87: Starting Back Up

Happy New Year! My brain is still fuzzy from last week's round of COVID, which gave me war flashbacks to the time I got mono my senior year of college. I'm feeling better, but I am not firing on all cylinders at the moment. This feels appropriate for Dead January: my critic circle has completed round one of voting for our 2023 awards, movie theaters are filling up with horror movies that have high-concept premises and brutally low reviews, and I am trying to remember what it is I actually do at my day job. The Christmas tree hasn't come down yet. I'm trying not to think about the fact that it's 2024, and all the uncontrollable things that come with this year.

What I can do is exercise the illusion of control by making a list of goals for the year. Usually I only manage half of those goals on any given year. I won't put the entire list out there, but I'm calling my shots for 2024: this year I plan to write quality criticism for at least one new outlet. I plan to develop a proposal for a new book. I plan to read in my downtime instead of scrolling idly on my phone. I plan to garden (and you bet I'll be writing about it here). And I plan to write fiction, even if it's just for myself. I have an idea I've been kicking around for a few years that's mostly static images and a scenario I find intriguing. It's time to extend a little, and time to take action. More to come in the new year.

What I wrote:

We published my top ten movies of 2023 over at Seeing & Believing. Keep an eye on the newsletter for Kevin's top ten, coming later this weekend.

I also published another top ten list with Bright Wall/Dark Room. This one's about the best theatrical experiences I had in 2023!

What I ate:

There's a ramen shop around the corner from our house that makes soup for pickup. One of my New Year's Eve rituals is having noodles for dinner, ideally pho or ramen; this year we had takoyaki, ramen with pork belly, and taro bubble tea.

What I'm watching/reading/listening to:

I completed Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro on New Year's Eve.