Another year is coming to a close. I always get pensive this time of year. Time seems to be moving so much faster these days. I just hope I am properly taking advantage of it. In that regard, let’s take a look back at some of the highlights of this year:
- I started watching Breaking Bad with Neil. I still haven’t finished because it’s too stressful to watch all at once.
- Danced it up at Howl at the Moon.
- I turned 24.
- Played a LOT of board games.
- The entire city of Boston was battered by blizzards.
- I used a bath bomb for the first time and boy was it magical.
- Neil and I were both sick on Valentine’s Day. It was gross and romantic. ❤
- I did a little writing here and there, including finally reviewing the first draft of my tragically awful novel.
- I passed on the winning fiction piece for a local emerging writer’s contest.
- I worried about the state of our country and our criminal justice system. I still worry about that.
- I watched a lot of Gilmore Girls but didn’t finish (yet).
- We played a lot of DDR. Like a lot.
- I sprawled on Liz’s couch and loved Mabel. Also loved Liz.
- Bar trivia with the besties.
- I listened to hundreds of hours of podcasts.
- I had a god damn fiasco disaster trying to buy new glasses. Warby Parker failed me and my super blind eyes. I ended up at Spectacle in the South End and found a pair I really love. Thanks Paul. You are an amazing optician.
- I met Laci Green. She is an inspiration.
- I saw the Mountain Goats, They Might Be Giants, Hank Green, Sufjan Stevens (open weeping), Conor Oberst, and Desaparecidos in concert. They were all transcendent experiences.
- Conor Oberst may have touched my hand.
- I had a gastric emptying test. It was weird and long and came back normal.
- I cut my hair short.
- I had a bad reaction to the dye when having a MRE and it was absolutely no fun.
- Neil and I started going to the Boston Comics Roundtable.
- I saw Welcome to Nightvale live.
- I couldn’t stop listening to 1989.
- We visited Ross in Burlington and had glorious gluten free crepes.
- I struggled with doubt and anxiety.
- I said a lot of not so nice things about the Republican presidential candidates.
- I attended the 1920s themed wedding of our friends Justin and Heidi at a gorgeous estate in Rhode Island. It was beautiful and so much fun.
- I experienced the gluten free doughnut.
- I vacationed a few days with Neil in Portland, Maine.
- Neil and I rode bicycles around Peaks Island and explored an extremely creepy WWII battery.
- I cracked my tooth eating kettle corn while my dentist was out of town and had to get an emergency crown. It cost an absurd amount of money.
- Neil and I went to the Science of PIXAR exhibit at the Museum of Science.
- I saw Inside Out and sobbed loudly in public.
- I tabled for BCR at Boston Comic Con and TopatoCon.
- I spent time with friends from back home.
- We moved into an amazing and comfortable new apartment.
- We went to upstate New York and stayed in a million dollar mansion.
- I had an ultrasound. It was weird. I think I’ve had every test they can possibly do to look at the inside of your abdomen.
- The antics of the Maine crew made me laugh so hard.
- 90% of the power went out in our apartment our first week there. I handled it just as well as could be expected.
- Primark opened in downtown Boston. #bless
- I started seeing a new nutritionist and PCP who really seem like a good fit.
- Neil and I attended the first ever NerdCon in Minneapolis and I got to see my friend Abby.
- I helped keep the exhibitors happy at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo.
- I hosted my very first Murder Mystery Dinner Party.
- I saw Libba Bray at Boston Book Festival.
- I voted.
- I felt the Bern.
- Neil and I were Bert Macklin and Janet Snakehole for Halloween and it was glorious.
- I attended the Massachusetts Conference for Women.
- I SAW STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS.
- I got a Kitchen Aid for Christmas and cried.
- I read 40 books.
And I’m sure there’s more to add: so many wonderful, little moments in a year. I wish I could have captured them all. I have big hopes for 2016. I am going to be a quarter of a century, which makes me nervous. I feel like there is so much I have yet to accomplish and so much I should already have done. But only time will tell.
Until next time!
xx
If you want to see my full book list for the year click below (asterisk indicates graphic novel):
- May We Be Forgiven by A. M. Homes
- Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O’Malley*
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
- Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley*
- City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
- Kimmie66 by Aaron Alexovich*
- Serenity Rose: 10 Awkward Years by Aaron Alexovich*
- Ploughshares Winter 2014-15
- Boxers by Gene Luen Yang*
- Saints by Gene Luen Yang*
- City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
- Displacement by Lucy Knisley*
- IQ84 by Haruki Murakami
- A Matter of Life by Jeffrey Brown*
- Paying For It by Chester Brown*
- Persuasion by Jane Austen
- This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki*
- Love and Friendship by Jane Austen
- Radiator Days by Lucy Knisley
- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
- Lumberjanes (Vol. 1) by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Brooke A. Allen*
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
- Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
- The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman
- Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. I: The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson
- The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
- Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
- The Midas Flesh Vol. I by Ryan North
- Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
- Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
- The Midas Flesh Vol. II by Ryan North
- Ploughshares Summer 2015
- City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
- Nimona by Noelle Stevenson*
- Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
- My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, edited by Stephanie Perkins
alittlejstillz 
I love you!!!