The Nu-Normal #19: 2012 – A Clear-Eyed Retrospective

Dispatches from the future on a very normal and good year.

I’m going to level with you here, folks. I’ve been incredibly busy over the last week or so, and I’m feeling a little burnt out. Between catching up on work, rushing to meet already agreed-upon deadlines, and working on existing projects I had (reluctantly) put on the back burner, I’ve barely had any time to scour the Internet for a timely topic to discuss in this month’s column.

Nevertheless, it was during this moment of uncertainty and crippling anxiety that I had a sudden, jolting brainwave. What if, like the best editorial columns of yore, I simply looked to the past for guidance and assurance (and, of course, content) in these troubling times? Surely the remote and ephemeral temporality of 2012 could serve as an illustrative example of historical progress in which to contextualise the cultural firmament of our modern condition…

Well, dear reader, let us find out.