Joe’s Holiday Letter
Around August, we kept reiterating to each other that "this fall and winter is gonna be rough, dude." We were referring to the mental toll of watching everyone’s mom go “I’ve been very careful” immediately after having tea with all her friends out of one big cup. We said this to steel ourselves against the parade of death and decay. It didn't work! Fuck!!!
My grandfather died of the Rona so I had to wave goodbye to him thru a tiny window in his nursing home as they took him up to the 2nd floor with the other lost causes. He did not recognize me.
Right after we put him in the ground my mom was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery and subsequent treatment. During this time, I felt like a bad son because I had to stay away due to That Virus. This was not a logical read of the situation but feelings of rampant guilt are part depression, baby.
This is the part where I'm supposed to say I overcame these obstacles and started a roofing business but I straight up did not!! Look, I'll say it: never in my life have I had less interest in starting a small business.
At the start of this month I experienced muscle weakness up and down my right side and collapsed. Rest assured, I was back at work in 2 days like a good cog. Yesterday I experienced a similar weakness. I have CT scan in a few days where I have to drink weird goop so my insides display in 4K.
All of this is to say the stupid podcast really helped because no matter how bad the depression was I felt compelled to send Tom stupid shit like this which either gets worked into the show or simply makes my good friend laugh.
Anime Sickos simply had a good fucking year. The vision of the show solidified. We had a frankly insane roster and range of hilarious and interesting folks going Guesto Mode. People online with no IRL connection to us contacted us and gave us the kind of praise that made our tongue & tails wag. Thank you.
We launched a Patreon which was no small feat. We dragged our feet on that front for a while because we felt like stupid baby beggars rattling our cup of goofs during an unprecedented global pandemic.
My personal highlight is when noted homies Aaron and Vince from Kamehouse Party invited us to hang out and play Hades. We've never appeared on a stream before and it was fun. To put it simply, I am genuinely thankful to have met and got the chance to work with two stellar dudes.
I'm not gonna say 2021 is going to be better because that's asking for a pelican to fly thru my window and dump a bunch of Covid water directly into my mouth. There is a project that is currently in post-production that is going to make you absolutely shit if you already enjoy Tom and I's whole deal.
Dearest reader, I am very much excited to keep doing whatever nonsense this podcast is.
Thank you.
Your friend,
Joe da Sicko
Tom’s Holiday Letter
disclaimer: I wrote this before Joe did his letter and I did not know his was going to be so in-depth and heartfelt. Oops!
Hey Sicko fans. If you celebrate Christmas, merry Christmas. If not, I hope you enjoy whichever end-of-year festivities you prefer. I do have to recommend Christmas as a truly primo Secular Gift Day. The Jesus shit was always paper-thin and should be ignored.
As I look back on 2020, the overwhelming feeling is that it sucked shit and represented an irredeemably unjust theft of life. Even those of us lucky to not fucking die from plague had a year of our lives just taken away, and I don’t like that.
But such bitterness makes the sweet moments all the more precious. And folks, I have to thank all of you for making 2020 a little better for us. Your support and appreciation have kept this project going, which has given us so much joy and fulfillment. It rules to know we’re making people happy, and it especially rules to know that said people are so cool and smart and nice.
We owe a lot to you for actually taking the time to listen and care about Anime Sickos and will strive to live up to your expectations in 2021. Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones as much as you are capable of in this hateful world. We’re all in this shit together.
Your friend,
Tom da Sicko