{"id":267,"date":"2010-12-31T15:00:31","date_gmt":"2010-12-31T20:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/?p=267"},"modified":"2011-01-01T12:42:04","modified_gmt":"2011-01-01T17:42:04","slug":"horrible-things-in-2010-i-kind-of-liked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/?p=267","title":{"rendered":"Horrible Things in 2010 I Kind of Liked"},"content":{"rendered":"

I suppose I know a few people who had a great 2010 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c marriages, kids, jobs, success, blah blah whatever \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but for most of us, 2010 was the suckiest suck that ever sucked. This was the year that seemed to heap loss and disease on us, that brought us ever closer to national doom, that made it clear that not only don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we know what the fuck we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing, but the universe is clearly out to destroy us while we cover ourselves in oil and elect idiots. So good freakin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 riddance, 2010. Go away, and take your boring-ass movie<\/a> with you.<\/p>\n

But hey \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the year may have been dark, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s full of diamonds, or at least nasty little bits of glass we can pretend are diamonds until they cut off our fingers. So, in the spirit of pure optimism, here are ten terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad things from 2010 that I found a way to enjoy. Happy New Year.<\/p>\n

CHRISTINE O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122DONNELL<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

"Campaign fraud? Get out of here, you!"<\/p><\/div>\n

God help me, I love Christine O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell. I love everything about her. Well, okay, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I love her politics, but then again I have no idea what they actually are (which is fine, because she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t either). No, I love her because although I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never met her, I GET her. She tries to be a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153celebrity,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she tries to be a “politician,” she tries to lay down threats and such, but she cannot hide her true identity: she is a mess. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a smart woman with no sense of reality or responsibility. People like that are all kinds of fun to hang with. They say great things, even though it can be tiresome taking their 2 AM phone calls or reading their rambling, semi-existential Facebook posts. They stay with you at the bar after everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gone home. They have grandiose plans about their own future, even while their present suggests they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just one lateness away from being fired by Starbucks. And there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the rub: O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell is a mess who accidentally found success. I resent that the “Tea Party” hung their hopes on her perky but always a little terrified face, just as I resent that her wacky statements made her an international punching bag. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Leave her alone,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I wanted to shout at the late-night hosts who picked on her \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s OUR problem!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (I’m from Delaware.) I tell you, even her lies are endearing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c her first date was to a Satanic Altar! She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s privy to information about the Chinese! God talks to her! She knows mice with human brains! I even liked that she pulled the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I condemn the until now nonexistent rumors that Mike Castle is gay\u00e2\u20ac\u009d card \u00e2\u20ac\u201c hell, I thought that old trick was dead in the water, but not for Christine, who probably has no idea just how shameless she is. As of this writing, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being investigated for campaign fraud (those surprised that their campaign donations to O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell paid her rent or subsidized a bowling party clearly had no idea who they were dealing with), and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handling that exactly as I hoped: by blaming everyone she can, spewing easily-disputed lies and slander at her former staffers, at the watchdog group who accused her, even at Joe Biden, who she thinks is seeking revenge on her (for losing!?). And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s her<\/em> saying this stuff, not some random spokesperson \u00e2\u20ac\u201c she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s basically taking what should be a late-night IM discussion to the public. You gotta love it! Me, I hope she beats all the charges and finally answers my invitation to see a show at the Wilmington Drama League.<\/a> She would\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve liked Chicago<\/em>.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: She’s writing a book. That’s bad. An embittered O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be NEARLY as endearing. I do worry that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll lose her Cathy Guisewite charm and go full Palin \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if so, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have lost her forever. Hang in there, darling. You can put off that water bill for one more month.<\/p>\n

SIDING WITH JAY<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

"But...but I have a masturbating bear!"<\/p><\/div>\n

Team Coco can suck it. Not that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I do. The hipster doofus is cooler, funnier, younger, and pretty much superior to Leno in every way. I like his goofy, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpataphysical take on comedy, even when he overdoses on irony. But then came the Late Night Wars, and I stood nearly alone against all my friends in support of Leno. Why? Because I knew that Leno was blameless, was just doing his job, and had nothing at all to do with O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s poor ratings. But oh, how Team Coco cried foul. Leno ruined O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien by providing him with a crappy lead-in. Leno needed to step down and give O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien a chance. Leno needed to stop taking \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cheap shots\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien in his show. Never mind that O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lead-in was actually the local news\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6his show was failing for months before Leno\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (admittedly shitty) 10:00 show started. Never mind that Leno had already<\/em> stepped down and given O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien a chance \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he could have turned down the 10:00 spot that he was never comfortable with anyway. Never mind that Leno is widely known as a nice, generous fellow in the biz and allowed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even invited \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Coco supporters onto his show. And never mind that if O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien had a better contract, he would probably still have the Tonight Show spot today – until he was canned for poor ratings again. Truth is, both he and his show were better geared for a 12:30 spot, but Team Coco (god, what an annoying name) decided that because their boy was funnier, he must be in the right<\/i> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and, therefore, a victim of Leno\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s draconian tactics. Bullshit, boys. Leno deserved to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153win,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and not just because his contract was better \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because, like it or not, his brand of comedy has more appeal. Leno\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ratings are currently not only higher than O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever were, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beating Letterman \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even in the 18 to 49 age range everyone seems to love. For more info, check out this excellent Cracked.com article<\/a> that gives it a nice summary.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: The LNW’s got us all arguing over the fates of multi-millionaires with shows we hardly ever watched. We’re saps, we are. Still, it would have been a hell of a thing if Leno actually DID choose to retire. Sure, it would have sucked for Leno\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s writers (although, seriously, screw those hacks), but eventually O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien would have gotten the sack and Leno would have been rehired. I could live on the delicious hipster tears that would\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve followed.<\/p>\n

TSA SCREENINGS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

Hot.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ah, terrorism. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that Americans don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be safe, even if safety means overreacting to any conceivable threat. Someone could theoretically put a bomb in a shoe? Put those shoes through an X-ray! Someone could make an explosive out of a liquid? No more than 3 ounces of any liquid on a plane! Someone could hide something in their clothes? Go naked! Well, okay, do the next best thing\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6look through our clothes and pat down our privates! Truth is, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really know what to think about the TSA these days. While I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve taken overreacting to silly new heights with the new x-rays and regulations, I also think putting up with the occasional grope is just about the least we can do to keep ourselves safe. But, especially considering our country’s weird hangup with nudity, it sure is fun to talk about. I never thought there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be an issue the ACLU and the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tea Party\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would agree on until the TSA started giving us a whole new brand of porn. And that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t touch my junk\u00e2\u20ac\u009d idiot? What a perfect representation of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153protect me from terrorism but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t inconvenience me in any way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d generation. Love it!<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: I get chills every time I see a report of someone easily getting through even the latest scanners. Can we maybe stop demonstrating how easy it is to bypass security and blow up our airplanes? <\/p>\n

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"

I bet she kills at Guitar Hero.<\/p><\/div>
\nSo some Dutch creep makes a movie about people whose faces are sewn to other peoples’ assholes, and voila! The nation has the first flick in a long time where just the idea<\/em> of it is enough. Seeing it is completely unnecessary \u00e2\u20ac\u201c once you know three people are forced to eat each others\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 shit, what more do you want? (Well, two people, anyway \u00e2\u20ac\u201c being in the front isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t all that bad, although it must suck to get an itch.) I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll probably never see it, until it comes on network TV in sitcom form (it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be a fine lead-in to Two and a Half Men<\/em>), but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still my favorite movie of the year. Way to go, creepy Dutch guy. Oh, and all credit goes to Roger Ebert<\/a> for, as far as I know, being the first to abbreviate the movie as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153~~~\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: A sequel is already in the can, and it sounds like the same movie, only the centipede contains 12 saps instead of three. This is bound to be a letdown. Why couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the mad scientist dude work on other insect hybrids instead? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d much rather see a Human Aphid, a Human Stinkbug, or even a Human Slug. Hell, I know a few Human Slugs.<\/p>\n

JOE MILLER<\/strong><\/h2>\n

(Photo withheld. You’re welcome.)<\/small><\/p>\n

Miller is the Alaskan the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tea Party\u00e2\u20ac\u009d candidate who managed to outseat Repub incumbent Lisa Murkowski in the primaries. Murkowski, of course, then ran as a vote-in candidate and, according to almost everyone, handed Miller his hat. The only holdout is Miller himself, who is going to such astounding lengths to declare himself the winner you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d think the Tea Partiers threatened to teabag him if he lost. First, he demanded that votes with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Murkowski\u00e2\u20ac\u009d spelled even a tiny bit wrong should be thrown out \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will of the voter bedamned! Even if he got his wish (he didn’t), he still would\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lost by over 2000 votes, but that didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop Miller, who began throwing an EPIC hissy fit, claiming massive voter fraud, making up new laws, even insinuating that his own volunteers were too stupid to monitor the counting<\/em>. He filed suit after suit, all of them thrown out. He claims it’s about “principle,” even though he clearly has none. And as of this writing he STILL hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t given up \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I like him. Miller, with his smug, half-assed growth dusting a face even his mother must want to punch, has gone from textbook dick into some sort of pantheon of assholeness, and you have to admire his spirit. Factor in his incredible arrogance (he once tweeted<\/a> that he was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153house hunting\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in DC a good month before the election), his dogged attempt at thug-like tactics, and his shady past (he was once disciplined for sneaking into government computers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c apparently Scooby and the gang caught him), and you’ve got yourself a candidate for Douchebag of the Gods. Anyone with that kind of ambition is a-okay in my book.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: GOD, would I love to punch his greasy face.<\/a><\/p>\n

KE$HA<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

Those poor, overcrowded bacteria.<\/p><\/div>\n

In a pop world where \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so fly\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is pretty much the only stance anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s willing to take (click here<\/a> if you dare), it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of refreshing to find a Ke$ha. Not only does she sing about brushing her teeth with Jack and getting naked with questionable folks, but she really<\/i> gets into character, smearing her face with last night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s glitter and generally looking like her skin feels and smells of Screwdriver. Is her music listenable? Well, that depends on your def of listenable, I suppose\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all been done, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bubbly and auto-tuned to death, so at least she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s literally incapable of singing a bad note. But the music’s not the point. With her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not only a bad girl, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m kind of unhealthy too\u00e2\u20ac\u009d stance, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty much the only one out there evoking true punk these days. I actually kinda suspect ol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Ke$h might evolve into an interesting artist \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nice to see someone actually admit to being a mess (check the lyrics to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dancing With Tears in My Eyes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not since Fiona Apple has an ing\u00c3\u00a9nue been so honest about screwing up). For now, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got a unique place in the biz, and you have to give her some credit, even if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily want to touch her. Sure, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all a pose, a joke, but at least it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an entertaining one with a little imagination. I suspect Ke$ha knows what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s singing about.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: Man was it a shitty year for disposable pop. Last year was fantastic\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6what the hell happened? And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not even talking about Bieber\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6tweens need their pinups too. No, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m saying after the fury of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My Life Would Suck Without You,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Single Ladies,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Waking Up In Vegas,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d what the hell did we get this year? One decent Pink song and that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Teenage Dream\u00e2\u20ac\u009d thing? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no coincidence that the best song of the year was called Fuck You<\/a>. Come back, Gaga, all is forgiven.<\/p>\n

EXTENDING BUSH\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

We must protect this American.<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s not about the issue itself, or my own politics. I’ll accept that some believe the super rich deserve a tax cut (even though I suspect most of them know precisely how to protect their money from the evil gumment). What I really<\/em> love is how, thanks to the effective thuggery of a few key Repubs, pretty much the ENTIRE REPUBLICAN CONGRESS has to pretend that protecting Bush\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans is the most urgent, pressing issue in our country. By \u00e2\u20ac\u0153banding together\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to protect the interest of (let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face it) the ones who essentially fund their campaigns, the Republicans have cast away any doubts about what politics is really all about: an elite few who take care of each other. Somehow, I suspect even the heartiest \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tea Party\u00e2\u20ac\u009d members have a hard time believing that the bottom 98% couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t use a taste of that tax money\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6but for now, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re essentially stuck keeping their opinions to themselves. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m reminded of the flap when Avenue Q<\/em> was voted Best Musical largely by theater owners who thought, based on cryptic comments from the producers, that the show would tour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c when the producers announced they were opening in Vegas, those owners publicly cried foul, exposing the dirty little secret at the heart of the Tony voting.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only going to take a few Repubs to cave before they all must cave. I think they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll do it, too; there are still some elected officials who care more about governing than getting reelected. I think.<\/p>\n

BRISTOL ON DWTS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

God, I'm a dancer! A dancer dances!<\/p><\/div>\n

I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t watch Dancing With the Stars<\/em>, but I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I loved the vicarious fury of the fans who could not understand how Bristol Palin survived week after week. Now, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know much about Bristol, but she seems like someone harboring a lot of resentment. One day it’ll explode and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get an expos\u00c3\u00a9 on Miss Sarah the likes of which we ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen since Christina Crawford ratted out Joan (what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s catchphrase be? I vote for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6black\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6boyfriends!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d). Anyway, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no question that Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fanbase was all but instructed to vote for Darling Bristol, but I gotta admit, I was happy she stayed in there for so long. Why? Because it was such a perverse capsule of all that is wrong (right?) with politics and entertainment. Here was an untalented person allowed to remain on a dancing show (with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Celebrity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the title, no less) thanks to voters loyal to her mom…is there a better summary of our current political atmosphere? No, I say, no, not until Bobby Jindal forms the New New Monkees, featuring Snooki on the turntables and that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rent is Too Damn High\u00e2\u20ac\u009d fellow on the tambourine.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: Okay, I lied. I actually did watch a bit of DWTS, and while it seems mean to pick on Bristol, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair to say her dancing ability perfectly matches her acting<\/a>. Still, my weird little point about polintertainment holds up.<\/p>\n

MO\u00e2\u20ac\u2122NIQUE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s OSCAR SPEECH<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

"Who was gonna beat me, Penelope Cruz? Bitch please."<\/p><\/div>\n

If you believe that the Academy Awards represent the absolute worst in self-fellatio by a crew of pampered effete insiders, a way of heaping \u00e2\u20ac\u0153legitimacy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on what amounts to a bunch of whiny kids in plastic, adult bodies playing pretend for a living, then you GOTTA love that an overweight black woman stepped up on stage and said \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Self-congratulatory and dismissive of the other performers? Sure. Dead-on? You bet. Mo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Nique, a so-so comedienne who apparently gave a fierce performance in Precious<\/a><\/em>, refused to campaign for her prize, which was partly because she knew she was a lock, but mostly because she just didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give a shit. It was equal parts arrogance and cut-through-the-bullshit-we-know-it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s-all-a-game bluntness \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and good for her for not feeling the need to project the cringe-worthy ersatz \u00e2\u20ac\u0153humility\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that most actors spend hours rehearsing in front of the mirror.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: a little<\/em> grace would have gone a long way. Sadly, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Arrogant Black Woman\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has become a stereotype now, and provides more fodder for the racism \u00e2\u20ac\u201c subtle and not-so-much \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that continues to permeate pop entertainment. If Mo had bothered to thank \u00e2\u20ac\u201c hell, even acknowledge \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the other nominees and her fellow Precious<\/em> people, her speech might have actually had an impact. Instead, for many it was a dismissible, arrogant lecture. Oh well.<\/p>\n

KEVIN SMITH\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S YEAR<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

"I like the word 'fuck.' As in...'Fuck Bruce Willis.'"<\/p><\/div>\n

Kevin Smith is not a horrible thing, but between getting kicked off a Southwest airplane for being too large and getting lambasted for Cop Out<\/a><\/em>, his stab at mainstream buddy cinema, he had a pretty rough year. To make matters worse, Cop Out<\/em> was clearly a disillusioning experience for the man, as his one-time hero Bruce Willis apparently turned out to be an insufferable diva on the set (who knew? Besides everybody, I mean). However, the way Smith handled<\/em> his year is rather wonderful \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with blunt honesty, humor, and grace (take note, Mo’Nique). He tweeted, blogged, and podcasted all about the air affair (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kevin Smith: too fat for the sky?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) with disarming and even-handed candor, giving voices to both Southwest employees and spokespeople and even other passengers who have endured similar treatment. He also demonstrated the power of Twitter as a tool not just for self-promotion and aggrandizing, but for airing genuine outrage in a positive fashion. As for Cop Out<\/em>, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly ragged, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a perfectly entertaining, lazy-Saturday kind of movie with some big laughs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which, I suspect, is exactly what Smith was aiming for. And I understand it made a nice little profit. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hoping 2011 provides Smith with fewer humiliating airplane experiences (especially considering he had even more travel woes<\/a> in December with Virgin) and that his new horror flick Red State<\/em> finally earns him respect as a real director, and not a clever kid with a camera.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER<\/strong>: Much as I enjoyed Cop Out,<\/em> it was awfully casual – I might have felt ripped off if I paid to see it on the big screen. And the snippets of Red State<\/em> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m familiar with (he shows clips on his live podcasts and posts the audio for free) aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t filling me with confidence. But I hope the movie works, because Smith is not only terminally likable, he still represents the kind of DIY-auterudom I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve grown to love.<\/p>\n

Treat yourself this year by following me on Twitter!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I suppose I know a few people who had a great 2010 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c marriages, kids, jobs, success, blah blah whatever \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but for most of us, 2010 was the suckiest suck that ever sucked. This was the year that seemed to heap loss and disease on us, that brought us ever closer to national doom, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-playpen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=267"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271,"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions\/271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattcasarino.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}