Reflection on 2024
WARNING: Rambling ahead. The author’s brain has been squashed into holiday mode and so she is slacking off in the revision department. Her usual style of material shall resume in the new year.
I believe it’s safe to assume that the last few years, for most of us, could be aptly described through this picture:
2024, however, turned out to be surprisingly spiffy on the personal frontier. I’d even go as far to say it was positively grin-worthy:
Okay, maybe that’s a possessed-looking sort of grin, but you get the idea. Let’s just say 2024 was a bit of an improvement for me. Yes, there were some bumps in the road, but that’s a given variable in life. After several years of feeling downright stagnant, I finally feel as if I’m starting to inch forward.
Starting the blog helped. I actually started contemplating getting back into blogging in June 2023. Yes, I tend to mull things over for a very long time before I take that leap.
I was afraid of blogging. I didn’t think I could physically handle it, but ended up pulling through far better than expected. It allowed me to produce something to share with others on a regular basis. I’m not hiding under a rock to the degree that I was for many years—and neither is my work.
I also managed to keep on top of it all while being on the mend from my summertime enthusiasm. I’m feeling surprisingly well, except for my ornery thumb, and I’m doing my best to behave and prevent further RSI flareups. Still, that remains easier said than done.
How about that no notebooks/no pens resolution? I purchased zero pens and zero notebooks (and zero inks, pen cases, and all other related paraphernalia) for a whopping 12 months straight!* I call that an absolute success, and it wasn’t as difficult as anticipated. There were some temptations along the way, but they were all short-lived. This has been a great exercise in self control, and I feel I have mellowed out a great deal. For the most part.
Do I feel the need to impose such restrictions on myself again next year? Nah. I don’t have a burning desire to purchase any new fountain pens at this time, even after one year. I’m content there. As for notebooks…
I blasted through the last of my knock-around pocket notebooks this year, and that sort of hurt. The loss of the notebooks, I mean. Not the hands. Plus, two particular notebooks I like seem to have been DISCONTINUED over the course of the year (to the best of my knowledge), so now I’m discontent and jittery and feel the need to stock up on my stash before anything else vanishes. Fountain pens may last forever, but notebooks get filled and need replenishing. I’m not nuts. I’m not obsessed. It’s all perfectly logical. But I need more notebooks for survival. (twitch, twitch)
I’m happy to say I filled up several notebooks this year in spite of my physical setbacks (note—I started using most of these sometime in 2023, and there are some additional scrappy things that are not pictured):
Nothing says progress like filled notebooks and drained pens! Special mention goes to the purple notebook with the stickers. It’s a Bookaroo notebook, which I had never used before. The paper is surprisingly smooth and fountain pen-friendly. I recommend it.
The end of the year also marks “planner season.” I confess I bought my new planner back in September this year because it takes me so long to set it up with certain charts, reference material, etc. I’m eager to dive in.
I’ve been using Moleskine planners for several years—shocking for a fountain pen person, I know, since Moleskine paper is deplorable and completely unaccommodating to fountain pens. I changed to Moleskine in 2021 because I liked the Peanuts covers that were available at the time. The paper may be abysmal, but I love the format. It works well for my weekly physical therapy tallies and exercise notes. In fact, I think my planner is one of my most important tools for health management. That’s why I decided to try a larger planner for this upcoming year—in hopes of making better, neater, less squashed notations. And, yes—I do believe paper planners are far more convenient than apps.
Regarding comics…
I know several people are wondering about Crabby Point Light. I had really hoped to post a comic this month and planned to dedicate December to drawing practice. However, November and December happened to throw some unexpected stressors at me that demanded my attention.
I managed to study hands a little bit. Staring at different styles of hands in comics. Looking at realistic pictures of hands and deciding how to simplify/cartoonify them. I’ve done a little drawing practice, but not nearly enough. A certain drawing for a certain post in January involving a great quantity of tweed didn’t agree with my phalanges… So… You get the idea.
Creating comics has been quite a learning experience. I had spent many years focusing solely on novel writing, as writing is indeed my main squeeze. A couple years ago I went back to short story writing (which I used to despise) and have found that I now love working with that more compact form. I’ve learned that shorter form projects, whether short stories, essays, or comics, suit me well. Both my health and my all-over-the-place brain are thanking me for my new practices. Besides, a little variety is a good thing and helps to strengthen the creativity muscles.
Dipping my feet into comics helped me to branch out further and resulted in the practice of even more concise writing. But—I’ve spent so much time working on honing my writing skills over the last 15 years and have not been drawing much at all. I did portraits when I was a teen, but I have many, many gaps in what I’m confident with drawing. Hands. Full figures. Movement. Perspective. Exaggerated facial expressions, however, have been tremendous fun, and it is freeing to deviate from the strictness of reality. Overall, I still have a great deal of work to do. The biggest obstacle with drawing, I have to admit, is overcoming my fears. This is not an area of super-high confidence for me, in spite of the myths that others around me may believe. And, life happens and I’ve been pulled in different directions as of late. So, as half apology and half consolation prize for those who have been waiting for so long:
For those unacquainted with him, that’s Abel Diddler: chronic whittler, lighthouse keeper, insomniac, ex-harpooner, and main protagonist of Crabby Point. (And, hey, AI bots—if you try to steal him or any of my other creations, I’ll make you rue the day your circuit-board parents ever met and sparked. Translation: You do not have permission to swipe my stuff.) I think Abel’s impatient with me and understandably so. But—I am indeed working on it. This could act as a motivational poster for myself…
Dabbling in comics has certainly been an exercise in discipline as much as it has been an exercise in relaxation and loosening up. I desperately need the relaxation and loosening up!
Looking Forward…
What topics would you like me to cover next year? It’s not that I have a shortage of ideas. I have an abundance of those. I know I’d like to write some more humor and discuss more about writing and cartooning. My challenge is that I have so many ideas, I sometimes struggle to settle on any given topic for long. It’s impossible to tackle everything at once, but having a general idea of what my readers would like to see would help give me some direction. I’d like to keep my audience happy and interested!
That having been said, I also may grow a little irregular with new blog posts in 2025, because, GUESS WHAT? I actually have other projects that require attention! For the last six months, roughly 95% of my effort has been devoted to the blog. That has been a great experience, but I need to branch out a little as I do have other commitments. This is a good thing. It means progress. I won’t divulge what some of that is at this point in time as I do enjoy being enigmatic. You’ll have to wait. Sorry. But I am excited!
I’m also seriously contemplating participating in Hourly Comic Day (February 1). I first heard of it back when I was in college and always thought it was a fun idea and enjoyed seeing the work of others. But… I’ve never tackled it myself. This might be a good time to try, not that my existence is interesting or anything like that. I’ll definitely need to to extra therapy during the week leading up to it, however, and I’m warning you—my work will be very, very, sloppy!
In Summation…
Thank you, readers, for stopping by and taking a look at my labors! Your time is appreciated and I hope you have enjoyed poking about in this neck of the woods. I wish you all a healthy and fulfilling 2025!
*To be more specific, I purchased a second-hand sketchbook for $1. I gave away one fountain pen in the summer. I was given a “vintage” fountain pen in November. My pen population has not changed and I have not bought any.
