OK, 2012 is almost over.  It was quite a year, yes? Boy, did it go by fast. Lots happened, too, some of which I’ll bet you’d forgotten (as I did):

• The largest internet protest ever had a pretty big effect.
• Queen Elizabeth II became only the second monarch in British history to rule for 60 years (bested only by Queen Victoria, who sat on the throne for 64).
• For the first time since 1927, a silent film won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
• Encyclopedia Brittanica ceased printing its encyclopedia collections.
• For the first time since 1977, no Pulitzer Prize was awarded for fiction. (I could make a huge snarky joke here, but I won’t. )
• German Expressionist Edvard Munch’s famous painting, The Scream, sold at auction for $119,922,500.
• Vladimir Putin won his third six-year term as president of Russia.
• American Idol completed its 11th season. Ugh.
• An Australian coroner finally concluded after 32 years that a dingo took Lindy Chamberlain’s baby.
• 
• The Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm Ltd. and its rights for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film franchises for a mere $4.05 billion.
• BP settled the Deep Horizon oil spill disaster for $4.5 billion.
• Cost of Hurricane Sandy to the state of New York: $32 billion.

Not all the news was bad. I discovered only yesterday that Netflix is streaming West Wing now. I’ve been ordering one DVD at a time for months. This could put a serious crimp in my free time, what little there is of it.

So what was newsworthy for you in 2012? Anything awesome happen? As always, I covet your articulate and compendious thoughts.

PS — Happy 29th birthday to my baby boy Lars.