2023 Year in Review

Well, another year has come and gone. I felt like it was only yesterday when I was writing my 2022 year in review. Here we are at the end of 2023, and boy has it been a year! Like always, this year had its ups and downs, but somehow, I survived. Let’s hope for another fantastic year ahead. In a few hours by the time this gets hopefully published, I will be one year older. Am I excited about this? A little, but I am not sure if I am ready to take it head on. For now, let’s look back at how my 2023 went as well as the latest movies and shows I watched.

My year started off on a good note when I started my new job after being unemployed for an entire year. I would say it was a bit better than the previous one I had, but it only lasted for a few months as it was temporary. After that job ended, I was job searching again, but it only lasted a few months as I got another new job in September. I will give a more detailed update in the new year, but so far it is a good job even though it is in the nonprofit industry. It does have its usual challenges, but it is nothing like I experienced two years ago that led me to getting fired. It is a bit busy, so I have to work on managing my work/life balance because I am also continuing to work on this blog.

Update on New Job

End of my Job

My Brand New Job

Speaking of my blog, I wrote on a few interesting topics this year including a series on mental health, and re-publishing my old study abroad blog posts. In case you were wondering, I will publish my last study abroad post sometime in January. I also touched on some heavy topics such as my experience with the pandemic, and the biggest sexual assault scandal at my college. I really did take some risks writing these, but it shows me that I have to share my voice as it is equally important as others. I also did some experimenting by having AI write a blog post in light of the writers and actors’ strikes, and boy were the results horrifying. I also continued reviewing the MCU films with my phase 3 review, but had to pause on doing Marvel content to show my solidarity with the strikes. However, now that the strikes are over, they will resume next year. I won’t do a review on Disney+ shows in 2023 since we only got 3 (two live action and one animated), but I might do a mini blog highlight on where they stood in the overall ranking.

Writing a blog using AI

Staying on track with the MCU, it was a very difficult year for Marvel as many of their projects bombed like Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Secret Invasion, and sadly The Marvels. This is most likely due to the company pumping out so many projects at once which put a strain on the VFX artists. However, Kevin Feige and its parent company, Disney are committed to producing quality over quantity projects. It wasn’t all bad though as we got great projects like Guardians and the Galaxy Vol. 3, Loki season 2, and recently, What-If season 2. Sadly, Marvel’s year ended on a bitter note when Jonathan Majors was declared guilty for sexual assault, and was fired from said company. This really puts Marvel in a huge dilemma because his character, Kang the Conqueror, was supposed to be the main villain of this multiverse saga. Not sure if they will stick to this plan either by recasting the actor, or using another big bad. I would stick with the former to not confuse audiences in future projects. Overall, this seems to be one of Marvel’s worst years next to the pandemic, and not even America Chavez actor, Xochitl Gomez winning Dancing with the Stars wasn’t enough to save the MCU. There were also some great non-MCU movies like the Super Mario Bros. movie, Spider-man: Across the Spiderverse, and Barbie. Sadly, I didn’t get to see the last two movies in theaters, so I ended up seeing these online. There was also Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, but I neither saw the movie or live concert version because Taylor Swift did not come to my hometown, and there were limited showings in theaters.

The problem with Marvel Studios

Honestly this year was slightly better than last year as I was able to stay employed for most of the year, and still got to see the latest Marvel projects even if they weren’t all winners. I even showed support for the actors, and writers, as well as the people of Maui. As I look forward to 2024, I hope I am still employed at my current job, and I get to have more opportunities to just have fun outside of work. As for this blog, I have some exciting ideas that I can’t wait to execute. As always, we hope it is a better year despite the challenges in the last few years of this decade. If this year didn’t go as planned, I am so sorry for you, but I am proud of you if you are still here. Again thank you for your continued support of this blog, and here’s to a Happy and Healthy New Year!