Mark your calendars, lovelies! I’m kicking off We Contain Multitudes on Wednesday January 14th, 2026. My special inaugural guest? The inimitable Premee Mohamed!!!
If you haven’t done already, please follow/subscribe on your chosen podcast platform; you can find a list via the podcast page on The Incomparable. (Or, just search on your podcast app, ofc.) I’ll also have more individual episode details on my own website, which I will excitedly unveil next month.

Today has been a day! I actually come to this edition of Musings from cleaning out furnace filters, if you can believe it. I feared it might cost hundreds I don’t want to spend right now or, worst-case, an entirely new furnace, but it turns out the poor filters hadn’t been cleaned in too long. The falling of figurative dominoes had ensued; I was forced to call a service person in.

Who, exactly, was in charge of cleaning those filters, you may be asking..? Apparently, it was me. Only because I used to do it, with our old temperamental furnace. But for some reason, once that one got replaced, I completely forgot! I’ve been a homeowner for almost a quarter century now, and I still semi-regularly discover new things about house upkeep that someone really ought to have told me ages ago!!!

All to say—first: please check your furnace filters! LOL.
And two: when do my holidays start..?

This has certainly been a hard year for too many people, especially the most vulnerable among us and the ones who love them. I have been so incredibly blessed by the support of my wee family of weirdos and of my lovely community of friends. And I have been incredibly privileged to be the supportive one for others. I never take any of that lightly, and I do my very best never to take it for granted, either. As so many of us are discovering, especially this past year: We take care of ourselves. We save ourselves.

I’m taking an extended holiday to recuperate from a very busy year indeed, filled with ups and downs and a few sidewinders to boot. Of course, as always at this time of year, I’ll make space to be still, to contemplate the year’s happenings, and to consider how I want to live 2026.

Thank you for sticking with me through thick and thin, lovelies. Wherever you are in your journey, whatever hardships you had to face (or are still facing) this year, whatever triumphs you’ve had, know that I am always cheering you on!

Joyful Things

• My podcast! I know; you’re all being very patient, and I appreciate it. Behind the scenes, I’ve completed all the Season One interviews except one. Every time I interview a guest, it brings me joy. I mean, I created this whole show based on creating joy, yes. But I’d been really focussed on the listener experience, if that makes any sense. I hadn’t counted on just how much happiness every conversation itself would bring me. It’s like, the show’s already fulfilled its promise, just between me and my guests.

• Working with my podcast editrix extraordinaire! (*waves at Erika*) I know we are two separate people, but sometimes, it’s like we have exactly the same thoughts. It is such a balm to work with an incredibly competent professional, who also welcomes even the silliest of questions from a newbie on a steep learning curve. Thank you, my friend! 🥰

• The annual Agents of SMOOCH Christmas movie marathon! You can listen now to our extremely serious thoughts (haha—NO) on three holiday films, which we binged all at once together in-person, while we played Christmas movie bingo. (You can do it, too!) There were so.many.snacks and lots of laughter. Shoutout to Kirsten, Annette, Erika, Nick, and Steven. I love you wonderful weirdos! 💞

• I’ve thrown off the yoke of tyranny!!!
  By which I mean, I deleted my Instagram account. No more worrying how to overcome the awful algorithm there, or how to opt out of having my posts scraped for LLM training. Huzzah! (Please come find me on Bluesky, lovelies!)

• My youngest is home from uni for three entire weeks over the holidays!!! I can't wait to spoil them rotten with home cooking and baking.

Oh, there’s just one more thing...