2015 in Review

That new mattress topper may not have been such a good idea, after all. It makes the bed so comfortable that it's hard to get up. At least the featherbed became uncomfortable by morning because I ended up lying in a pit where the feathers were either displaced or compressed (the reason it had to be shaken every morning). Maybe once I get accustomed to the new bed, the novelty will wear off.

While I didn't do any world changing yesterday, I did manage to get to the must-do items on the to-do list, which included re-reading the part I've already written of the book in progress so I can dive back into it. That means writing resumes today. I took far too much time off.

Because I was taking time off, I never did a year-in-review post. Work-wise, it looks like I had a strong start, pushed through the summer, then slacked off in the fall. I wrote a book and got started on a book, plus wrote several synopses for a book proposal. I had three books published.

Reading-wise, I was in a real slump. I only read about two-thirds of my usual number of books. However, I did have a couple of really long books on the list, as well as several reference books that involved not only reading, but taking a lot of notes. I also had a few books that didn't make it onto the list because I didn't finish reading them. I devoted a fair amount of time to them before deciding not to bother. And I was also trying to weed out the Strategic Book Reserve, so I have a stack of books by the nightstand where I read one or two chapters and decided they weren't for me. I suspect I read a lot more than I gave myself credit for, since I only log books I finished.

Much of my reading for the year was re-reading Terry Pratchett, mostly because I was on so many related panels at WorldCon and wanted a refresher course. After flipping back through my log, I think my favorite new-to-me book that I read this year was Alias, Hook by Lisa Jensen. Otherwise, nothing really jumped out at me as "you must read this" material.

It was also a low year for movies, as the only ones I saw in the theater were Cinderella, Inside Out, The Minions, Spectre, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (unless I'm forgetting something). I saw Cinderella and The Force Awakens twice at the theater.

On TV, we said farewell to Haven and Continuum, which both got actual endings that I found satisfying in a bittersweet way. There must have been something that ended in the spring that I've forgotten (did Parks and Recreation end last spring?). I didn't start watching much new stuff in the fall, though I did start catching up on The Expanse and like it so far. This summer's fun new show was Killjoys. In general, the ongoing shows had a bad habit of taking harsh turns to the dark, usually for the worse. I've joked about the Writers Guild suicide pact.

Wow, it seems like I didn't enjoy a lot this year. But I took a real vacation to a place I want to go back to. I went to a lot of conventions, including one in a brand-new place that I enjoyed a lot. I took a lot of long walks. I sang a lot, getting beyond what used to be a crippling case of stage fright to be able to sing a bucket-list solo in a major choral work. I got to see one of my favorite composers conduct a world premiere of a brand-new work (along with one of my favorite older works). I did a lot of knitting and baking. Maybe you could say that I was doing stuff instead of reading or watching stuff. I should continue that, though I need to include more writing in the mix.

So, here's to another year of doing stuff.