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2021: Year in Review
Jan. 2nd, 2022 12:49 pmJanuary: My elation at the outcome of the Senate races in Georgia is muffled by the January 6th riots happening the same day the election results were announced. Sigh with relief after the inauguration. I start work as a work-at-home proofreader for a company I will nickname The Proofers. Attend virtual Chattacon and come across a panel that gives me an idea for a detail in a short story I've been working on since the end of the previous year.
February: Talk to my doctor about my leg, which has not fully recovered from the car accident I was in back in 2019. I've been in physical therapy for some time, but it doesn't feel like it's really gotten significantly better. I improvise Ash Wednesday ashes out of a leaf from a dried Palm Sunday branch, and smear them on my forehead. It helps the day feel complete.
March: Finally, after years of hanging on to the mailbox back where I used to live, I set up a new mailbox in one of the shopping centers I go to regularly. Now I don't have to drive half an hour when an Amazon package arrives. Sign up for new project with Educational Testers. I have to re-verify my credentials with them, which entails asking the Gentleman Caller to come over, examine my driver's license and Social Security cards, and type in a little form on a webpage that he has seen these things. It's the first time we've met in person for months.
April: I get vaccinated! I find out I could have gotten vaccinated earlier because I work at The Big Green Grocery Store, but it doesn't matter. I get shots in my arms. I suffer no ill effects either time, which makes me wonder if I'm doing it wrong. Presented with the opportunity to write for International Marketing Firm. Start project with Educational Testers.
May: Quit the Educational Testers project because the power goes out for a day and throws off my ability to make my minimum hours. Start work at International Marketing Firm. Inherit iPad from my father, who has moved on to a newer and shinier one.
June: Kiss the Gentleman Caller for the first time in over a year. Receive acceptance for short story in shared-world anthology. Ziggy, my MacBook pro, slips into a coma and has to be sent out for repair; comes back with memory wiped, so I'm glad beyond glad that I have a backup. See a live show--Young Antiques at a coffeehouse in Decatur. Go out on a date with a guy I met on a dating site. We go for a long walk in a park and have a nice conversation. I let him down as gently as I can afterwards. Turn 51. Have usual 12-hour birthday party, with a surprise visit from my younger brother and my sister-in-law.
July: Go down to Florida for annual beach trip, with a stop in Savannah to visit Britpoptarts. (I went into detail about it here.)
August: Am told that the labyrinth is peril of being paved over to build a new road. (A bypass? Kinda, yeah.) A little research uncovers that this was a possibility that was weighed briefly and ultimately discarded. Breathe huge sigh of relief. Go to the Calder/Picasso exhibit at the High Museum. Glance lightly at the Picasso; stare in wonder at the Calder.
September: Attend DragonCon. Inspired by all the virtual panels I attended last year, I go to see every panel that possibly interests me. Wind up so overpeopled that I can't handle things at my brother's party and flee to the hotel room I'm staying in. Start working on outline to upcoming NaNoWriMo. Make first calls to drum up business for freelance writing.
October: Go to a small convention called Multiverse, that the Gentleman Caller turned me on to. Spent a lot of it hanging around with him. Continue to outline upcoming NaNoWriMo project, including writing down scenes on index cards and lining them up on the floor.
November: Make it to 50,000 words a few days before the NaNoWriMo deadline. Spend the remaining days adding and tweaking bits, before signing off on it on November 30th. Offer to do a blog post on a pro bono basis for Skyland Trail, where I was treated for bipolar disorder.
December: Skyland Trail accepts the blog post and asks if I'd like to do some more for them for money. I tell them I'd be able to do that. Run first chapter of NaNoWriMo effort past writers group. The response is positive, with some rather pointed feedback that helps me strengthen it considerably. I bake batches of my two favorite Christmas cookies, with a little phone support from my mom. They come out perfect.
The year 2021 was unquestionably an improvement over 2020. I know that things won't be all better in 2022--there are some things that may well get worse, but there are other things that may well get better. I was reluctant to wish people a Happy New Year when what I really wanted to wish them was "have the best year that you can manage."
So. 2022. Have the best year that you can manage.
February: Talk to my doctor about my leg, which has not fully recovered from the car accident I was in back in 2019. I've been in physical therapy for some time, but it doesn't feel like it's really gotten significantly better. I improvise Ash Wednesday ashes out of a leaf from a dried Palm Sunday branch, and smear them on my forehead. It helps the day feel complete.
March: Finally, after years of hanging on to the mailbox back where I used to live, I set up a new mailbox in one of the shopping centers I go to regularly. Now I don't have to drive half an hour when an Amazon package arrives. Sign up for new project with Educational Testers. I have to re-verify my credentials with them, which entails asking the Gentleman Caller to come over, examine my driver's license and Social Security cards, and type in a little form on a webpage that he has seen these things. It's the first time we've met in person for months.
April: I get vaccinated! I find out I could have gotten vaccinated earlier because I work at The Big Green Grocery Store, but it doesn't matter. I get shots in my arms. I suffer no ill effects either time, which makes me wonder if I'm doing it wrong. Presented with the opportunity to write for International Marketing Firm. Start project with Educational Testers.
May: Quit the Educational Testers project because the power goes out for a day and throws off my ability to make my minimum hours. Start work at International Marketing Firm. Inherit iPad from my father, who has moved on to a newer and shinier one.
June: Kiss the Gentleman Caller for the first time in over a year. Receive acceptance for short story in shared-world anthology. Ziggy, my MacBook pro, slips into a coma and has to be sent out for repair; comes back with memory wiped, so I'm glad beyond glad that I have a backup. See a live show--Young Antiques at a coffeehouse in Decatur. Go out on a date with a guy I met on a dating site. We go for a long walk in a park and have a nice conversation. I let him down as gently as I can afterwards. Turn 51. Have usual 12-hour birthday party, with a surprise visit from my younger brother and my sister-in-law.
July: Go down to Florida for annual beach trip, with a stop in Savannah to visit Britpoptarts. (I went into detail about it here.)
August: Am told that the labyrinth is peril of being paved over to build a new road. (A bypass? Kinda, yeah.) A little research uncovers that this was a possibility that was weighed briefly and ultimately discarded. Breathe huge sigh of relief. Go to the Calder/Picasso exhibit at the High Museum. Glance lightly at the Picasso; stare in wonder at the Calder.
September: Attend DragonCon. Inspired by all the virtual panels I attended last year, I go to see every panel that possibly interests me. Wind up so overpeopled that I can't handle things at my brother's party and flee to the hotel room I'm staying in. Start working on outline to upcoming NaNoWriMo. Make first calls to drum up business for freelance writing.
October: Go to a small convention called Multiverse, that the Gentleman Caller turned me on to. Spent a lot of it hanging around with him. Continue to outline upcoming NaNoWriMo project, including writing down scenes on index cards and lining them up on the floor.
November: Make it to 50,000 words a few days before the NaNoWriMo deadline. Spend the remaining days adding and tweaking bits, before signing off on it on November 30th. Offer to do a blog post on a pro bono basis for Skyland Trail, where I was treated for bipolar disorder.
December: Skyland Trail accepts the blog post and asks if I'd like to do some more for them for money. I tell them I'd be able to do that. Run first chapter of NaNoWriMo effort past writers group. The response is positive, with some rather pointed feedback that helps me strengthen it considerably. I bake batches of my two favorite Christmas cookies, with a little phone support from my mom. They come out perfect.
The year 2021 was unquestionably an improvement over 2020. I know that things won't be all better in 2022--there are some things that may well get worse, but there are other things that may well get better. I was reluctant to wish people a Happy New Year when what I really wanted to wish them was "have the best year that you can manage."
So. 2022. Have the best year that you can manage.
