2024 retrospective + status board
hi.
welcome new followers who ended up here, and those of you who remain. if reading a newsletter a season (or less) is your vibe, you’ve come to the right place.
before i dive in, a couple resources to signal boost:
this post on how to donate (using JPay) to put commissary funds directly in the accounts of incarcerated LA firefighters
this spreadsheet for fundraisers supporting displaced black families of los angeles
i continue to send fewer of these newsletters than i’d imagined, starting drafts only to later discard them after whatever momentum or inspiration has passed me by. i haven’t felt at home on the internet in a while, and maybe that’s alright, and maybe that’s a topic for another newsletter altogether. despite all this (and my penchant for ghosting online), i hope to remain here a little while longer.
2024 Status Board
in preparing to draft this “year in review,” i reread last year’s post and felt like half of it either happened several years ago or just a few months ago. time is wild like that. what is a year, anyway? here’s to trying answer that question with a series of lists.
2024 in numbers
# pieces of my writing published: 7
# of books read: 73
# of movies watched: 197
# hours spent watching: 361
# minutes streaming music: 103,136
# minutes listening to podcasts: 5,943
# countries visited: 3
# of trips to california: 5
# miles walked: 140
Greatest Hits & 2024 MVPs
the grist cookbook, mt. tabor, hermes (the god), making little zines again, between the covers podcast, bad rainbows crafting group, GNX but especially “reincarnated,” giving away things, church of film, my vegetable garden, LMNL, that final XOXOfest, investing in grown-up luggage, sorting and listening to my 45s, microwave-able warming house slippers, keeping my phone in do not disturb mode, livestreaming mardi gras parades, audiobooks, lambda literary retreat, sitting down places instead of just passing through, my beloved turning 40, oh, mary!
Film, Television & Theatre
best films i watched in 2024: perfect days, janet planet, tove, anatomy of a fall, the taste of things, zone of interest, and then we danced, beau travail (another year that letterboxd kept me sane)
fave TV/limited series: scavenger’s reign, irma vep, shogun, ripley
theatre i loved this year: life and trust, oh, mary!, angels in america (national theatre production can be found on the internet archive)
Music
best live performances of 2024: sturgill simpson, anhoni, patrick wolf
favorite LPs (new releases) of 2024: kendrick’s GNX, johnny blue skies passage du desir, tyler, the creator’s CHROMAKOPIA
spotify wrapped said my most listened to artist of 2024 was once again prince
songs on repeat: “the universal” - blur, “smalltown boy” bronski beat
my Best2024 playlist on spotify
Words
books of 2024: i moved my reading list into a Notion database last year, so you can track what i’ve been reading/rereading there
shortlist of my favorite novels i read this year: the vaster wilds - lauren groff, i have some questions for you - rebecca makkai, paul takes the form of a human girl - andrea taylor, tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow - gabrielle zevin
other peoples’ poems i loved:
four poems - hala alyan
dinosaurs in the hood - danez smith
ten commandments / langston blue - jericho brown
a few of my poems published this year that i’m fond of: “desertscape” and “the antidote” published by smoke+mold and “plague omens” published by tilted house.
Food + Drink
obsessions: sesame chai lattes, umami japanese bitters (love using a few dashes in mineral or sparkling water!), yaowarat’s olive fried rice
cookbooks i referenced the most: grist and six seasons: a new way with vegetables
food i made and loved: gochujang fried rice with mozzarella, dishes using different varieties of beans from rancho gordo, king oyster mushroom “scallops”
projects: one-page egg zine, mocktail mini-zine
Intentions & Miscellany
leaving behind: a certain kind of productivity / an output’s need for a purpose
keeping: a quieter schedule, bird watching, home-cooked meals, slow-going
2025 focus: rest, noticing and cultivating small things of beauty
here’s to the safety and respite you are most are in need of.
<3,
rhienna