I'm glad 2025 is behind us, and I'm looking forward to 2026 being a better year (which I think I say every year).
Another thing I'll be glad to leave in the rear-view mirror is this winter! We are having the sort of winter where I'm already sick of it...and technically, it's only been calendar winter for a couple of weeks!
We've already had two snow days, and the snow in my backyard is deep enough that it has "buried" the pond. But the worst part has been the freezing rain. We've had constant icy roads. And it's not even the "weather is so warm" kind of rain. This is the "warm air aloft so it's raining while it is only 17 degrees outside" type of rain!
So although we've had a few cold-snap, minus 20 degree days, the big issue has been constant snow, rain, and ice. This winter isn't as cold (yet). Instead, it's all about the roof rakes, snowblowers, and ice melt.
And I'm over it! But we still have at least four months of winter (five, if it ends up being like the year before last, where we had snow and freezing temps while camping over Memorial Day)!
The writing update
I did Novel November, but I did not make the goal of 50K words. I did just over 29K words, which I'm pretty happy about. In November of 2024, I wrote less than 5k (I went back and checked), so this year's Novel November was a vast improvement!
I didn't write every day, or even almost every day, but I really want to get back into that habit. So I'm going to try a mini goal going forward for 2026: at least 250 words/15 minutes per day, every day.
I was only going to do a word count goal, like I usually do, but I want my goal to cover editing, revision, submission, and all the other work that goes into writing and publishing, and a minutes per day goal fits all those better. I'm also counting all “thinking” writing in this, but not any writing I do at my day job. School counts. If I'm writing this blog, that counts. If I'm writing a paper or something for my class, that counts. On the other hand, writing a grocery list or composing an email for my day job do not count.
I know it doesn't seem like much, but it's actually a great place to start. It's a minimum, so I can do more in a day if I have time. I've already noticed that if I manage to put my butt in the chair with the intention of working on writing for 15 minutes, I usually end up going much longer. If it's too easy, I can raise the goal at some point in the year. And even if I only hit the goal minimum, at the end of the year I will have written roughly the equivalent of 365 pages, which is a lot more than I have been these last few years!
But most importantly, it's very achievable. No matter how busy the day, I should be able to squeak out a few minutes, even if just before bed. It's like the Duolingo Spanish goal: a lesson every day. They take anywhere from three to seven minutes. And I've been able to hit that goal every day for over 600 days. I should be able to do that with my writing, as well!
So now I'm working on a revision on "Old Gods" before I resubmit it. Since I ran into right to the submission wire for the original submission call, it could use a little more polishing before it gets sent out for regular submission.
I'm also playing with a few new stories I've started that might have merit. And I'm also revisiting two fiction projects I've dabbled with from time to time. I've given up on the non-fiction project--not all ideas are meant to come to full life. But I think it's worth it to have another look at these two fiction projects to see if they are viable.
What I'm reading
I abandoned the online university book club book. It just wasn't my cup of tea, and I wasn't going to force myself to read it. Life is too short to read books you don't find interesting.
While I managed to miss ALL the book clubs in November and December, I did finish all the books. Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones, was awesome, and I loved it. Definitely glad I bought it instead of borrowing because it's a great addition to my personal library.
I also read Christmas and Other Horrors, edited by Ellen Datlow. As with most anthologies, it had stories I really enjoyed, and stories that fell flat.
I read a non-fiction book related to my "technology and society" area of study. I've been attending a monthly AI webinar series, and the book was recommended by one of the presenters: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All, by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares.
As you can guess, this book is definitely anti-AI...or, anti-too-smart-AI. And while there are definitely areas which might be skew toward alarmist hyperbole (it reminds me a bit of The Hot Zone, in that regard), the authors do make a lot of great points. It also has a lot of supplemental materials that I'm still going through, so it's a lot, but overall, I enjoyed the book.
Next up, I'm reading the Circle The Circle by Dave Eggers for the year-long reading challenge. The January challenge is to read a book that is part of a series.
For the book clubs this month, I read Haunt Sweet Home, by Sarah Pinsker. This one is for the horror book club this month, but it doesn't quite land right for me. I didn't know "cozy horror" was a thing. Good book, good writing, but not quite my preference. I listened to this one on Audible.
For my regular book club, I read Into the Drowning Deep, by Mira Grant. This one was definitely more to my taste, and scary as hell! I don't want to give away too much, but this one had lots of clever ideas in it, kept me on the edge of my seat (or holding my breath while I'm on the treadmill, as that's where I do most of my reading these days), and I really enjoyed it. I also purchased this one in paperback, and I'm glad I did. It's going into my personal library, as well.
I also read The Correspondent: A Novel, by Virgina Evans. I had bought the book a bit ago, during one of my pseudo-Scholastic Book Club for Grownups orders (yeah, I'm weird), and I hadn't gotten around to reading it. Then I saw it's the January book club choice for a book club I haven't been to yet, so I thought I read it, too.
So for those of you keeping track, I usually read books from TWO book clubs, but I've missed attending those book clubs in November AND December, so my response is to read THREE book club books in January! Rofl!
I'm hoping that I at least make the two regular book clubs in January. If I make the third, so much the better. And that third book was really, really great. Another one that I'm glad I bought and read. I highly recommend it!
I'm also reading a couple of anthologies that I've picked up just for quicks. I've gotten back into that habit of having four or five books that I'm reading all at once. That's a great thing!
What I've been watching
Hubby is definitely a movie guy, but I prefer books. Still, I try to occasionally watch movies with him. Usually, if we watch movies together, it's while we are camping. But this year, with no camping season, it has taken more effort to make sure we have an occasional movie night.
With my obsession with all things AI and technology, I decided to start watching some AI-related movies. So I've actually watched an unusual amount of movies these last two months!
- The Roses. This was a "hubby and I movie night" choice, and it was okay. Nothing too great, but not bad, either.
- The Long Walk. Movie night selection. It was good. Not as good as the book (they never are), but still really good.
- Bicentennial Man, with Robin Williams. This was part of the AI selections, and I liked it the first time I watched it not long after it came out. But this time, it seemed like it was too sped up. They were rushing through the timeline.
- Bladerunner. An AI selection. OMG. I was pretty sure I had watched this movie before, but none of it seemed familiar. Also: hated it.
- 2001: A Space Odyssey. An AI selection. I know I watched this one before, and I though I liked it back then. I do not like it now.
- Her, with Joaquin Phoenix. An AI selection. Though this movie has been on my radar for years, I put off watching it. I was wrong. It's a pretty good movie.
- Wonderland, Korean 2024 (so it's not confused with the US movie about a porn star). An AI selection. The best AI movie of the bunch so far. While I have more on my list yet to watch, if I had to recommend to AI-topic movies to watch, I suggst you watch Her and Wonderland. Both good stuff.
I still have quite a few AI-related movies on my list to watch, but I've also been feeling nostalgic about the rock operas of the 70s and 80s. So I'm going to add a few of those to the "To Watch List," too.
Education & Learning update
Most of my hobby learning is the same, with a focus on Udemy Spanish, Java, and Javascript... and I'm back as a paid subscriber to Duolingo. It's disappointing how they've changed the free version, but it is what it is. The app is good for quick language lessons (obviously; I'm almost at 650 days of learning, continuously, without a single skip day). It's just that a paid subscription is the best way to enjoy it since they've made the changes.
I got an A in my class last semester at the university. Yay, me! This semester, I signed up to redo the computer class I took 20 years ago on Social Implications of Computing Technology. I can't wait to see how much the subject matter of the class has changed!
I was excited about the textbook for the class, since the class still uses the fifth edition of the same, original textbook. I still own my first edition textbook from the class!
But gettingh the textbook has been an adventure in and of itself. I ordered it from Amazon on October 27, and in spite of saying "ships from Amazon" (I always check before I order), it did that "Delivery expected November 23 to December 31st" thing that some orders do (where's it coming from? Amazon warehouse in Siberia?).
So the November deadline came and went. So then it just shifted to saying "Arriving by December 31st." Once we were in the week of the 31st, it shifted the wording to "Delivery on Wednesday"...even though it hadn't shipped yet.
And when I got up on Wednesday morning, the order had auto-cancelled. No "We are sorry your order is late" like you usually get in these cases. Just a flat-out cancelled. And Amazon even deactivated the invoice. As in, the book still shows in my order list, but you can't click on the order number or anything to see what the cost was supposed to be, who it was being sold by, etc. Which is really, really weird. I've never seen that happen before.
So now I've ordered it from another seller. It's still supposed to ship from Amazon, but this time, the expected arrival date is next week. Let's see if this one actually ships!
This month's playlist. The ten songs I'm listening to on repeat.
This month's editorial.
Since it's the New Year, what else belongs here but a list of The 2026 Goals!
Write for 15 minutes or 250 words a day.
Start attending my book clubs regularly.
Keep going with my walking: at LEAST 10 miles a week of dedicated walking (doesn't include fit-bit stuff like going up and down the stair to do laundry or walking across campus). Once the weather warms back up, I plan on taking Penny out to Turtle River State Park every weekend that we aren't camping, just as I did this last year.
Add more strength training in 2026. I've really fallen off the wagon with strength training, and it's super important the older I get.
Have at least one movie night every month with hubby
And the biggest, most challenging one: get good on my rollerskates. I've had them for years--I think I bought them in 2019--and I've only put them on a couple of times...a couple of VERY wobbly, frightening times, lol. It's time to either get good with them or put them up in a garage sale.
That's it for this month. Until next month, Stay Spooky, my friends!
~~Here be monsters . . . and corgis.~~