I doubt that they're listening anymore. That
thread was last updated six years ago.
https://coderanch.com/how-to/java/DontWakeTheZombies
However, I have a little project running at the moment that uses Spring Data and Neo4j and it leverages heavily on AOP to the point where I had to install AspectJ plugins to my
IDE.
As far as do-it-yourself AOP is concerned, I don't think it ever really took off, but it has been hard at work undercover in the Spring Framework for many years.
The secret of how to be miserable is to constantly expect things are going to happen the way that they are "supposed" to happen.
You can have faith, which carries the understanding that you may be disappointed. Then there's being a willfully-blind idiot, which virtually guarantees it.