OPINION

Undercurrents: A new year promises new experiences

TONY SIMMONS | PanamaCity.com | Twitter: @midnightonmars
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PANAMA CITY BEACH — Last week, as you might recall, I lamented the same-old same-old that seems so evident when you take that end-of-year look back. The same events, the same stories, the same fodder for columns.

This week, I hope to show you how short-sighted a retrospective can be — and in the process, challenge all of us to embrace a new year with an appetite for new experiences. It’s about having fun, you know.

Sure, there also will be a sense of deja-vu, especially if you read last week’s column.

•For instance, as I mentioned previously, I’m really looking forward to this year’s Books Alive event, scheduled for Feb. 7 at Florida State University-Panama City. The keynote speaker will be Bill Curry, two-time Super Bowl Champion football player and former NCAA football coach; children can also attend a special presentation at the Bay County Public Library with children’s author Kwame Alexander.

Other featured authors announced so far include Susan M. Boyer, Olivia deBelle Byrd, Carolyn Newton Curry, Chervis Isom, Paul Leonard, Carolyn Maull McKinstry, Mary Alice Monroe, Patricia Moore-Pastides, Michael Morris, and Marjory Wentworth. Books Alive is free to the public. For details, visit BooksAlive.net

•David Agosta, a fan of old sci-fi television, said he has high hopes for a 2015 CreativeCon in Panama City. (The event moved from the downtown library to Gulf Coast State College in 2014; no word yet on when or if it will return in the new year.) “Hope they get ‘Automan’ Chuck Wagner, to appear,” David added. “He lives in Pensacola, so the distance isn’t far.”

•Those rhythmic folks with Panama City Belly Dance chimed in to laud 2014’s inaugural Public Eye Soar digital art festival hosted by the Public Eye at CityArts Cooperative, and to hope they host it again for 2015. The event participants projected interactive video and artwork on downtown buildings, along with live music and other fun activities.

•“I’m not so much into country music, but I’m curious to see what’ll happen with Alan Jackson coming to the Chasin’ the Sun Music Festival this year,” said David Demarest, public relations manager with the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

I think David Demarest may be onto something there. Maybe the important thing is to be open to new experiences in the new year.

(Like when you were a kid and your dad told you that your tastes would change when you got older — he was right about broccoli but not shrimp. So maybe not everything will suit you, but you get the idea.)

What are you looking forward to this year? What looks kind of different, but intriguing, in the future? Drop me a note or comment on the online version of this column at PanamaCity.com, and let us know what you foresee.

Just remember to take the time to have some fun in 2015.

Peace.

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