2019 in Review
Dec. 31st, 2019 04:07 pmOh here we are again, that time of year, etc etc
It started off with a real weird note with friends cutting me off, but I took it in stride easily enough, and turned the negative quickly into a positive. And of course, I can't give enough thanks those who stuck by my side through it all, even as we feel the ramifications of it a year later.
It is ending with me thankfully no longer couch-ridden from the flu (get your flu shots, kids, I forgot this year and paid the price), but also not having made progress on a lot of things that I wanted to to round out the year. No hard deadlines, I completed all of those (or resigned myself to not finishing long ago), but softer deadlines for projects.
This year was a great year for getting to see friends, between the Search for Grog liveshow, driving up to Santa Cruz for Annie's art show, Ren Faire, Gen Con, Flame Con, Yasi & Grace's wedding, and idek so many things in between. I attempted to keep track in my planner, but will I actually fully scrapbook it? The world may never know.
GenCon was a fantastic experience (though there are so many things I'm going to change for next year) and I'm very excited to do round two next year. Not to mention the chance to actually meet a large number of the Table Friends and to tell them in person how much their storytelling means to me as both a creator and a consumer of stories. I got to run a lot of fun games, and next I will actually play in some.
I started a new job! Well, technically, it's the same job, but I got a raise and a shorter commute. Wow it's so much nicer to get home at 530 instead of 6. Also I can see the ocean from my window so like. Hell yeah.
I read a lot of good books this year. A lot of really gay books too, which is like delicious food for my soul. I set out to read 12, and will be finishing up the 40th tonight. I didn't read nearly as many books on my TBR as I should have, but damn. DAMN. I read so many good books. Didn't get to see nearly as many authors, but I got to meet Erin Morgenstern, so, like, life changing right there.
I have no idea what I wrote this year, to be honest. A lot of fic, to be sure. Barely anything original. Did not write anything that I thought I might, but I enjoyed what I have written. I took fic commissions for the first time, and that was a fun experience. I have done three zine fics, two of which will be out next year. Wrote some small games, did not get nearly enough done on my larger games. I did actually manage to post two of my novels in an attempt to get them out there if people want to read them, too, so that's exciting.
There was a lot of good media that was consumed this year, but honestly the things that stick out the most are from the end of the year -- The Magnus Archives, Promare, and The Starless Sea. These things have consumed me quite wholly and I am sure that I can say life changing. Or at least that they will be things that I will hold dear to me for a long time. (So saying, I never really care to immediately rewatch/relisten/reread things, but all three of these I literally cannot get enough content of in my life, and want to consume them all over again). Honorable mentions are Good Omens (which I have watched 3 times) and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
TTRPGs felt a little slower than last year, but I had fun doing what I have done. August really burnt me out, and I'm afraid my campaigns have suffered for it. But Mutiny got switched to Dungeon World after Sarah & Vicki left and everyone is happier for it (including and especially me), The Band Band has had good plot progress, and the Drive is slow going but I'm having fun learning the characters. Lots of fun things for werewolves, and I'm so excited to see where we go with the next arc (I mean, beyond going to Autumn). Told lots of amazing stories with the FTL crew and I'm so pumped for everything that next year will bring with them. Hoping other games that never got very far will have the chance to be revisited, hoping for more one-shots with lots of different people.
What else, what else?
My goals from last year admittedly fell flat. I did fairly good for the bulk of the time with the music, but a lot of the time I just started to forget to write music down, but I have some good content through July. The recipe thing simply didn't happen. I did surpass the 12 books thing, though, so I guess it was a mixed success overall.
So in light of that, no concrete goals. Just things I'd like to see or do.
2020 visions and aspirations:
- Gay Book club
- Bright Valley Studios getting up & running
- "All plot, no write" projects
- Anything to do with Princess Noir
- More Zines or open submissions
- More commissions
- Revamping Keyleth and Signet cosplays
- AND THEN GETTING MORE PHOTOS OF THEM
- Start book 3
There's probably many that I'm forgetting, but these are just things that I don't have set totally in stone. There are things that I WILL be doing so don't really count as goals because they're already accounted for. (BVS could technically be one of these things, but I don't want to push myself for a 2020 release if I don't think I'll be ready for it).
Looking forward to cons (ALA, WonderCon, GenCon, FlameCon, Big Bad Con for SURE), to concerts and plays, to vacations, and all the creative things that I will embark on and consume! Looking forward to all the friends I'll meet and get to see, and the time we'll spend together. Here's to a new year, let's get ready to rock.
It started off with a real weird note with friends cutting me off, but I took it in stride easily enough, and turned the negative quickly into a positive. And of course, I can't give enough thanks those who stuck by my side through it all, even as we feel the ramifications of it a year later.
It is ending with me thankfully no longer couch-ridden from the flu (get your flu shots, kids, I forgot this year and paid the price), but also not having made progress on a lot of things that I wanted to to round out the year. No hard deadlines, I completed all of those (or resigned myself to not finishing long ago), but softer deadlines for projects.
This year was a great year for getting to see friends, between the Search for Grog liveshow, driving up to Santa Cruz for Annie's art show, Ren Faire, Gen Con, Flame Con, Yasi & Grace's wedding, and idek so many things in between. I attempted to keep track in my planner, but will I actually fully scrapbook it? The world may never know.
GenCon was a fantastic experience (though there are so many things I'm going to change for next year) and I'm very excited to do round two next year. Not to mention the chance to actually meet a large number of the Table Friends and to tell them in person how much their storytelling means to me as both a creator and a consumer of stories. I got to run a lot of fun games, and next I will actually play in some.
I started a new job! Well, technically, it's the same job, but I got a raise and a shorter commute. Wow it's so much nicer to get home at 530 instead of 6. Also I can see the ocean from my window so like. Hell yeah.
I read a lot of good books this year. A lot of really gay books too, which is like delicious food for my soul. I set out to read 12, and will be finishing up the 40th tonight. I didn't read nearly as many books on my TBR as I should have, but damn. DAMN. I read so many good books. Didn't get to see nearly as many authors, but I got to meet Erin Morgenstern, so, like, life changing right there.
I have no idea what I wrote this year, to be honest. A lot of fic, to be sure. Barely anything original. Did not write anything that I thought I might, but I enjoyed what I have written. I took fic commissions for the first time, and that was a fun experience. I have done three zine fics, two of which will be out next year. Wrote some small games, did not get nearly enough done on my larger games. I did actually manage to post two of my novels in an attempt to get them out there if people want to read them, too, so that's exciting.
There was a lot of good media that was consumed this year, but honestly the things that stick out the most are from the end of the year -- The Magnus Archives, Promare, and The Starless Sea. These things have consumed me quite wholly and I am sure that I can say life changing. Or at least that they will be things that I will hold dear to me for a long time. (So saying, I never really care to immediately rewatch/relisten/reread things, but all three of these I literally cannot get enough content of in my life, and want to consume them all over again). Honorable mentions are Good Omens (which I have watched 3 times) and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
TTRPGs felt a little slower than last year, but I had fun doing what I have done. August really burnt me out, and I'm afraid my campaigns have suffered for it. But Mutiny got switched to Dungeon World after Sarah & Vicki left and everyone is happier for it (including and especially me), The Band Band has had good plot progress, and the Drive is slow going but I'm having fun learning the characters. Lots of fun things for werewolves, and I'm so excited to see where we go with the next arc (I mean, beyond going to Autumn). Told lots of amazing stories with the FTL crew and I'm so pumped for everything that next year will bring with them. Hoping other games that never got very far will have the chance to be revisited, hoping for more one-shots with lots of different people.
What else, what else?
My goals from last year admittedly fell flat. I did fairly good for the bulk of the time with the music, but a lot of the time I just started to forget to write music down, but I have some good content through July. The recipe thing simply didn't happen. I did surpass the 12 books thing, though, so I guess it was a mixed success overall.
So in light of that, no concrete goals. Just things I'd like to see or do.
2020 visions and aspirations:
- Gay Book club
- Bright Valley Studios getting up & running
- "All plot, no write" projects
- Anything to do with Princess Noir
- More Zines or open submissions
- More commissions
- Revamping Keyleth and Signet cosplays
- AND THEN GETTING MORE PHOTOS OF THEM
- Start book 3
There's probably many that I'm forgetting, but these are just things that I don't have set totally in stone. There are things that I WILL be doing so don't really count as goals because they're already accounted for. (BVS could technically be one of these things, but I don't want to push myself for a 2020 release if I don't think I'll be ready for it).
Looking forward to cons (ALA, WonderCon, GenCon, FlameCon, Big Bad Con for SURE), to concerts and plays, to vacations, and all the creative things that I will embark on and consume! Looking forward to all the friends I'll meet and get to see, and the time we'll spend together. Here's to a new year, let's get ready to rock.