For those of you who haven’t seen Neicy Nash’s viral Emmy speech, have a peek here. This, right here, is the energy I want to bring for myself in 2024. I don’t know about you, but the last couple of years have been tough. Living through a global pandemic took a lot out of all of us, and I thought 2023 was going to be my ‘get back to normal’ year, but really, what even is normal anymore? It's time to redefine the word, I think, and create the normal I want for myself, and I think the normal I want is more like Neicy’s, “Go on girl with your bad self you did that!” Okay, it rolls off her tongue MUCH better than mine, lol, but I think you get the point. Working to create a life I can be proud of, even if I don’t win any awards for it. So, with that in mind, I’ve taken the month of January to do some test runs and figure out what that looks like for me, and what goals I think might help me thank me, not just when the end of December 2024 rolls around, but into 2025 and beyond!

• Blog at least once a month - despite my incredibly spotty history, it is something I really enjoy doing (and this goal is also why this post is coming out on Jan 31 ;) )

• Develop a better reading/nighttime routine. I used to read before bed a lot when I was younger, and I’ve fallen out of practice. Also, despite having about a gazillion books on my TBR I only read 12 books last year. TWELVE! One a month! Although, in keeping things realistic, I made my goodreads.com goal for 2024 12 as well, you know, to make things attainable.

• Collect postcards from every city/town I visit. I already kind of have been doing this, but I’m going to make a more concerted effort.

• Try as many types of fruit as possible - I 100% stole this from someone on Instagram, ‘cause I thought it sounded super fun. Also, I love a goal that’s about doing something more.

• Watch a movie off of “The Neverending Movie List” every week. What’s The Neverending Movie List you ask? Well, since 2017, I’ve been keeping a spreadsheet of all the movies that have come out that I’ve been remotely interested in watching. There are 473 movies on that list up until the end of Dec 2023. This seems like a no-brainer. I love movies. I have this list. Time to watch some more movies off this list.

• Develop a better hair/skin routine. I’m over 40 now (Jesus, that is still mindblowing to say), time to really take my skincare seriously. I’ve chatted with my BFF Alicen, who, of the folks I know, knows the most about skincare, and got some recommendations to add to the regime. Also, my hair has changed a lot in the last few years, and I need to re-learn how to take care of it.

• In the same vein, it’s time to retake control of my physical health, so I’m going to try one new exercise-y thing at least once a quarter. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that January was all about yoga, and it’s made me feel so good. I think February’s going to get my up off the mat and out doing some cardio.

  and finally,

• Get better at juggling.

Sure, some of these are fun and silly (have we met?) and some are more ‘serious’, but isn’t that what life should be? Some of these things are easier to measure than others, but I’m hoping that putting them out there (or here, on my blog as the case may be) will encourage me to keep up with them as 2024 rolls on! So, here we gooooo! See you next month, promise!

Kent’s Beach at sunset on my birthday, picture Kate Dryden Dunn

Just over a month ago I sat down and wrote almost a full blog post that I intended to publish before my birthday (which is late September). And then the next thing I knew it was October 11th! September seemed to be one of those vanishing months this year. I think its disappearance was aided by two weekends away, my mum visiting for a week, three Bard on the Beach shows, and one visit to Broadway Across Canada. I’m sure there WAS a month that happened in amongst all that, but I hardly remember it!

Autumn is here, with shockingly clear skies in Vancouver and some perfectly cool temperatures. My sweater collection and I are currently living our best lives. Autumn is also birthday time for me, which in my world also gives me an opportunity to figure out a few things I’d like to accomplish in my 36th year.

I’m knocking a big travel/bucket list/epic adventure thing off those lists in November when I go to Africa, which I’m beyond excited for, and hope I have the presence of mind to post about afterwards (we all know my track record here)

I’d like to learn/re-learn a few non-essential skills as well. I learned to juggle in elementary school (and was even cast as a lead in a play based on my abilities) but I’ve fallen WAAAY off. It’s a weird, silly thing that I liked being able to do, so I’m going to try and commit to practicing for a couple of minutes every day. Maybe post the practice videos? We’ll see, Sam and Sandra are inspiring me to try and motivate myself via IG these days. The other thing I’d like to get better at is ukulele. I have this GORGEOUS uke that I can play about three chords confidently on. I have the instrument, I want to be able to play it, dang it! So, similar to juggling, I’m going to try and put in some practice minutes every day (maybe week)

Finally, that dang novel. Normally, at this time of year, I’d be gearing up for NaNoWriMo, but with the trip to Africa happening right smack dab in the middle of November, I know far better than to try and attempt that. I know myself far too well. However, I’ve had some epiphanies about my novel over the past couple of months, so the re-write is on….slowly. I might try and use November to be NaNo adjacent, and work on it a bit (maybe on the 30 hours plane rides?)

So, that’s it. Juggle, ukulele, novel. A few things to spice up 36, and make that trip around the sun a little more interesting.

Gong hei fat choy or gong xi fa cai , which ever you prefer, either way Happy New Year! It’s the Year of the Pig! That’s me! I’m a pig!

Waddles Gravity Falls GIF from Waddles GIFs

Considering I haven’t posted on ye olde blog since June last year, I suppose it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that I’ve waited until the day after the beginning of the Lunar New Year (which if you live in Vancouver, like I do, is a pretty big deal) to finally share my goals for 2019. ‘Cause they aren’t really resolutions, it just looked better in the title of the blog post.

My overall theme for 2019 is “Finish What I Start”. I very much take after my father in this regard. I’m extremely good at starting projects, less good at finishing them. When I was kid there were half-finished projects all over our house, much to my mother’s consternation. My own home is much like that, one closet’s been KonMari’d, my gallery wall is almost done, and I wrote my NaNo novel, but I haven’t even looked at it since I finished it on November 29.

To try and finish these things and move forward with some other things, I’ve separated my goals for 2019 into six ‘categories’

Writing
First and foremost my NaNo novel. Finishing NaNo for the first time after trying for five years was a MASSIVE accomplishment for me. I literally cried as I watched the little ‘You did it!’ video they send you after you verify your word count. I think after all that went into finally getting the story out my brain really needed a break from it. But the break is over now, I need to re-outline and then attack it with an editor’s vengeance.

Writing more consistently here. Clearly, that’s been an issue in the past, but I often have things to say, I just end up keeping them to myself. Sorry world. But don’t worry, if I can get my act together you’ll hear more from me this year. Aren’t you looking forward to random musings?! I KNOW YOU ARE!

Podcasting
I love podcasting with Taylor, and Tiny Fences isn’t going anywhere, but there are a lot of things I could be doing better in regards to the podcast. Trying to set up our TeePublic site, looking into other options either with Patreon or instead of it.

I also would love to work on a narrative type podcast, or maybe do one about movies? Talking is something that anyone who knows me probably knows that I’m pretty dang good at,(or maybe wishes I was less good at it...) podcasting combines that talent with other things I love, like pop culture and storytelling.

Health
With my family history of heart disease and high blood pressure, one of my big goals for this year is to really get my health in order. There are a lot of things that I’d like to do, and getting into better shape to make sure that I’m around to do all of them is another one of my goals. I’m taking part in my second round of My Peak Challenge, with challenging workouts and a nutrition plan are a big part of that.

My podcast co-host Taylor has been taking selfies after they finish their workouts, so I’ve started doing the same. I’m really hoping that by the end of the year, I won’t look quite so done for at the end of a workout.

Home
As I mentioned at the top, even though I’ve lived in my apartment for over a year, it’s still a work in progress. My big goals for this year is to actually finish doing a full KonMari of my house. If you haven’t heard of KonMari, then please go to Netflix and watch Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. I’ve collected a lot of random things over the years, and I really don’t need to keep the museum of Andrea in boxes ‘just in case’. Either it sparks joy or it goes.

I also need to finish my gallery wall, as well as put up the rest of my art. I also feel like some of the rooms aren’t quite ‘set up’. I’ve lived in such small places for so many years that I just don’t know what to do with all my space. Yes, I’m aware this is a rare luxury, but it’s still a bit of an issue.

Hobbies
One of the big things I want to ‘finish’ this year, is my yarn stash. I’ve been knitting for so long, and have collected so much yarn over the years. Buying new stuff for new projects, but having so much leftover when I’m done.
I’ve already started by asking my friends on Facebook what I can make for them (since I work faster when I’m making something for someone) and only using stash yarn for the projects. Once I make a good dent in the stash, I’d like to finally make a sweater or two for myself this year.

I’d also like to branch out to sewing and try to sew myself a piece of clothing, maybe a skirt or dress.

I have a beautiful ukulele that I’ve also never quite around to learning out to play. This year I’m going to finally learn to play it, and several songs. I love to sing, so I may as well learn to accompany myself.

Finally, when I was in elementary school I learned to juggle. That talent cost me cast as the lead in a play when I was young. Since then I’ve kind of just let it die. When mum and I were in England this past summer, we went to Haddon Hall and they had a fool’s hat and some juggling balls in the main hall, and I couldn’t help myself, I put on the hat, and picked up the balls and juggled a little. It’s an odd hobby, but one I want to get better at.

So year, that’s it for me 2019. Finish more things that I’ve already started, and start things that I want to make sure I finish. #FinishWhatIStart

Yes, I know, January 3rd is a little late to declare my intentions for 2018, but as always I say, better late than never! (Well, maybe I don't always say that, but I should)

I never really got around to setting out any goals for 2017, I mean, I'm sure I had some, but I didn't write them down, I didn't put them out there into the wide world to help keep me accountable. While 2017 was a pretty good year for me personally, I have a lot of things I'd like to do better in 2018, and I may as well start with making sure I have a record of those things so I can come back and check them next year to see how successful (or not) I have been. And since I have a record of being pretty terrible at this, I'm making these as broad as possible, you know, to help with succeeding (no one should set themselves up for failure!).

1. Write more

I always say I'm going to, I talk about the things I want to write with friends, I think about them. And that's it. Which, in all honesty, is a really terrible way to get anything written. Not actually writing it down. So this year I'm going to blog more, journal more, outline and re-write my novel, try my hand at short stories. More than anything I'm hoping to jumpstart a daily writing habit in any way possible. 

2. Make my house a home

In the autumn of 2017, I was lucky enough to buy my first home. While all my things are here, and I've purchased some important new pieces of furniture, it's still a place I live rather than my home. I have walls that still need to be painted, art that needs to be hung, a library that needs to be culled and organized, and a lot of stuff that still needs to have a home found for it. I think it might be time for yet another attempt at KonMari or maybe the Swedish Death Clean because even though I have more space than ever, I still feel that I have too much stuff. 

3. Take better care of myself

Even though I'm pretty healthy, and manage to care of myself pretty well, there are a lot of ways in which I could be doing this better. For a while there, my nutrition was pretty great (mostly 'cause I had a trainer helping me) and I was going to the gym regularly. And then, like many people, life got away from me, and the first things to suffer were eating well and working out. I'm going to re-embrace the habits my trainer had mostly instilled in me, and try and find the time (a three-hour daily commute makes this hard) to head to the gym again. One extra thing in here, I don't have a proper skincare regime, and I think I'd like one. I feel like it's something I probably should have locked down earlier in life, and just never did.

Only three things. That seems do-able. I mean, yes, there are more things rolled into each of those things, but let's pretend it's only three...