Year-end reflection

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

The year is almost over, I may as well take some time to reflect on it. 

Work
I almost wrote that nothing much happened here, but there's a lot I can put here. First, I continued working from home till October, and then went in 1 day per week. Early in the year, I interviewed for a DEI role but didn't get it. I completed Cornell University's certification in Project Management. My team had a big, in-person meeting early in December, and I stayed at a hotel the first night - something I haven't done since early last year.

Fandom

Pretty much fandom for me this year was all about Spartacus though I still love The 100. I also got pretty into The Outpost but never wrote any fic for it.

And speaking of fic, I started writing Spartacus in 2020 but did most of it this year. A look at the numbers....posted 13 fics, ranging in length from 2,900 words to 40,000. Average kudos on these fics comes to 81.

Books

This was a great year for books! I’ll list my absolute favorites below, like I usually do but even with this long list, there are plenty that didn’t quite make the cut but were still incredible.

Fiction - 
 

o White Houses by Amy Bloom (Note: I finished this just the other day but it will be on whenever my next book report is posted)

o A Song of Flight by Juliet Marillier

o The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

o The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

o Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles

o Women Talking by Miriam Toews

 

Non fic - 

- The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina

- Humans: A Brief History of How We Effed It All Up and Truth: A Brief History of Total Bullshit by Tom  Phillips

- A Wild and Precious Life by Edie Windsor with Joshua Lyon

- My Holiday in North Korea by Wendy E. Simmons

- The Less People Know About Us by Axton Betz-Hamilton

- I Have Something to Tell You by Chasten Buttigieg

- Thick and Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom

- The Purpose of Power by Alicia Garza

- The Fox Hunt by Mohammed al Samawi

- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad

Friends, family, Doris
I wish I had more to say here. Everything is fine in this area. I guess in general I'm just glad to have a wife, a family, and friends and that most of them seem to be doing at least somewhere between ok and good.

No big vacations thanks to COVID. (And thanks to Doris's work schedule as usual. Never forget that the last 'real' vacation we took was January 2016.)  Doris and I did have some nice weekend trips to Galena and Saugatuck this year.

Politics
Volunteered with Postcards to Swing States. (And a bit with the local Dems, on their fundraiser and staffing their table at the farmer's market). I plan to really step up with Postcards  in the New Year. There’s no reason not to. It’s decently close to me, there is no annoying phone banking or canvassing, in fact there’s not much contact with anyone else, and it looks like the postcards actually  work (https://turnoutpac.medium.com/a-gateway-to-activism-postcards-win-close-elections-5bf7f45da15a)

But yeah, about politics, it does feel like if we can’t get voting rights passed on the federal level that 2022 might be the last elections this country has. One political party has abandoned even saying they care about democracy. 

 

And on that happy note - cheers to 2022!

Comments

[nytshd3]

Would you consider applying for another job within your current place if something came up? Maybe a different position in DEI or somewhere else?

Curious - why do you think some fandoms inspire you to write fanfic and others don't?

I'm sure we'll still have elections, there will just be a republican-controlled group in every state who will throw out anything 'questionable' and we'll have trump 4 life, that's all.

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

I was just thinking about the topic this morning - basically I feel I've given up on trying to get into DEI. Is it ever appropriate for a white person to work in DEI? Of course white people can be LGBT or disabled or queer but, Idk, maybe it truly is better not to try. Unless I'm asked or tapped on the shoulder, like I was with my current job?

I wish I knew, about that fandom question! I am constantly trying to figure out why some shows make me go full-on fangirl to the extent of writing fanfic, while most do not. I can't figure it out. Like S1 of Star Trek Discovery, I was obsessed. Writing fanfic, shipping the M/M couple. Then I just kinda lost interest. The show is now in S4 and I still watch it, I like it, I really like the M/M couple, and there's even a straight couple on it now who I like a lot. But whatever magic chemistry made me go full-on fangirl over the show back in 2017 is gone. I have no idea why. (My only guess is that the storylines the past 2 seasons have not been as good?)

I'd sure love to figure all this out. Someone must study this! Like I love The Outpost but it has a miniscule - if any - fandom. Would I love it more and write fanfic for it if it had an active fandom?

[nytshd3]

I think it's OK to decide you don't want to keep trying to get into DEI. But you could be tapped on the shoulder for sure! Are there any other departments that you would consider? Are there any that, if you were tapped on the shoulder, you would *not* pursue?

I think it's really interesting that you went from obsessed/writing fanfic to watching it but not totally fangirling. In my head (and this is 100% just in my head since I write no fanfic) I feel like I would be more likely to want to write fanfic if I was unhappy with the current direction of a show I was watching - cuz I'd want to find something to make it better! Or like x is what they SHOULD have done.

I think it's really interesting. There's lots of shows and stuff that I really enjoy watching, and will enjoy re-watching (sometimes over and over and over) but I've never had the urge to put pen to paper about it (or, ya know, fingers to keyboard).

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

If I was tapped on the shoulder for almost anything, I'd pursue it. But I was thinking of how odd it was that it happened to me that one time in 2012. It's like winning lotto, not something that happens often.

Absolutely, a lot of fic is "fix it" fic. For me, I write fic when I get obsessed with a show, whether or not there's anything I want to fix. I still wish I could find the magic ingredient to getting obsessed with a show, but on the other hand, maybe it's a good thing that it only happens with a small percentage of stuff I watch!