This Was The Year That Was
Dec. 31st, 2009 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bodlon2009 was a strange, stressful, weird-ass year. Lots of upheaval, and some progress, but I can't honestly say I'll be sorry to see it go.
Money was tough this year. 2009 was an improvement over 2008, and I made a lot of progress dealing with old debts and bringing things current, but to get there I had to do things like sell my bass guitar, travel to cons by Greyhound, and rely more on the generosity of friends than I felt entirely proud of. Things can still feel Sisyphean, and after three years of money trouble it's easy to get demoralized or fearful about setbacks, but I can go into 2010 with the knowledge that I have less to do, and that things will be less desperate going in.
Health-wise, lots of back and forth. Exercised, didn't exercise. Improved my eating habits, backslid. I did make an effective change when I quit driving (for financial reasons!) this summer. I'm walking anywhere between a mile and three miles a day on work days, which is way more than I was doing before. In general, though, I get stymied by logistics or procrastinate and then fall off of various wagons. In 2010 I need to remind myself that I have all the tools I need to do what I want to in this area. I just need to use them.
Mom has been a Big Deal this year. In the Spring she started having episodes of respiratory distress and weakness, sleeping long hours, etc. She was hospitalized in May with a heap of symptoms that after two heart attacks (one while I was in Minneapolis, one while the boyf was in KC) and a lot of tests later turned out to be kidney failure precipitating massive anemia precipitating cardiac symptoms. They initially planned to have her start peritoneal dialysis, but when they tried to insert the catheter, they discovered her peritoneum was in too poor a condition. Upshots: she's undergoing some alternate treatments which have helped with her energy level and blood counts, her diabetes is well-controlled on some new prescriptions, and as a consequence of her health trouble we've committed to dinner and Doctor Who once a week.
My relationship with the boyf has changed a lot. We officially went platonic in November, and stopped sharing a bed in April (initially because he didn't want to get kicked by sleeping dogs in the night, but also because I admitted later on that it was weird to sleep next to someone I wasn't physically intimate with). We've got our own rooms now, and that's good in a lot of ways, though coming back from Dragon*Con to the world's longest game of box Tetris was a pain. I'm not always sure what to think about us, or what to call us, especially when I'm looking for another partner. It's a thing.
The writing has dominated my attention this year, and there's been very little middle ground with it. Everything has felt like either a wild success or a massive, dragging struggle. I had a bout of massively low spirits mid-year after a string of rejections (some at the same time as some of mom's health problems), but rallied as best I could. Even so, I spent a lot of the second half of the year slogging through the stuff that got pushed aside during my slump while taking on other small projects to keep things feeling fresh and encouraging. All told I saw print twice this year (Crossed Genres, Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes) and pixels 4 times (Thaumatrope, Doorknobs & BodyPaint). I also got invited to Writercon, which was awesome because it means that my writing -- albeit my fannish stuff -- is good and interesting enough that someone wanted me to talk about it. (I also went to Dragon*Con, and networked a bit, but that was mainly a pleasure trip.)
Spirituality-wise, things continue to be in development. Mostly Brythonic, experimenting with Roman influence, got more serious about Antinous. Fasted in late October, did a late night vigil for Calan Gaeaf. Bought an ogham set from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lupabitch and am working through erynn999's book. I've been a bit more experimental this year than I pictured initially, but it's a good experimental. Oh, and a Unitarian friend tried to get me to go to her church. I tried it. Not really for me.
Other stuff that happened:
- I finished my office, bought a ridiculous wingback chair for $3, and otherwise made my workspace my own.
- Saw Rufus Wainwright play, volunteered at the True/False film fest, met Cathrynne Valente and Lee Harrington in STL at a Palimpsest event, and got a DVD of Doctor Who film outtakes from Eric Roberts.
- Participated somewhat erratically in National Poetry Month, but skipped National Novel Writing Month to get caught up on things.
- Participated in a poetry reading of men speaking out against rape and a reading at The Center Project.
- Started playing World of Warcraft again
- I'm saving for top surgery and have been on T for 18 months. Behold my amusing high school scruff.
- Helped get some tiny kitties into a rescue program in spite of allergy peril.
- Put up new author's site at dimlightarchive
- Got subpoenaed for the first time ever. They didn't need us in the end, but dang. That was weird.
- My mom gave me my great grandfather's watch the day before the Autumnal Equinox.
- I dressed up as the manuscript fairy for Halloween.
- In 2009 I was almost entirely celibate. I did the math, and we're talking 99.997% YES, I DID THE MATH. Shut up.
So. 2010.
- For my birthday, I think I want to find someone who can redraw Amphigenous and Cymbeline for me properly so I can have it tattooed somewhere. Anyone know an imaginary cartographer?
- Gallifrey One. Yes.
- I want to keep working toward healthy lifestyle changes.
- I'm doing a Sensible Muse noveling workshop like I did in 2008.
- I plan to be more active in fandom.
- I want to keep up my momentum with my salable writing.
- I want to keep developing my spirituality.
- I want to keep paying down debt and getting finances in order.
Money was tough this year. 2009 was an improvement over 2008, and I made a lot of progress dealing with old debts and bringing things current, but to get there I had to do things like sell my bass guitar, travel to cons by Greyhound, and rely more on the generosity of friends than I felt entirely proud of. Things can still feel Sisyphean, and after three years of money trouble it's easy to get demoralized or fearful about setbacks, but I can go into 2010 with the knowledge that I have less to do, and that things will be less desperate going in.
Health-wise, lots of back and forth. Exercised, didn't exercise. Improved my eating habits, backslid. I did make an effective change when I quit driving (for financial reasons!) this summer. I'm walking anywhere between a mile and three miles a day on work days, which is way more than I was doing before. In general, though, I get stymied by logistics or procrastinate and then fall off of various wagons. In 2010 I need to remind myself that I have all the tools I need to do what I want to in this area. I just need to use them.
Mom has been a Big Deal this year. In the Spring she started having episodes of respiratory distress and weakness, sleeping long hours, etc. She was hospitalized in May with a heap of symptoms that after two heart attacks (one while I was in Minneapolis, one while the boyf was in KC) and a lot of tests later turned out to be kidney failure precipitating massive anemia precipitating cardiac symptoms. They initially planned to have her start peritoneal dialysis, but when they tried to insert the catheter, they discovered her peritoneum was in too poor a condition. Upshots: she's undergoing some alternate treatments which have helped with her energy level and blood counts, her diabetes is well-controlled on some new prescriptions, and as a consequence of her health trouble we've committed to dinner and Doctor Who once a week.
My relationship with the boyf has changed a lot. We officially went platonic in November, and stopped sharing a bed in April (initially because he didn't want to get kicked by sleeping dogs in the night, but also because I admitted later on that it was weird to sleep next to someone I wasn't physically intimate with). We've got our own rooms now, and that's good in a lot of ways, though coming back from Dragon*Con to the world's longest game of box Tetris was a pain. I'm not always sure what to think about us, or what to call us, especially when I'm looking for another partner. It's a thing.
The writing has dominated my attention this year, and there's been very little middle ground with it. Everything has felt like either a wild success or a massive, dragging struggle. I had a bout of massively low spirits mid-year after a string of rejections (some at the same time as some of mom's health problems), but rallied as best I could. Even so, I spent a lot of the second half of the year slogging through the stuff that got pushed aside during my slump while taking on other small projects to keep things feeling fresh and encouraging. All told I saw print twice this year (Crossed Genres, Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes) and pixels 4 times (Thaumatrope, Doorknobs & BodyPaint). I also got invited to Writercon, which was awesome because it means that my writing -- albeit my fannish stuff -- is good and interesting enough that someone wanted me to talk about it. (I also went to Dragon*Con, and networked a bit, but that was mainly a pleasure trip.)
Spirituality-wise, things continue to be in development. Mostly Brythonic, experimenting with Roman influence, got more serious about Antinous. Fasted in late October, did a late night vigil for Calan Gaeaf. Bought an ogham set from
lupabitch and am working through erynn999's book. I've been a bit more experimental this year than I pictured initially, but it's a good experimental. Oh, and a Unitarian friend tried to get me to go to her church. I tried it. Not really for me.Other stuff that happened:
- I finished my office, bought a ridiculous wingback chair for $3, and otherwise made my workspace my own.
- Saw Rufus Wainwright play, volunteered at the True/False film fest, met Cathrynne Valente and Lee Harrington in STL at a Palimpsest event, and got a DVD of Doctor Who film outtakes from Eric Roberts.
- Participated somewhat erratically in National Poetry Month, but skipped National Novel Writing Month to get caught up on things.
- Participated in a poetry reading of men speaking out against rape and a reading at The Center Project.
- Started playing World of Warcraft again
- I'm saving for top surgery and have been on T for 18 months. Behold my amusing high school scruff.
- Helped get some tiny kitties into a rescue program in spite of allergy peril.
- Put up new author's site at dimlightarchive
- Got subpoenaed for the first time ever. They didn't need us in the end, but dang. That was weird.
- My mom gave me my great grandfather's watch the day before the Autumnal Equinox.
- I dressed up as the manuscript fairy for Halloween.
- In 2009 I was almost entirely celibate. I did the math, and we're talking 99.997% YES, I DID THE MATH. Shut up.
So. 2010.
- For my birthday, I think I want to find someone who can redraw Amphigenous and Cymbeline for me properly so I can have it tattooed somewhere. Anyone know an imaginary cartographer?
- Gallifrey One. Yes.
- I want to keep working toward healthy lifestyle changes.
- I'm doing a Sensible Muse noveling workshop like I did in 2008.
- I plan to be more active in fandom.
- I want to keep up my momentum with my salable writing.
- I want to keep developing my spirituality.
- I want to keep paying down debt and getting finances in order.
