Many years ago, one of my all-time favorite comedians, the late George Carlin, released his best-selling book Brain Droppings. Anyone who’s witnessed his classic routines knows that Mr. Carlin had a twisted and acerbic sense of humor, but he never failed to crack you up and make you think.

Toward the middle of the book was a section entitled “People I can Do without,” a passage describing individual quirks and mannerisms of random people that rubbed Mr. Carlin the wrong way. Since this is a family paper, I’ll refrain from repeating any of them, but what I will do instead is mention a few of the things I won’t miss as we close out the year of 2013:

The overexposure of Miley Cyrus- From her often-protruding tongue, the tawdry wardrobe (or lack thereof) and her vulgar misappropriation of the dance move known as ‘twerking,’ this shock star eschewed her once-squeaky-clean image and the tolerance of many in the process.

Celebrity meltdowns in real time- I get it, we’re a part of the social media age and the immediacy of event coverage drives revenue and page hits. What I don’t get, however, is having to endure play-by-play accounts of Amanda Bynes’ court appearances, the A&E Duck Dynasty drama and Kanye West’s perpetual rants about, well, anything.

Personal choice purgatory- Working Mom vs. Homemaker Mom, Child-free Couples vs. Single Surrogate-Made Families…is it TRULY that serious? If someone else’s lifestyle works for them and doesn’t impede upon your own, why make it an issue?

Hair wars- From twists, puffs, braids and locks, how black girls and women have opted to rock their tresses recently led to school suspensions, news coverage and even a confirmed firing from a law firm after braids were deemed “too ghetto.” The way I see it, as long as my hair is well-groomed and not causing a hygiene or not safety issue, whether or not someone personally likes it shouldn’t be up for discussion…or dismissal.

Superfans turned rabid ‘Stans’- In the year 2000, Eminem had a hit song entitled ‘Stan’ about an obsessed fan who goes from writing ardent fan mail to taking extreme and deadly measures in an effort to connect with the performer. It’s great to support your favorite musicians, but sending death threats to magazine editors who don’t love One Direction as much as you do or defriending someone from your Facebook page because they disagree with you about the latest Beyonce CD is taking it to alarming extremes.

Bump Watch and body recovery- Like most people, I adore new babies, but the obsessive fixation on how many pounds Kate Middleton gained, how fast Kim Kardashian lost her baby weight and Kerry Washington’s avoidance of discussing her pregnancy just isn’t worth space on daily news crawls.

Blinging Brides-To-Be- Recently, within a couple of days of each other, actress Gabrielle Union became engaged to Miami Heat basketball player Dwyane Wade and reality show star, Evelyn Lozada said ‘yes’ to basball’s Carl Crawford. Practically as soon as their Instagram photos were uploaded, comparisons were made about the sizes and costs of their ring rocks. 14.5 carats vs. 8.5 carats….really? We can only hope that their vows get taken just as seriously, at least for the sake of the kids.

In a year that held its share of negatives—the government shutdown, the Zimmerman verdict and the unexpected passings of some of our best and brightest (actors James Gandolfini, Paul Walker, Cory Monteith and Lee Thompson Young, to name a few)— the most positive news of all is that 2014 is just around the corner, a new year full of opportunities waiting to be delighted in. It may not be everything, but for most of us, that promise is certainly enough.

Maybe even that truth would make the cynical George Carlin smile.