, thank you. According to 'Viewminder's Opinion on Physics' there is no possibility of things going anywhere but up! I hope you have an awesome new year and that you find fame, fortune, happiness and the adoration of dozens of the worlds most beautiful and wealthy women and true love with one of them.

    25. aakkee (29 months ago | reply)

      Happy 2011!! ..hope will be kind to you :)

    26. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thank you Aakkee! It's been a wonderful year so far and I think it's going to continue to steadily increase in its greatness! I hope the new year is very good to you as well! Happy 2011!

    27. suenosdeuomi (29 months ago | reply)

      Ah, that eternal sense of hope when I just read about the virtues of hopelessness (Pema Chodron) and abandoning the strive for better for being with the groundlessness of what is. No doubt karma will keep on grinding the wheels.

    28. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      I side with Pema and the Tibetans! I firmly believe in the laws of Karma! Becoming whole is the journey!

    29. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      "Reach in the bag and take out my wallet!" Happy New Year Celticshelter! Something tells me this one is going to be pretty good!

    30. ColourPixie (29 months ago | reply)

      Way to say goodbye!! I hope 2011 is good to you.

      "Winna winna lobstah dinna!" --love that one the most.. lol :)

    31. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thanks CoulourPixie! That year back there... that was a b*tch!

      Man... I know I'm not the only one... but just surviving that smack... I deserve that lobstah dinner!

      If I win some large amount of money I will send everyone who commented on this picture four large live Maine Lobsters (or release them alive in the ocean if that's the way you roll) because I think I owe you guys for a little bit of that survivin'.

    32. is gone [deleted] (29 months ago | reply)


      I must say you are a great source of amusement (in a good way) - re: lobsters - you can either eat 'em or set 'em free.

      So far...so good

    33. Facenorth (29 months ago | reply)

      Great b&w! I had this in mind for a closing shot for 2010, but couldn't pull it together/balls to do it, good for you, hope 2011 is a better one for you!

    34. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thank you Ariel! It's my pleasure. I like to be considerate to everyone you know... I know that not everyone agrees with eating lobsters like I do.

      I went scuba diving one day and I caught about a half a dozen lobsters... I went off of one of those bridges that run the length of the Florida Keys... I drove over there in a rental car... a brand new Nissan Altima...

      My dive buddy and I got out of the water and walked across the highway and we threw our gear and the lobsters into the trunk (boot for you Jo) of that Altima and we scooted home to go and grill them up and have a few Hieneckens and watch the sun go down.

      I ate two of the delicious mud bugs and I reached for my third and it wasn't there!

      I asked my buddy how many he ate and he said three.

      I accused him of eating four.

      Things got a little tense but in the spirit of friendship I decided to just drop it.

      The next day we got into that Nissan Altima that had been sittin' in the sun all day...

      Man I've NEVER smelled a car that smelled that bad.

      We couldn't even drive it back to the rental place to exchange it.

      Called 'em up and said 'this car smells so bad we need another one right away!'

      'I told you I only ate three!'

      Never did find out where that lobster crawled into.

    35. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Hey... thanks man! I hope it's better for you too. That was a tough year. Not tough enough to take us alive though was it?

    36. philippe.bellin (29 months ago | reply)

      splendide n&b

    37. Jenny Rainbow (29 months ago | reply)

      :-) Pretty polite way to say Good Bye! Anyway hope in the end of 2011 you''ll find something different for good bye! Happy New Year!
      And thank you for the visit and comment!

    38. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thank you Jenny! I loved Inner Glow. Only the D300 would bring that out. 2010 was the year of 'goodbyes.' 2011 has been the year of 'hello.' Everythings gonna work itself out alright!

    39. Jenny Rainbow (29 months ago | reply)

      Love your words regarding the year of "Hello"! Thumbs up! ;-)

    40. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Rock on Jenny! I'm liking 'Hello' much better! 'Goodbye' was so last year! Been there, done that, never wanna look back!

      I feel so much love this year. I hope you're feeling some too!

    41. Ellen Bulger (29 months ago | reply)

      Hadn't seen this until now.

      2010 had some road bumps for sure. Had a few discouraging moments for myself and saw some seriously ugly stuff happen to people I love. Can't count it as the worst for me, personally. I'd give that dubious honor to 2004/2005. Fugly is what it was.

      But I know what it is to want a year to be HISTORY, to push it into the past and move on, even just to hobble on, into the future.

      Forward bravely! WTF! Laugh when you get the chance,

      Ellen

    42. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Thank you for your words Ellen.

      All I can say is that after a good week of heart to heart talks with myself between Christmas and New Years... I knew that this photograph was how I'd say goodbye to that year.

      I feel so much better now... probably how you felt in 2006!

      You know exactly what I wanted and exactly what I got... that year is history!

      I feel good, I feel optimistic, I'm surrounded by some wonderful people... the things I didn't like about last year are... so last year.

      That feels really good.

      I'm smiling right now and I've been smiling all year!

      We're all on the same journey Ellen... sometimes on different trails and different places... but I've learned for sure that we're all on the same journey.

      Thanks Ellen.

    43. Viewminder (29 months ago | reply)

      Mon ami, cette femme est longue et loin derrière moi ... J'ai donné tout l'amour que j'avais à quelqu'un qui me déchirait le cœur de ma poitrine et lui a piétiné sur elle en face de moi! J'ai laissé tout cela dans la dernière année et mon cœur et mon amour sont passés à guérir et à survoler rêves, je n'aurais jamais pu imaginer auparavant! Cette année, mon ami ... mon coeur et mon âme sont fort et libre et mon esprit sont plus élevés que jamais. Bonne année à vous aussi.

    44. Viewminder (28 months ago | reply)

      2011 has been the best year in a long time! I gotta take care of a little business... two more 'sets of rapids' and then I'm home free!

      I promise never to lose sight of my dreams!

      ONE YEAR INTO THE FUTURE:

      Friday-Love! ~ Is That a Weasel in Your Pocket Edition

      "Friday-Love! ~ Is That a Weasel in Your Pocket Edition"

      www.flickr.com/photos/light_seeker/6647067587 /

    45. L.R. ATKINSON [deleted] (25 months ago | reply)

      love the attitude!

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