hello, 2023

We rung in the new year downtown amid the glistening riverfront (there were fireworks, but from my angle, I could only see them reflected in the tower of glass opposite.)  I wore my new amazing teal fur coat and a black 40s dress and drank wildly weak and overpriced whiskey & cokes.  I felt very old and very new at the same time (even though many bar patrons were easily my age and then some) and, listening to the thumping, slightly too loud music, I kinda remembered why I historically like staying in on NYE. The most terrifying bit of the night's outing was not, in fact, the crowds and amateur drunks, but the drivers afterwards, combined with slick, rain washed roads that had us spotting/dodging erratic drivers  and creeping past at least a half dozen accidents of various severities on our journey downtown, then to the south side to drop off equipment, then back home way north in the wee hours of morning .  We promptly then spent the first day of the year tucked in bed, eating pizza, watching streaming and getting high on edibles, which is not too terrible a way to launch into what I hope is a promising year. 

As for 2023 resolutions, they are the usual ones I put forward. Be happy. Be healthy. Be productive. Drink more water. Take more pictures. Take more walks. I was closer last year than I ever was to the first, but the second still needs some work, esp since I am out less getting less movement in in general which I can feel in my creaky knees when I stand up after hours seated at my desk.  I was creatively productive, in some respects, but fallow in others (my visual art adventures feel like they weren't getting enough attention the past two years.) There are still shop things I want to make and anthology projects I have on the roster as soon as I deal with the backlog that the past two months have wrought.  

I plan to issue book #13, ie the pandemic book, aka the 2020 dumpster fire book, COLLAPSOLOGIES, around my birthday perhaps, with maybe another project, which one has yet to be determined,  later in the year.  I also have a fun V-Day release of a zine on the horizon if I can finish it in time. I plan to bolster up my freelance efforts with maybe one more gig, work a little more on short fiction things I started in 2022.  

This year, I have occupied this space far less than I always intend to, so that may also perhaps be an achievable  resolution for 2023.  I was strong on weekly notes and round-ups, but didn't write as many standalone entries on writerly subject matter, which I always hope to do.  It may just be that my prose writing skills were directed elsewhere and I need to occasionally send some this way. With social media always in flux (it feels lke FB/insta are a dead stick and I left Twitter completely amid the nonsense) this is still my favorite means of speaking aloud on the internets, so it definitely needs more attention than I give it. 

Here is a to great start to a clean slate.....