What the hell happened this year?
Disclaimer: This post is entirely for me and is in no way intended to be good writing. You can start every sentence with “I” at the end of the year. It’s ok. It’s blogging!
Over the course of the past year, this blog has turned into more of a journal or an outlet than a place to build samples and ideas. That’s a good thing; it means I did a bunch of writing this year. It means I’m getting paid to write this year, it means I’m getting clearer about my career, and it generally means I’m paying less and less attention to the things that anger me and more attention to things that I’m building. 2011 was a pretty wonderful year, if not the best so far, and during the year I did some things:
Twin Cities Runoff. It’s funny how my giant writing project brings out my complete inability to write anything but gushy sentiment on how great it all has been, but I can’t put into words how proud I am of TCR or how amazing everyone who has worked on the Runoff has been in the past year. All the countless hours of labor were worth it, and writing and planning the magazine has taken me in directions I never thought I’d go. We published over 20 new writers and artists as well as put together an event this past May. I wrote nine months of Community News Roundup, an exercise I wish I still had time for (and would like to continue again, some day in the future). Next year TCR is switching gears a little— and I’m still figuring out exactly how that will manifest itself— but it’s a project I sincerely want to keep going because we’re doing work that no one else in the Twin Cities is doing.
I got realistic about my career. I realized that I’m a good writer and a good manager and should get paid for those things— but I might have to shuffle my ideal world around to make that happen. Right now, I’m working my third contract writing or editing job of the year, which has actually been pretty great since I’m getting paid to write. Writing copy is fun, especially when it’s helpful copy! My biggest goals for 2012 are career goals related to getting serious, both about writing and about earning a living, which I’ve finally learned are often two separate things, and will be for me for at least the next couple of years.
I met someone awesome. Will and I started dating in April, and it’s easily been the closest thing to perfection I could have pictured for a relationship. But enough mushy stuff.
I dabbled in the community arts world. One of the primary goals of Twin Cities Runoff is to be inclusive and community-oriented, so I applied for the Creative Community Leadership Fellowship and spent several weekends of the summer attending arts leadership workshops. It was a wonderful experience, and I met a lot of cool people… but it also made me realize that community arts— in the public arts, everyone is an artist sense— isn’t necessarily for me. It also helped me realize that I’m done with school and workshops and conferences and anything where I’m not learning by doing. The best thing I got out of CCLI was learning how to look for advantageous and fruitful collaborators, which is a skill and purpose I want to focus on in 2012… but I can do without the icebreaker games and networking chat.
I learned to get off the internet. On the other side of the not-actually-doing-work spectrum from community arts games is social media, which I have grown to dislike for anything but promotional purposes and a quick chuckle. You can talk all you want about its potential, but it’s not worth sifting through everyone’s awful taste in macros and anger management.
I drank probably 1/5 of what I drank last year. I quit my drunk job on February 5, and it was the best decision I ever made. Not drinking so much has made a world of difference in my world and lifestyle and also my wallet. I stopped drinking every time I was anxious and learned that I don’t work well even after one glass of wine. If I drink two nights out of the week now, it’s a big week for me. Life’s nice without a constant nightcap.
I visited Los Angeles and New York. I love LA, and I could see myself living there. New York is always fun, and there are people there who I love, but I am glad that it’s not where I chose to spend most of my 20s.
I stopped listening to new music almost entirely. I was broke, and I never heard anything that I was stoked about, except 4.
I read comics. Will is a cartoonist, and I’m learning more about his background, so I spent some time digging into Chris Ware and Dan Clowes and lots of artists— some of which I liked, some of which I don’t. I like a lot of the art, but I’ve yet to find a story that really gets me by the short-n-curlies, but it’s out there, I’m sure. Anyway, you can send me recommendations!
I read new fiction for the first time in years. But Just Kids, which is not fiction, was my favorite book this year.
I saw a fuckton of movies. Meek’s Cutoff and Drive were my favorite new movies. Nashville was my favorite older one, but Where the Boys Are was pretty great, too.
I talked about writing. A lot. I’ll talk about it again.
Happy new year, and here’s to an even better 2012!
