New Year(ish)

What is new right now is that the year is 2021. There is not much else, if anything, that has changed. I've seen comments about this actually being 2020 v.2 and such and it does feel kind of like that. Yes.

Some of us are waiting for January 21st for the New Year to begin. This week will be getting the final step of the electoral votes finally confirmed and done - and there are some Republicans who are vowing to vote against that, even though

Except that I missed posting anything here during December 2020. I intended to post more. The pandemic hit. I intended to write something to share at least once a month - which I did, until December.

What is not new is that the COVID-19 pandemic still rages. It rages now more than it did three months ago. The surge is bad. The experts say there is another surge coming, which will be worse. For those of us who believe the science, who are following the data, we know that is true. It is. It's simple - if you believe and follow the data. Stay home, wear your mask, keep your distance.

What is not new is that the outgoing President still claims to be the victim of a fraudulent election and there are a few clinger-on Republicans supporting his claims. One thing which astounds me about that is, don't they understand that if they claim fraudulent election, are they not also calling into question their own positions? Are they not also saying that all election results are invalid, which means theirs, as well? It is so ridiculous and yet it is also a little horrifying and even frightening, that there are so many people who are blindly following this 

I did not drop in here to write about politics, yet I can't or don't want to let it be totally ignored. There is a lot of good information out there from people far better qualified and better armed with facts to write about what is happening politically, so I will leave it to them. And I will read what they write, as well as follow reliable news sources. 

I stopped by here and noticed I had skipped a month of posting. Not skipped a month of writing, though. I actually wrote a lot in December, partially thanks to Ariel Gore's Literary Kitchen and the wonderful, amazing, talented and supportive writers she brings together in writing classes, workshops, groups. As a matter of fact, I'm in a manuscript revision workshop which just started on Friday - which is going to be helpful and generative and I should have really good progress on a book project in three months!

So - Happy New Year and lets look forward to a new President and Vice President and lets get the mess of the last four years cleaned up (it's more than that, I know, absolutely) and lets also keep the anti-racism efforts going and growing.

Again: Stay home, wear your mask, keep your distance. The pandemic is not yet done with us.

And keep creating! Creativity is what will get us through. 

New Year/New Decade

Short and sweet, because I don't make New Year Resolutions. But it is the beginning of not only a new year, but a new decade, so I want to start it on a good note.

The year 2019 was a challenging year in several ways. It was a wonderful year in many ways. Lessons learned, friendships strengthened, writing skill and production increased, theatrical life blossoming and taking off in exciting new directions. Life is good and it is a new year.

I will remember the goodness of 2019 and I will remember the lessons and move forward.

I started 2020 today with writing. That felt really good. I did good work and I wrapped up feedback from a wonderful two week writing intensive workshop with Ariel Gore in the Literary Kitchen. Starting the year with an intention of writing more and completing more writing projects.

I look forward to the new of the decade, the new of the year.

New year, new decade, refreshed creative soul.

A New Year Without Resolutions

Yes, it is a new year : 2019.

Seasonal/solstice dinner with friends.
A night of good food, laughter,
drinks, and game-playing.

Nope, I did not set any New Year resolutions. Nope, I won't.

I do have a few things I'm working on in my life, like not getting triggered by aggressive personalities (had a "learning opportunity" setback on that one recently), and making choices based from my inside to looking out rather than the other way around. There are some other shifts in my writing, my writing practice and writing goals and inspiration.

But these are changes based on personal development, focus, and over time.

I am totally fine with not setting New Year's resolutions which have a high chance of failure. Instead, I have steady development and growth in areas which are already showing results and improving quality of life. I understand people who like to set goals and have a traceable starting point and maybe a community of newness and hope in starting to develop new habits with the incoming new year. It's just not for me.

My writing has moved to a new level and this feels like a permanent shift; one which may stick around this time. This week I made some major edits on the long-running book project and I can see that light at the end of this particular tunnel (handwritten edits); there is a long and tedious tunnel right after this where the edits go into the computer document (which I am confident will result in more edits). Giant strides forward happened this week and I have just another inch or inch and a half of printed pages to go. It has seemed very daunting, looking at hundreds and hundreds of printed pages, going over every word, and multiple times, for content and style edits, with an aim of consistency and congruency.

I also had a breakthrough this week in structure; I have an idea of how I can weave some sections together and perhaps spackle in a few gaps in the timeline in a way that will work.

It is exciting and not overwhelming.

It is also 2019 and this one really did come on fast. Another saying I've grown tired of and rolled my eyes at ("time has flown" or "I can't believe it's already _____") which is Now Actually True. Year 2018 feels like a blink.

Whatever your personal perspective on to resolution or not resolution, I hope that your holiday season brought you some peace and joy and that the New Year was ushered in with ease and friendly companionship (or whatever brings you contentment).

Another Year Ahead

I don't do a big celebration on New Year's Eve any more. When I was younger, yes. I went out, went clubbing (though we didn't call it that), went to parties, sometimes drank too much, sometimes not. Music, dancing, friends and strangers, fun.

Then it became smaller gatherings, much less drinking (there's a story in how that came about, something about a van and my partner's purse, which I will write someday), a lot more staying home.

For the past several years I am often working on New Year's Eve and it's fun. At my part-time job it can be fun and those of us working past midnight take a little break to acknowledge and toast the change of numbers (with sparkling cider because, duh, we're at work - really, it is sparkling cider).

This New Year's Eve I am working. Looking forward to it. It will be the usual night crew and we'll have fun. We have snacks and a couple of us are going to order pizza since our lunch/dinner breaks are around the same time.

And my writing. I am writing. I just posted my final story in the Winter Intensive online workshop with Ariel Gore last night. I still have to do feedback for three other writers' stories, then that one wraps up. (After I copy all of the feedback on my pieces.)

Next week I start with the Winter Manuscript class with Ariel. I volunteered to be in the first group, so I have to get 10,000 words of the memoir ready to post by the 7th. They're almost ready, but not quite. With the holidays and the Winter Intensive workshop, and being down with the crud for two days, I lost momentum on the manuscript excerpt preparation. But I still have a week left with a few good chunks of time for writing within that week. In March/April I get to do the spring seasonal workshop at Corporeal Writing with Lidia Yuknavitch.

NaNo17 Coast Retreat, Oceanside OR

And. Yes. The end of 2017. It's been a rough year on many fronts. Many frustrations and outrages (due to outrageous events), many changes (some for the good in my personal life and others not so good in the bigger picture).

While I am happy to see the backside of 2017, for many reasons on a larger, national and international scale, 2018 doesn't look any better.

On a local and personal level, 2018 looks spectacular. I am writing more and this project may actually come to completion. This year? I don't know; but that would be nice. The second half of the theatre seasons (and the beginning of a new one for Profile Theatre) have awesome productions ahead and I am looking forward to those.

I have no profound words and I don't write New Year Resolutions. I make decisions and "resolutions" throughout the year and see no need to do it only this one time, so I don't.  I do hope that 2018 is a better year, even though I know there are so many challenges for so many of us still out there, so much left to defend and be vigilant. I hope that we can support and honor each other and keep that vigilance on our communities and the people, places, beings who are important. We are important.

Be strong. Be safe. Enjoy however it makes sense to you to usher 2017 out the door and welcome 2018. Keep writing and making art and dancing, creating in your own unique way.

*Blink * Blink*

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blink

blink blink

It's, um, like. Yeah.

 2 0 1 6 

  Happy   New   Year  

Cheers, sure. Hooray.

blink blink

blink

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Turn Turn Turn

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goodbye 2013

H A P P Y
N E W
Y E A R

welcome 2014

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So, here we are, in 2013

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I feel like I've been rather silent over the holidays. I contemplated various topics to write about: inspirational, insightful, or my more typical meandering and random. I did manage to write a little bit about Solstice and, thanks to Gretchin and Sven I posted a fun video on the 24th.

 

So here it is on the first day of a new year and I thought I'd check in.

 

I won't be listing resolutions for the coming year. I won't reflect on the year that just ended, either. I can look back through my posts on The Writing Vein or check my Facebook Timeline and see what I highlighted throughout the year - not that those are everything which happened nor that those were necessarily the most important things. But those two places do hold some keys to what happened in me in the year 2012, which is now behind us.

 

I don't make resolutions because they feel like a set-up and, if it is something worth doing, then I will just do it. And not just because I decided at the beginning of a new year to try something new or to renew or whatever. I've learned that sometimes things happen in life over which we have little to no control. So flexibility and balance are what's needed and, for me, it's better to just do the right thing because it's what feels right for me and what makes sense, rather than promising to do something which could be arbitrarily interrupted. Those who know me in the physical world (or what friend Steve Nail recently called the "meat world" - thanks, Steve!) know that I like to keep my commitments. So, I don't make resolutions.

I do set intentions.

My intentions are few but strong:

• to renew my writing schedule, including focused editing on both the novel and the memoir;
• to find physical activities which are also fun and varied enough to fit my schedule and interests (to which I can say I am off to a great start with the new Wii, including Wii Fit with the balance board; will also include hiking when the weather is a little better, and hopefully kayaking again);
• to maintain some true down time in my schedule (pajamas til 5pm kind of days);
• to spend more quality time with my partner;
• to spend more time with friends - talking, writing, hiking, creating, bicycling, eating or drinking wine, and more;
• to be present.

It's 2013. I remember when that seemed very far into the future, so far that I couldn't really imagine it, other than in a Piers Anthony or Ray Bradbury kind of way. But here we are.

Goodbye, 2012. You weren't the worst of years and I can say there were some good things. But there were also some trials and bumpy moments which I'm glad to have resolved and behind me.

So, welcome, 2013. May we be good friends and travel smoothly along a creative and innovative path.

Happy writing, painting, sculpting, dancing, filmmaking, business endeavors, and a good life filled with health and prosperity for all.

Happy 2013.
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With or Without Ritual, the Season Changes

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This is the time of year when even our clocks feel the stretch. There is so much more to do or at least the expectation that we have more to do and yet we are only left with a daily budget of twenty-four hours.

I know there is someone reading this and saying something like, "Well, you see, Dot, in truth we have exactly yadayada hours and umtydum minutes and xyznanoseconds." I'm sure there's some formula or measure where the number isn't exactly twenty-four hours. Or maybe it is. I don't know. What I do know is that our clocks measure out approximately twenty-four hours every day and that is what we have to work with.

The amount of lightness and darkness we experience changes as we tilt and float through space. But the hours are basically the same.

Different religions and spiritual beliefs hold celebrations during this time of year. They claim different deities or leaders, different dates and significance, different rituals. And we still turn. Whether or not we celebrate, regardless of how we celebrate if we do, the daylight grows shorter and then longer. And cycles back.

The world didn't end today.

But a cycle did. And as we passed the marker in time a new cycle began.

This is a time of change. Of going deep and returning. Of dreams and hopes, reflection both inward and outward.

May all of us be connected to the Greater Good. May our true path and dreams be manifest as we move through our life. And may our connections to the earth and all beings be strengthened.

I wish for light and blessings for all of us as we move into a new cycle and for strength to stay balanced when the darkness threatens to overtake us.
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Razor's Edge : New Year, New Opportunities

I postponed the final Razor's Edge for 2011 until Saturday, December 31. The last day of the year - one day.

I'm not going to say to make resolutions. You can if you want. And there are some excellent resources all over the internet and probably with friends and family if you want prompts or a starting place.

Instead, set an intention for the coming year. An intention to go deeper in your relationships. An intention to write with more energy. An intention to be true to your vision and your voice. An intention to feel good. An intention to put yourself first.

And, if you prefer, place one of your characters in a situation where her life will be altered by the events of the evening. Something will happen to give her a new outlook and her future will be changed.

I offer the following music I found on YouTube to listen to as you begin writing: "InTENtion" by My Sleeping Karma.




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Don't Drink & Drive: Transportation Options

One of the major drinking holidays is on the horizon. While I long ago gave up the tradition of starting the new year with a hangover - enjoy it if you do! And - please don't drink and drive.

There are many transportation options when it comes to party time. And New Year's Eve has some added assistance for those who need it.

One, of course, is the tried and true "designated driver." This is a good option.

But sometimes you may find yourself a little more tipsy than you planned and there's no one to drive you home. Or you feel "a slight buzz" and that you'll "be fine." Please - be safe, not just fine. Even a slight buzz alters your reaction time.

Don't wind up the tragic protagonist in my next novel who dies in a fiery car crash because she was just a little tipsy but wasn't able to maneuver that curb.

Be safe. Okay? I'm not saying to not have a good time -- but plan ahead for getting home safely if you're going out. Or plan a sleepover! That can be fun, too.

One program to get you - and your car - home is from AAA. This service is available in most areas:

AAA Tipsy Tow drivers are ready and waiting to assist drivers who are the worse for wear between 6pm New Year's Eve 2011 and 6am New Year's Day 2012.  If you or someone you know over-indulges this New Year's Eve, don't try to navigate the roads on your own -- here's the info on your free ride home this holiday season.

The AAA Tipsy Tow program is running throughout ... a good chunk of the United States, in an effort to keep drunk drivers off the road and accidents down on New Year's Eve.  The AAA Tipsy Tow number is 1-800-222-4357.

Just call in and tell the operators you need a Tipsy Tow.  AAA will drive you and tow your vehicle up to ten miles for free.  You don't have to be an AA member, and you won't have to show any identification.  The AAA tow truck driver will take you, your car, and up to one additional passenger back home -- but they won't take you bar-hopping, or to any other establishment. 

In the Portland (Oregon) metro area, TriMet has some free ride options:

...all bus and MAX rides will be free beginning at 8 p.m. on Dec. 31.

They'll run on regular Saturday schedules, but MAX service will be extended, TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said.

MAX Blue, Green and Yellow trains will run later into the night, approximately every 35 minutes until about 3 a.m. The last Blue Line trip to Gresham will leave Pioneer Square at 3:06 a.m., and the last trip to Hillsboro will leave Pioneer Square 10 minutes later.

The last Green Line trip to Clackamas will leave the Pioneer Courthouse/Southwest 6th Avenue at 3:10 a.m. The last Yellow Line trip to the Expo Center will leave the same station at 3:02 a.m., and the last trip to downtown will leave the Expo Center station at 2:24 a.m.

A trip to the Rose Quarter Transit Center will leave the Expo Center at 3:42 a.m.

On the Red Line, trains will run on regular Saturday schedules until the end of service and shuttle buses will carry riders between the Gateway Transit Center and Portland International Airport until about 3 a.m. The last trip of the night to PDX will leave Pioneer Square at 10:43 p.m. The last trip to the Beaverton Transit Center will leave the airport at 11:49 p.m.

For a complete list of TriMet's schedules, visit their website.

spoken word artist's New Year video

From Gagnez

Happy Blue Full Moon

It's New Year's Eve where I am. Some places have already rolled over to 2010 and it's New Year's Day; I have just under 2 1/2 hours to go. Tonight at work someone told me it was a New Moon and a Blue Moon - a rare occurrence. I tried to find the significance of that or some interesting folklore - but didn't. If someone knows some, I'd love to hear it! All I really found was that the idea of a "blue moon" being the second full moon in a month may have been a misinterpretation or may have been a quote taken out of context from an off-hand comment made by a writer in an article. While I couldn't find any specific significance of the Full Blue Moon on New Year's Eve (or any other time, except for around Easter, when a priest used to tell the people which was the real full moon to determine the date of their celebration).

And, while on the subject of the pending New Year - the topic of "resolutions" comes up, of course. A writer I met in Oaxaca in December '08 had a wonderful post about this topic. She said it very well, so I'll share an excerpt and you can click on the link to her blog to read the rest. It's worth the click and time to read!

From Shell at "A Cabin in the Woods":

"Resolute

I hate New Years Resolutions. They are phony set ups designed to manipulate us in to gung ho conquer the world mentalities that result in our crashing and burning. Think about New Years diets – total set up. For two weeks we will lace up our sneakers, walk with purpose for 20, 30. 50 minutes, eat Special K or 100 calorie soup three times a day, and suffer in silence at our internal lack of willpower. Then, we go to lunch with friends and “slip” – its all down hill from there. That is, until the spring when the “get ready for swimsuit season” influx begins again. The same goes for New Years decisions to quit smoking, clean out the garage etc… It’s not that these things don’t sometimes work. They do. But I would argue this has much less to do with the New Year drunken (on food or wine) proclamation than the time just finally being
right. .... "

(click on "Resolute" to read the rest of the essay.)

Yes, this year I think I will follow her lead and focus on my hopes and dreams, rather than resolutions. I have already resolved to be more active and more fit. It's time to follow my dreams and let my hopes instruct me.

Thank you, Shell, for your insight (as "unacademic" as it may be deemed, it is powerful and what we need to hear ... right on!).