Ecce Sigum

  • IWSG, January 2023: The Word of the Year

    Poe (left) and Pepper eyeballing each other

    The week before Christmas I was struck down by the flu. I worked from home for that week, and just when I started to feel better the Great Christmas Blizzard of 2022 covered West Michigan with a ridiculous amount of snow. Throughout these two weeks of isolation, Poe and Pepper (pictured above) were a wonderful source of amusement and affection for Zyra and I.

    The Insecure Writer’s Support Group question for January 2023 is:

    Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year?

    For this year, I think my word will be Attentiveness. That point where attention meets engagement. I had little enough of either over the past (checks notes) five years, since I went on hiatus from Caffeinated Press at the beginning of 2018. The last three years have been a fugue of reacting to or recovering from outside world events. Now that we are through the holidays and already the daylight hours are growing noticeably longer, I feel a renewed energy.

    Attentiveness, to me, means not just noticing the parts of my life which need attention, but then doing something about it. Whether it be my relationship with my partner, my health, the martial arts class, my family, my writing, our house, or anything else in my life, I think I am ready to re-enter the world and take care of the things which need taking care of.

     

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  • Happy New Year, etc.

    New arrivals in the week of December 25, 2022

    Welcome to 2023! 2022 was overall a good year, but also exhausting, and so I am kind of happy to see it in the rearview mirror.

    Two book arrived here at the house in the last week of the year. On the left is the January 2023 issue of Poetry, which  came as something of a surprise, as I thought my subscription ended with the previous issue. I guess I was mistaken.

    On the right is Apex Magazine 2021, the printed collection of the stories which appeared in the electronic editions of Apex Magazine, from their successful Kickstarter. This book has the honor of being the last book to enter the Library at Winkelman Abbey in 2022, in that it arrived in the afternoon of December 31. Excellent timing!

    In reading news, I made some progress through the first issue of the new incarnation of Dreamforge, but my brain is so fried from *gestures at everything* that I couldn’t motivate myself to do much more than watch The Blacklist and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and play Stardew Valley.

    In writing news, there is no writing news.

    Starting in the new year, I will combine the “books I acquired” weekly posts with the “stuff I read” monthly posts, so now everything will be monthly. I plan to still do weekly (-ish) posts, but they will be both general and topical, and no longer exclusively about book stuff.

    Happy New Year, everyone!

  • December 2022 Reading List

    What I Read in December 2022

    This was another great month for reading, though the list is short. But such is necessarily the case for Dostoevsky December.

    And this rounds out the list for the year. 120 books or journals, and 252 pieces of short prose. Not bad at all.

    Books and Journals

    1. Fyodor Dostoevsky (Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear, translators), Crime and Punishment [2022.12.18]
    2. Poetry #221.3 [2022.12.19]
    3. The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.21]

    Short Prose

    1. Avigayl Sharp, “Uncontrollable, Irrelevant”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.19]
    2. Addie E. Citchens, “A Good Samaritan”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.19]
    3. Mieko Kanai (Polly Barton, translator), “Tap Water”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.20]
    4. Sophie Madeline Dess, “Zalmanovs”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.21]
    5. Tom Drury, “Where Does This Live?”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.21]
    6. Isabella Hammad, “Gertrude”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.21]
    7. Lauren C. Teffeau, “Sing! & Remember”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.24]
    8. Jane Lindskold, “Born From Memory”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.24]
    9. Jean Martin, “I Am Not As Young As I Was”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.29]
    10. Paul Dellinger, “Con Man”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.29]
    11. Chris Sumberg, “Anthropomorphile”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.29]
    12. Scot Noel, “Walker in Leaves”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.29]
    13. Dr. Eric Leif Davin, “The Prophetic Vision of Stephen Vincent Benet”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.30]
    14. Tom Sheehan, “The Old Man Who Hid Music”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.30]

  • 2022 In Review

    Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here to lay 2022 to rest. It was a decent year, as years go. Certainly it was better than 2020 and 2021. Here is a brief rundown of how the year went.

    Life

    This past November Zyra and I celebrated five years together, of which more than half has been during the COVID pandemic (which is still ongoing, by the way). This has been a big change for both of us but we are settling into the routine of it, which gives us the stability to start planning for the longer term. And we are both still very, very happy.

    Last week included two important anniversaries – three years since we brought Poe into our house, and two since the arrival of her cousin/niece Pepper. They are nonstop sources of comfort, entertainment and joy, and now that we have them, I can’t imagine our household without our two little ginger maniacs.

    But 2022 was also a rough year for the people in my life. During the past year I said a final farewell to Zort, Steve, Jessica, Neil, Bob, Sam, Ryan, De, and my cousin Teresa. Some of these folks were dear friends, others I had not seen or spoken to in decades. But even when pass the people we have relegated to the past, they are still part of our lives, and over time the loss of those small parts adds up. 2022 was not as terrible in this regard as was 2021, only because I lost no immediate family members, but I have resigned myself to being in the part of my life when my contemporaries begin to die of the things I once believed only took old people.

    Martial Arts

    The biggest news of the year was that, after 36 months of virtual classes, practicing at Wilcox Park, and crowding into the studio at From the Heart Yoga, Master Lee’s School of Tai Chi Praying Mantis Kung Fu and Tai Chi Jeung is back at the West Michigan YWCA in downtown Grand Rapids. Almost all of our students have returned (At least, the ones who did not move away), and we are making up for two and a half years of being unable to practice to the extent that we did pre-pandemic. We are back into our routine again, and me and the other instructors are figuring out what the next few years will look like.

    Reading

    2022 was a stellar year for reading. I made it through just over 120 books and literary journals, and over 250 pieces of short prose. I have not read at this pace in a very long time. Probably not since my first couple of years working at the bookstore. The combination of lockdown, a steady and predictable project, and a re-assertion of my daily morning routine made this possible. I don’t expect to keep up this pace in 2023, as I need some of that time for writing.

    Writing

    I didn’t accomplish much writing this year until NaNoWriMo in November, when I completed about 75% of a story which has been bouncing around in my head since November of 2021. As of this week i am still plugging away at the last few chapters, in the slight hope that I will have the first draft done by the time I head to ConFusion 2023.

    Work

    My job didn’t change much over the past year. For most of that time I was on a project which started in April of 2021, so it was steady and mostly predictable, and I picked up some significant new skills. And a brief, week-long project at the end of December gave me an overview of a new platform in which I will be working for almost all of 2023, so again, more predictable work. I got some very nice bonuses and a good raise which means I can now afford to do the work on my house and property which has been nagging at me for about the past decade.

    Looking Forward

    Immediate appearances aside, we are still in the middle of a pandemic, so outside of any black swan events I don’t see 2023 being radically different from 2022. Which means next year will probably be wild.

     

  • Merry Christmas, and All That

    New books for the week of December 18, 2022

    I am typing this on my new Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook, which I purchased to replace my aging ASUS Chromebook, which was good while it was good, but now is old enough that Google stopped pushing updates, and every month it was noticeably slower. Like with any new technology upgrade, it is fun and exciting for the moment, but at the end of the day it is a Chromebook, and I will use it mostly for writing, either creative work or blog posts like this one.

    I picked up a couple of new books, VeloCities: Stories, and Dark Factory, both by Kathe Koja, who will be the Creative Guest of Honor at ConFusion 2023 in a few weeks.

    In reading news, with Crime and Punishment completed I next finished the remaining volumes from my now-cancelled subscriptions to Poetry Magazine and The Paris Review. Now I am meandering my way through my backlog of issues of Pulphouse and Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet.

    Not much to report on the writing front. My brain is mush from end-of-year burnout and also from a case of The Crud, which hit me a little over a week ago. I just bought a new fountain pen from Dryden Designs, with a fine nib. So far, I like it. We will see how the writing goes throughout the next few days.

  • The Last Week of Autumn

    Pepper giving Poe a bath.

    The last week of Autumn has brought with it a case of the creeping crud, which fortunately is not COVID, but is also not much fun. I don’t feel overly terrible; just exhaustion, some sinus issues, and a scratchy throat. So of the many viruses colonizing the population right now, I have one of them.

    No new books arrived this week, so here is a photo of some domestic tranquility.

    After three weeks of intense concentration, I have finished Crime and Punishment, which I really should have read about 30 years ago. Better late than never, I suppose.

    And in writing news, there is nothing to report. My brain is sprained.

  • Bottom of the Top #50

    Welcome to the last “Bottom of the Top” post. It was a fun run, but nostalgia mining can quickly become pathological, and I felt it was best to stop before that point was reached.

    Here in the middle of December in each of these years I would have been anticipating or dreading the upcoming holidays, sometimes both in equal measure.

    1977: Dan Hill, “Sometimes When We Touch”

    Approaching Christmas at the end of the second marking period of third grade in Parma. Living in an apartment and probably anticipating spending some of the holidays with Dad, playing with the electric train set which would keep our attention for another couple of years, and looking forward to a new Micronaut or two. This song would have hit me right in the feels even back then, at eight years old. And possibly singing along with it when in a car going to a family event, which were usually fun as I was too young at the time to notice all of the toxicity.

    1982: Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, “Shame on the Moon”

    I do not believe I have heard this one before. It’s much more, er, quiet, than most of Seger’s more well-known songs, but good for all that.

    1987: Men Without Hats, “Pop Goes the World”

    I may have heard this one before. It’s fun and the video is most excellent, and is quite a different sound than “Safety Dance”, which is refreshing.

    1992: Jon Secada, “Just Another Day”

    I must have heard this song at least once a week throughout 1992 and 1993. Or maybe songs which sounded a lot like it. In any event this was what most of the second half of my college experience sounded like.

    1997: Shawn Colvin, “Sunny Came Home”

    Yeah, I heard this one a lot while I was working at the bookstore. Both in-store, and on the radio driving to and from work, practice, visiting the family, etc. It’s really good and wow, can Colvin sing!

  • The Year is Winding Down

    New books for the week of December 4, 2022

    As we reach the midpoint of December I feel, for the 22nd year in a row, a profound sense of relief that I no longer work in retail. When the owners of a store yowl, from their expensive house in an expensive neighborhood, that the workers making barely more than minimum wage need to work both smarter AND harder, I begin to understand why the plans for home-made guillotines are proliferating across the internet.

    Anyway.

    Two new journal arrived at the house this week. On the left is the latest issue of The Boston Review. On the right is the latest issue of The Paris Review. Both are the last issues I will see of these publications, as I have let both subscriptions lapse. Despite my earlier misgivings I am sticking to my guns, and from now on will only purchase books intentionally, rather than subscribing to a dozen periodicals and catalogs and letting the arrivals sit unread for years at a time.

    It’s also cheaper that way, which is always a concern.

    In reading news, I am well over halfway through Crime and Punishment, and still expect to complete it before Christmas.

    In writing news, other than journaling, I haven’t written anything since the end of November. Too many things going on all at once.

    I think I am about due for another Great Simplification, the first since January of 2013. Ten years is probably slightly too long to go between Simplifications, but for the past several years I have been both happy and content, and haven’t felt the need to change things significantly. I am still happy and content, but entropy is making itself felt in several areas of my life, and in order to focus on those areas I need to let some other things in my life recede into the background.

    So it goes, as always.

  • IWSG, December 2022: Holiday Writing

    Poe hiding from loud noises.

    [EDIT – didn’t actually write the post before its scheduled publication time. That has been corrected.]

    The past several weeks have been busy, thanks to NaNoWriMo, work, family obligations, and planning house upgrades. Thus a short IWSG post for the month.

    The Insecure Writer’s Support Group question for December 2022 is: It’s holiday time! Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?

    In past years I would have said holidays are when I fall behind, even though I have vacation time, but this year I think I might put that down time to good use. This is mostly because I have an actual plan and an actual draft to work on, with an actual end goal in sight. This is seldom the case at the end of the year. That, more than anything else, tends to drive whether or not I actually sit down and do the work.

     

    Insecure Writer's Support Group BadgeThe Insecure Writer’s Support Group
    is a community dedicated to encouraging
    and supporting insecure writers
    in all phases of their careers.

  • Bottom of the Top #49

    The second-to-last of these posts. Nostalgia mining quickly becomes tedious, and though I have heard a great many song for the first time, and rediscovered many more that I haven’t heard in decades, it’s time to put this project to bed.

    1977: Odyssey, “Native New Yorker”

    This is some groovy disco. I don’t know if I have ever heard it before, but it does scratch that 1970s itch nicely.

    1982: Fleetwood Mac, “Love In Store”

    This song appearing in this post right now is another one of those unfortunate coincidences. Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac died six days ago, on November 30.

    1987: Bruce Springsteen, “Brilliant Disguise”

    This is a repeat from earlier in the year, so please enjoy this live version from 2005.

    1992: TLC, “Baby-Baby-Baby”

    This is a repeat from last week, so please enjoy the full album version.

    1997: H-Town, “They Like It Slow”

    This is a repeat from earlier in the year, so please enjoy this live version from Soul Train.