(no subject)

[raven]

One thing I didn't do, because I didn't do my year in review for 2018, was the usual set of vital statistics about writing, culture and travel, so here they are, mostly for my own benefit.

* I read 97 books last year, which includes novellas, graphic novels and friends' manuscripts but not short stories - 6 non-fiction, 91 fiction.

* I revised a novel, wrote another and revised it, and co-wrote and revised a novella - to a total of 230k revised and 120k from scratch. I have given the next project some thought but it hasn't come together yet and may not. I wrote about 300 words of it to amuse a friend but that's it.

* I did not write any short stories, strangely, though I did have a short story and novelette published in January and then in April. The novella came out in December.

(Also 6000 words of fanfic, all in one week at the end of December. I didn't make any vids.)

* I listened to 15 new-to-me albums, of which my favourites were Sandwood, by Duncan Chisholm, and Dessa's Chime. (My favourite song of the year was "Velodrome".) I also got way more into Spotify than I'd been before, listened to a lot of Niraj Chag (Sapno se Pucho and The Only Sadness), got back into the Civil Wars for a while, fell weirdly in love with a single song by the Lowest Pair, "Rosie", and spent whole days of my life listening to the White Sands of Jervis Bay, an amazing Gaelic-indigenous-Australian musical artwork by Breabach.

(I saw Dessa live in London twice; also Breabach and Niteworks (but not Kate Rusby; her Christmas concert that I always go to didn't have a London date this year). I also saw Fun Home at the Young Vic and Translations at the National Theatre.) I really wanted to go to Celtic Connections but didn't make it.

* I watched The Good Place (which I adored) and Star Trek Discovery (which I liked) and One Day At A Time, which is perfect always. I did not - though I really did mean to - finish watching Babylon 5. (Maybe 2019 is the year.) A. and I also rewatched all of Brooklyn Nine-Nine by watching one episode every night over dinner. Possibly related, we also bought a dining table.

* I went to Madrid, Amsterdam and Rome, India (twice: once for a friend's wedding in Jaipur, and again to Shimla in December) and spent a week in the Lakes as usual in July, and a week on Skye at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in April (which was nice and I'm glad I went, but didn't enjoy as much as usual because a) many people were racist at me and b) I was in the middle of a bipolar episode). A. and I also went back to Scotland in October, that time to go to Mull and Iona.

(Speaking of bipolar episodes: I had a prolonged mixed state in the spring, and then a full-on depressive episode in the autumn, and two attempted meds adjustments to deal with some unfortunate interactions, neither of which worked. I spent September and October on limited hours, which did help. I'm back to reasonably well-medicated now, and enduring.)

And the other things: it's three years that we've lived in this house; this year I'll be six years qualified; A. and I have been together for eleven years and married for five. In sum, and barring the other things we don't talk about, it was an ordinary year in an ordinary life, which is what you want. I'm thirty-two today, which feels like an unremarkable age - though, 2018 was also the year I started to find silver strands in my hair. (I really like them! I like how they stand out against the black.) &tc.

Comments

[musesfool]

Happy birthday!

[raven]

Thank you! <3

[sea_changed]

Dessa! Velodrome is my favorite off the new album as well; that whole second verse (It goes gospel, gossip, slander--) tears at my heart every time. When I saw her live in the spring that was definitely the point where I cried, a little.

(And: happy birthday!)

[raven]

I cried too! She was INCANDESCENT, I'm planning to see her any time she's in London from here on in.

[celli]

I hope that your year as a 32-year-old and your 2019 are both exactly what you need them to be. <3

[raven]

Thank you, lovely. <3

[corvidology]

Happy Birthday!

My favourite song on Chimes is Fire Drills. It's the line "tell patient zero, he can have his rib back" that gets to me in particular.

[raven]

Thank you! That whole song gives me chills likewise, but it's "that's motherfucking vigilance" that gives me the shivers.

[corvidology]

It is bloody brilliant!

[sir_guinglain]

Welcome to the silver-haired. (Well, mine is a mixture of white, grey, brown and everything in between right now.)

[lovelythings]

Happy birthday. <3 My internet world is better with you in it.

[raven]

Thank you, sweetheart.

[mirabile]

Happy birthday! What a year you had. I wish I could hug you.

[raven]

Thank you, dearest! I am glad you are in my life.

[catwalksalone]

Happy birthday! ❤️🍾🎉🎂🎁

Once again you prove that an ordinary year for you sounds pretty darn impressive to someone else, especially with all the work you did taken into account. You are, as usual, a marvel. I hope this year is good to you. All of the years, really.

[raven]

Thank you, darling. I appreciate you a lot.

[marina]

Happy birthday! It sounds like you had a year full of writing stories and traveling to places, along with the other things it contained. I hope the next year is full of even more good things ♥

[raven]

Thank you, lovely!

[philomytha]

Happy Birthday! And wow, that's a lot of things!

[raven]

thank you <3333 I hope Mr P also liked the ridiculous nuns book?

[philomytha]

Mr P is head-down in applying for a management position and not yet reading fiction... I think it might actually get passed soon to my father-in-law, a devout Catholic with a sense of humour who is about to have both hips replaced and be in need of entertaining :-)

[st_aurafina]

Happiest of birthdays!

(I really like them! I like how they stand out against the black.)

ME TOO. I'm salt and pepper now, but in my thirties, the silver came in wings over my temples. I felt very distinguished.

[raven]

Thank you! And yes I feel so grown-up! It's such an odd feeling.

[silverhare]

Silver hairs! <3<3<3 *envious* I can't wait for silvery hairs to start appearing for me. For some reason it really appeals.

it was an ordinary year in an ordinary life, which is what you want
Absolutely the best kind.

[raven]

I think you can see mine earlier than most people's because my hair is so very black. You might have some and not know it yet!

[soupytwist]

I learned recently that silver hairs seem to just appear because the black hair has to fall out first - the follicle bits that make pigment die, the hair falls out, and the new one comes in silver. I thought that was quite cool.

I think you are a wonder, as ever. ♥

[raven]

That is very cool! It makes me feel very grown-up. :)

likewise as ever <333

[scribe]

Happy birthday! (I've just googled Sandwood, and ooooooooh.)

[raven]

Thank you! It's gorgeous, honestly, I haven't stopped listening to it for basically six months.

[rmc28]

Happy birthday!

[raven]

Thank you!

[lamentables]

That was quite a year, especially for an ordinary year. But you are quite a person. Am very happy to know you, and impressed that you endure.

[raven]

तुम भी! I am very happy to know you also! <33

[velithya]

Happy Birthday!

I should listen to more Dessa, I've only heard a few of her songs but they are amazing. My fav out of the ones I've heard is Seamstress.