Just saw javachik's news in Beep Me! So exciting!
Buckle up, kids! Daddy's puttin' the hammer down.
Spike ,'Touched'
Goodbye and Good Riddance: Hey, at least you didn't get a Peloton. (2019)
Take stock, reflect, butch, moan, vent. We are all here for it.
Kate P. - Jan 13, 2020 6:09:12 pm PST #119 of 140
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love
javachik - Jan 13, 2020 11:59:33 pm PST #120 of 140
Our wings are not tired.
I'm excited! Tomorrow I'll post a summary here of 2019, now that it doesn't depress me as much. Ha!
amyparker - Jan 15, 2020 12:47:34 pm PST #121 of 140
You've got friends to have good times with. When you need to share the trauma of a badly-written book with someone, that's when you go to family.
quester! Your card finally arrived today! It's lovely, thank you so much.
Shir - Jan 17, 2020 11:31:16 pm PST #122 of 140
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".
Slightly belated thank yous to Theodosia and Epic - your lovely cards arrived a few days ago.
(This was so much fun!)
Atropa - Jan 18, 2020 11:47:25 am PST #123 of 140
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
Posting super-late here is a thing, right? Almost tradition for some of us?
Firstly, all my love to the folks who've had rough years. Even if I haven't been posting, you're in my thoughts.
2019 included:
- Launching my Patreon, and while there was a nice response, it wasn't enough to make it the don't have to get a day job thing I was hoping. But I'm still doing it.
- The 10th anniversary of the Gothic Charm School book!!! It's still in print, I'm earning royalties, and apparently I'm a good influence on people's lives.
- I applied to a tech writer job at the strangest company I've ever considered, and they fell over themselves to interview me and give me a job offer. I now work for someplace where our direct customers are law enforcement and government agencies, but our company goal is to be a force for good and make the world fairer and less deadly, so I don't feel my ethics are being compromised for a paycheck.
- Finally, on Dec. 23rd I had a muscle & nerve spasm in my back that won me a ride in an ambulance and a night in the hospital. Being carried down stairs while strapped to a backboard 0/10, would not recommend. I'm mostly better, but I'm still dealing with my left leg being weak and occasionally not working.
May 2020 be a hell of a lot better for all of us.
Zenkitty - Jan 19, 2020 5:02:41 am PST #124 of 140
Every now and then, I think I might actually be a little odd.
Holy shit, Atropa, in both the good and the bad way. Being carried down something while strapped to a backboard is very scary. May your back and leg get better quick. Muscle & nerve spasms are no joke.
But your new place of employment sounds great. Um, are they hiring
amych - Jan 19, 2020 11:10:25 am PST #125 of 140
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
Oh! Hey! Thread still here! And I skip these most years because I feel like the update is mostly the same every year, but then I see everyone else's and delight in hearing from people I don't hear from all that often!
2019 started with fleeing a job I really really loved at one point, that turned really toxic. Over half the software team left within 3 or so months. That kind of toxic.
My current job is... not really a dream job either, thanks largely to a couple of fairly stereotypical techbros in particular, but it pays more and I care about it less. I can stick it out there for a bit.
In the mean time, we were found by a third cat by our usual method of "oh hi sucker humans I am starving on your back porch and you appear to be a sucker". I have gotten deeper into my expensive habit/hobby of building guitars which I one day will get good enough at to sell. Spouse is still heavily involved in fencing as a coach, referee, and (now that he's finally over 40) newly-successful competitor in what we lovingly call the old-farts division. I'm out of the sport for a few years now, and I miss it like fire but also don't miss the level of both joint pain and competition burnout. I bake a lot of bread.
2020 began with our offer on a SHINY NEW HOUSE [link] , which we close on in a month and holy sheepdip how are we ever going to get ourselves together to move even a mile away dear lord I do not have msbelle-level gtd superpowers. Like at all. But it's very pretty and we'll have enough room to actually have people come by! Including wandering buffistas!
Steph L. - Jan 19, 2020 11:14:11 am PST #126 of 140
the hardest to learn / was the least complicated
But it's very pretty and we'll have enough room to actually have people come by! Including wandering buffistas!
Yay house! (Also, I swear that one year on our way to Topsail, we'll actually stop to see the NC-istas.) (I doubt we're going to the beach this year, though, since Tim's time off is already spoken for.)
Laura - Jan 19, 2020 11:16:55 am PST #127 of 140
Our wings are not tired.
What a terrific house, amych! So much light. And yes, msbelle does indeed have superpowers. If possible to swerve in your direction on my annual FL-NY-FL treks I will do that.
amych - Jan 19, 2020 11:16:58 am PST #128 of 140
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
(Also, I swear that one year on our way to Topsail, we'll actually stop to see the NC-istas.) (I doubt we're going to the beach this year, though, since Tim's time off is already spoken for.)
Please tell Tim to use his recovering-from-heart-surgery time off to its best benefit, because next year I will remind you again that we are -- no longer a block from the interstate, but a mile from the interstate, which oughta be close enough!