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Tag Archives: blog anniversary

Janus: Looking Back, Looking Forward

I couldn’t sleep the other night, so I went back through my photos app and looked through my pictures from the last year. Overall, 2023 was pretty good.

I got to see a couple of my favorite bands in concert (Dethklok and Ghost) and got to add two new bands to my live experiences (Amon Amarth and BABYMETAL). I re-read the entirety of One Piece and fell in love with the manga all over again. I got to revisit Hyrule and the realms above and beneath it in Tears of the Kingdom, and as recently mentioned, found sheer joy in Faerûn via Baldur’s Gate 3. I got to take #MediumChild for a first movie theatre experience (Across the Spider-Verse was just spectacular). I got to catch back up with a dear friend after he came out of a coma, and take him to go see Patrick Stewart talk about his career. I had to say goodbye to a beloved summer job, but got to start in a brand new field that I’m staggeringly good at in its place. I got through over two hundred books, thanks largely to manga (looking at you again, One Piece) and audiobooks. I got to review some absolutely incredible new books. I took a trip back to my home town with my whole family for the first time, and got to celebrate my cousin’s wedding. We had the chance to spend Christmas with my dear spouse’s family, getting everyone together for the first time in five years.

I don’t know what 2024 will bring. V and I are coming up on our 7th anniversary. I’ve been at my current library for just over 7 years too. #LargeChild has been learning to play Magic: The Gathering, and so I’m brushing up on a game I briefly learned almost fifteen years ago. We’re playing the Commander format, and V and I were gifted Doctor Who-themed Commander decks at Christmas, so it’s a chance to turn it into a family activity. We’re playing D&D in-person again, and V is back with chaos gnomes. This time, though, instead of playing their equally creepy bard twin, I’m playing a tiefling fighter who serves as their bodyguard. He looks like Lemmy and sounds like Brock Samson, and I’m delighted every time I get to play him. I’ve got a stack of ARCs to read (okay, it’s not technically a stack, because they’re digital, but you get the idea) and then finish reviews for, and I’m optimistic that Alecto the Ninth will be added to that pile before year’s end.

Today is my WordPress anniversary. I’ve been here for thirteen years today, and I’m grateful to all of you who still stop by to read. Take care of yourselves. I’ll be back soon.

To Eleven

It’s my WordPress Anniversary! I usually forget the exact day I started this whole project, and so it was a pleasant surprise to see the notification that I’d made it back on time when I signed in today.

I’ve been writing here for eleven years, as of today. In the last year, I finished my master’s degree and welcomed another child to my and V’s family. I’m looking forward to having some time to dedicate to writing things for myself (and all of you lovely readers) during the next year. I’ll be catching up on some media that I’ve missed thanks to school, so stand by for some upcoming reviews. First up is going to be Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin, shortly followed by John Scalzi’s The Kaiju Preservation Society.

I’m in the middle of buying a house right now. It’s not a fun process, per se, but it does have its own sort of charm. We’ve been in our current place for almost five years, but with the arrival of additional children since moving in, we’re out of space. Thanks to buying our current home, we’re in a decent place financially to be upgrading, despite the volatility of the housing market right now. This does add somewhat to the general disorder of life, but that’s part of things, isn’t it? Wouldn’t change it for the world. Hello, sweet chaos…

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for sticking around for the last eleven years. Let’s grow and change and improve ourselves together, shall we?

A Decade

Good morning, internet. This morning, I received a notification that I first started this blog just over ten years ago. That’s a hell of a long time to be writing a bunch of stuff mostly to myself, but here I am, one decade on. Life has changed a great deal since 2011. I’m still writing, albeit less frequently for creative purposes than I would like. I have a little family of my own, and I’m making progress in my career. I’m about to start year two of my Master’s degree, and I hope to carve out a little more time for writing for fun after that wraps up.

In the meantime, I’d just like to say thanks to those of you who’ve been around since the beginning of this, and welcome to those of you who are new.

That Time of Year Again

WordPress has informed me that today is my 9th anniversary of setting up this blog.

It’s pretty close. My first post was on the 20th of January, 2011. Either way, I’ve been at this nonsense for almost a decade. Thanks to those of you who have put up with me for so long, and thanks to those who have joined along the way.

Things have changed a lot since the outset of this blog, and I’m happy to say that I’m a better person than I was back then (albeit still not a published novelist, but hey, you win some, you lose some).

For the foreseeable future, stay tuned for poetry, short stories, book reviews, and random insights into my current status as a grad student.

Anniversary

I missed my blog anniversary last month, and while this is a milestone I usually like to celebrate, this year on January 20th, I was a bit preoccupied.

I’m a month in to my new position with the library, and I could not be happier. I feel like I’m making a really positive impact on my teen patrons here, though I really miss my old group. I’m gearing up for my first book club meeting, and we’re reading Neil Shusterman’s Unwind (meanwhile, I’m tackling his new title, Scythe, for my own sheer joy). I’m helping plan programs and events for Teen Tech Week in March, putting together bulletin boards and book displays for the teen area, etc. It’s been great!

Plus, you know, there was this whole wedding thing that happened last week. So, V and I finally got married. It’s been officially in the works since August, when I finally proposed to the girl who’s been my closest friend for over a decade.

I’m working on more book reviews, I promise. There are so many coming out soon! I just finished reading M-E Girard’s Girl Mans Up, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it. Plus a follow-up to my review of The City Stained Red when I review the sequel, The Mortal Tally (because the final book, God’s Last Breath, is out in July). And A Conjuring of Light is out in two weeks! So many good books lately, I’ve barely been able to keep up.

Anyway, thanks for sticking around for so much of the last six years. I’ll try to get the anniversary post in on time next year.