If some sardonic bully from an internet meme kept stopping Tiktaalik from crawling onto land — ostensibly because of something about modern life being so horrible that staying simpler and poorer in the water would have been preferable — I think Tiktaalik would try once again to make it onto land. I have decided I should be like Tiktaalik.
Dec. 31, 2019 was the first time I uploaded this image, hoping for a Happy Stu Year. Then in 2020, COVID conquered the world. I uploaded it again for Dec. 31, 2020. Twelve days later after that, and my mother died. Twelve days in, and 2021 was already the worst year of my life. I uploaded the image again for Dec. 31, 2021. In 2022, my father died. I uploaded it again for Dec. 31, 2022. The year 2023 was when I was threatened with something horrible and life-changing in its horribleness and cruelty. I uploaded the image yet again for Dec. 31, 2023. All throughout 2024, I lived in fear of that threat. I uploaded the image again for Dec. 31, 2024. In 2025, the life-changing threat against me was finally acted upon.
If I were still as superstitious as I was raised to be, I would think this image is cursed. But no, I am uploading it again. I think that’s what Tiktaalik would want of me. Here is hoping that in 2026, I will finally have a Happy Stu Year.
