2023, don't let me down
👋 Hello again!
I’m writing this on Monday, January 2, the final day of a short winter break. Tomorrow I return to work, and the new year gets rolling in the usual way.
I took a couple of weeks off from this newsletter so that I could recharge a bit, but now we’re back to our regular schedule. (Dark Age subscribers, you’ll see a fresh letter next week!)
During my brief time away, our family said goodbye to our beloved fourteen-year-old chihuahua, Radar. Since we moved to Scappoose in 2016, it feels like we’ve done nothing but say goodbyes. Radar’s our third pet goodbye since then. (He was preceded by our nineteen-year-old cat, Oscar, and our ten-year-old Boston terrier, Dr. Meatloaf.) This made for a muted holiday season, to say the least. Radar’s been a part of our lives nearly as long as Felicia and I have been together; Squish has been his best buddy her whole life.
So we’re moving into 2023 cautiously, a little weary, but still a bit optimistic. We rang in the new year (and sent out the old) with board games and a bad movie. We’re hopeful this year will be a little kinder.
In my last newsletter I shared the best books I read last year; I managed to squeeze several more into December, bringing the year’s total books to 98. Last year’s reading goal was to read more non-male authors than male; in 2023, I may take up some micro-goals, but I don’t plan on a year-long goal. Already this year I’ve begun Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse; having never read Woolf, I wasn’t quite aware of the casual racism in her work, or some of the astonishingly racist activities she undertook, and I’ve abandoned this one altogether. Instead, I’m reading Haruki Murakami’s Novelist as a Vocation, which I received as a gift at Christmas. (Is there anything better than receiving books for Christmas?)
The Dark Age continues apace; I’m deep into the third draft, with still a little ways to go. I love this book. It’s a world I feel so comfortable in; every time I sit down to write, it’s a little like pulling on a pair of Felicia’s handmade socks, cozy and warm. I hope, I hope, I hope even a little of that comes through in the final text.
I hope that each and every one of you had a restful, enjoyable holiday, and that 2023 brings us all a little comfort, some peace, and fulfills the odd dream here or there.
✏️Until next time,
Jg
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