strixalba

I wanted to write in my journal about personal journey/milestones that I reached this year, and I was thinking "yeah, but it doesn't feel like anything major really happened this year?"

and then I remembered that in the past twelve months I:

• defended my thesis
• got married
• graduated from my masters program
• legally changed my name, again
• did a fuckton of post-thesis original research for at least one, if not two, academic papers
• drove to Canada to present my masters thesis at a conference
• scheduled a hysterectomy for early 2024

So, uh. While it wasn't a great year for fiction writing, which is usually what I think of when I try to think of accomplishments, it was a pretty busy year in most other regards! I also got a tattoo I've wanted for a bit, but that's less of an Accomplishment and more of a celebration of accomplishments (getting my MA and also having a job that pays enough money to justify dropping hundreds of dollars on body art)

I also did some more reading this year than I've been able to do in a while!

I'm finishing up the year by being sick for the first time since 2019 or so. So far it appears to just be a cold. I've tested negative for covid for three consecutive afternoons now, and will continue to test for as long as symptoms last. I was still wiped out yesterday, and have been easily-tired today, so I'm not going to be able to stay up until midnight. And trying to remember and type out a list of books I've read or referenced this year feels like an insurmountable task, short though the list might be.

Happy new year!