Enough with the apocalypse already

As we transition to a new year — remember when writing checks, it’s 2014 … not 1996 — people are making (and breaking) New Year’s resolutions. They’re looking back on the previous year to think of what they should have done differently. They’re making lists of things they want to accomplish this year. And pundits are creating lists of things that need to go away.

Marist College Institute for Public Opinion determined that the phrase that most needs to go away in 2014 is “whatever.” I hate “whatever.” It’s basically a printable way of saying something that we can’t print. It’s a means to tell someone off without uttering one of the seven dirty words.

Also on the list were “like,” “you know,” and “just sayin’ “ I’m like guilty of all of those, you know? But I’m just sayin’. Also, I’d add “K” to that list. But that’s just me. Or maybe not. Who knows. Whatever.

A good friend of mine asked on her Facebook page on Tuesday what her friends wanted to most go away in 2014. Answers ranged from reality shows to the Kardashians to Twerking, Bit Strips (if you don’t know what they are, consider yourself lucky), and the Boston Red Sox. My contribution: “apocalyptic weather forecasts.”

Thursday afternoon Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a statewide state of emergency because it’s January out — basically. The reasoning was/is that it’s cold and there’s snow. So it’s an emergency.

The TV news stations in Western New York took the “emergency" and ran with it. Pretty much every newscast began with “hide your wife, hide your kids and hide your husband. Cuz it’s snowin’ out here.”

I turn to the news as a trusted source of information. But in times like these, I feel like every local TV station is WOLF News. No, not FOX News, but they’re bad enough. Nope, this is WOLF News — as in “The boy who cried …”

One of these days we’re actually going to have a weather event. And no one is going to believe it because we’re inundated on such a regular basis with over-the-type hyper-sensitive “Oh my God, the world is going to end” reporting of basic weather.

News flash: It’s January! Bundle up and stay home. Or go out. Whatever. Like, just be safe and stuff, you know?

Scott Leffler is a trusted news journalist who doesn’t make mountains out of molehills. But occasionally does make mountains out of mashed potatoes because “this means something.” Follow him on Twitter or whatever @scottleffler.

Warm weather plays tricks on my mind

Now that the weather seems to have switched to spring for good (ignoring the snow on the ground Monday morning), my mind has jumped forward to all the fun things I want to do this summer.

Add in my impending income tax refund and I feel like I’ve won the lottery and just have to cash in my check. Never mind the pittance that is my tax refund is all but already spent.

With warmer weather, I start thinking about summer festivals and concerts and just doing things outside.

Last week my oldest and I got milkshakes in what I hope I hope to be a recurring theme over the course of the next several months. Milk shakes always perk things up.

Every year I create a list of things I want to do that year. And most years I have to roll several things over. The last two summers I had to roll “skydiving” into the next year. I’m hoping to actually be able to cross it off my bucket list this year.

Many people think my desire to skydive is a bit peculiar — especially when coupled with my completely rational fear of spiders. In perspective: Plunging to my death is not a concern ... but spiders freak me out.

I’d also like to run with the bulls in Pamplona. But that first requires that I get to Spain, which is a rather lofty goal since the furthest I’ve traveled away from home in the past two years is a trip to Rochester in October.

I like to travel. I miss New York City and have been jonesing for a trip to Washington DC since I was leaving the city in April of 2011. I’d also like to find my way back to Ohio this year to visit my alma mater. Haven’t been there in about a decade.

DC, NYC and Ashland, Ohio were all on my “to-do list” in 2012. And they all rolled over to 2013. Let’s hope they don’t roll over to 2014.

It’s not that there’s not a lot of fun things to do right here in Western New York. But I have always suffered from wanderlust.

Over the past couple years, I’ve really fallen in love with taking photos of everything I do. Maybe it’s due to the popularity of that hobby on the Internet. More likely it’s that my phones have had pretty decent cameras on them and as such, I always have the capability of taking cool photos in the palm of my hand.

My latest phone has a 3D camera. I thought it was gimmicky and didn’t expect to use it but have been surprised at just how cool it is. Needless to say, I have a nice collection of 3D photos now and really look forward to taking 3D photos over everything this summer.

Of course, I have to remind myself that it’s not summer yet. And my tax refund is not really comparable to lottery winnings. But the dreamer in me is excited.

Scott Leffler is a newspaper columnist and former radio talk show host. Apparently that makes him part of the problem for which positivity is the only solution. Follow his tweets @scottleffler.