2025...

I tossed around a lot of rhymes for the title. Similar to my hashtags I used to do for my birthday. Humorous stuff. Going live with 2025, let's survive 2025, those sorts of things. And then...

There was a terrorist attack in New Orleans. Horrific stuff, as they always are. Mass shootings, cars ramming crowds, bombs and bomb threats. It's part of life now more and more. At least here, I know that in other parts of the world there have been things like this for a long time. We've just only dealt with the mass shootings, because America... but now we have the full range.

But I'm not really going to talk about why the terrorist attack was bad, I think we can all agree that killing people like that is bad, I'm going to talk about what happened next.

The right wing immediately starting posting lies about what happened. They had no idea who was in the truck, they had no idea what had happened, and they still started in on immigrants and open borders and oh won't somebody put Trump in office today instead of waiting! Now, they'll delete those hot takes and post new ones as more information comes out, but by then their narrative will have taken hold with a certain subset of the population and it won't change.

The other part was watching the news this morning and a reporter was commenting about the response from President Elect Trump and he read out the post from Truth social. Then he talked about how President Biden hadn't posted ANYTHING yet. That yes, the White House had said he had been briefed, and that okay they had been in touch with the Governor of Louisiana and offered any and all assistance as needed but he hadn't made a social media post or said when he would speak with the media so did it matter? I was already disgusted by that. We saw that so often during the election season. The legacy media pouting because they weren't getting the access they felt they deserved. That TikTokers and YouTubers and podcasters were getting interviews instead of them. How dare they!

But then...I was on Bluesky and there was a screen grab of the whole post by Trump. What the media read off was the second half. The part where he offers up thoughts and prayers and says reasonable things. They cut off the whole entire first part of the post. The part where he lied about who did it, lied about crime rates, and tried to stoke hate and discontent. Maybe, just maybe, that's why you didn't get the access you felt you deserved. Because you were too busy carrying Trump's water that no democrat thought they'd get a fair showing.

After I saw that they had edited what Trump actually posted to what a reasonable world leader should post I told Brent "we are so screwed." Because we are. We are going into the next four years with a wanna be, gonna be, already laying the groundwork, fascist at the helm. With a new class of oligarchs who have changed the G in MAGA from Great to Gilded. And with a media that is not going to report things accurately. It's going to be...

Well I don't know exactly how to describe what it's going to be. I think we are seeing the end of our democracy. I don't see our guardrails holding this time. I don't know if we will recover from this. I especially don't know if I'll see the recovery in my lifetime. I'm pessimistic and that's not my normal state of mind.

So, yeah, here we are on goal setting for the next year and what I'm going to do.

It all does dovetail together. The reason why I'm handling it all the way I am. I've talked about I'm just looking for joy this year. Is what I am doing making me happier or healthier? Mentally and physically. Adding in the things that work, cutting out the things that don't. It's more than just a surface thing though. More than just "Oh let's be happier."

It's a defiance.

It's a fortress around my head, my heart, and hopefully my family.

Don't let them win. That's my mantra. I said it after the election results, you cannot drink my liberal tears but you can fucking choke on my righteous anger.

I refuse to live in despair because they are evil. And yes, I believe they are evil. Anyone who has billions of dollars and is only concerned with gaining billions more instead of helping people is evil. Anyone who appeals to racists to gain power is evil. Anyone who looks at a democracy and decides the problem with it is that it's well...democratic and they need to dismantle it so only a certain type of person has rights is evil. So fuck anyone who tries to say, "oh be nice, don't say things like they are evil." They are. And I will stop saying it when they stop being it.

So anyway...this year....

I'm going to read everyday. I'm going to keep mixing in nonfiction and fiction, stories about people who are different than I am to keep broadening my world view, and things I love and want to escape into.

I'm going to write more days than I don't. I know that aiming for seven days a week is a lot so I'm not going to do that, but at least five I think. (yes, you might regret having signed up for the email, but I know at least three of you will read them instead of auto deleting) I'm also continuing the exchange with Dana. I have one story with her I've already started and an idea for another one. If I like them when I'm finished I'll share them with you all too. A lot of the time what I write for those exchanges is a little different than my normal style, as you all saw with the Books series. Knowing that only one person might ever see it gives me freedom there to try it out. Star in my calendar on days I write.

I'm going to workout and increase my weights while also decreasing my weight. I don't know how much I'll decrease it, but I'm not happy with it right now so I'll work towards getting to a space where I am. I think now that my hormones are rebalanced (AGAIN!) that might be doable. We will see. Our family doctor hit Brent with the truth bomb that as we age when we lose weight our bodies sort of freak out and think we must be dying so they fight to hold on to it. I just need to convince my hips that we have a LOT of life in there. Star in my calendar on days I work out.

I'm going to keep using the lists that Brent helped me come up with during sabbatical. Checking off the boxes everyday thrills me, as you all know. I like having the daily lists, the monthly extras lists, the errands and extras lists. I love a good list and these are very good lists. Star in my calendar on days I complete the list.

I'm going to leave my phone out of my hand more. I'll add back in the things I used to do to keep my head busy. Puzzles and coloring and such things. I want to make sure I'm disengaged from the rage machine that the phone can become. I like Bluesky and I'm enjoying it and I'll keep using it to keep track of news items as well, but I don't want to be consumed with the news. I cannot control what happens, and I know the media is going to lie about what is happening, so I'm going to make sure I limit my interaction with it.

Unless it stresses me out too much not to know, then I will change and figure that out.

That's the main thing for this year. I have a lot of things I'm doing that I think will work for me. But if those things don't work, I will do other things. It's not a goalless year, or an aimless one. It's a year of protection.

That's where I landed.

Not joy and happiness and fluffy bunnies.

Protection. Protecting my peace. Protecting my family's peace. Providing a space for others to find comfort and acknowledgment that they aren't the crazy ones, that these are crazy times. The next four years (and who knows how much more than that) are going to be unlike anything we've ever lived through and I don't know how bad it's going to get, but what I do know is that I have your back. And I'm going to do what I need to do to be able to live through it without turning into what they want me to be.

I'm not losing hope. I'm not rolling over. I'm not crying.

I'm angry. I'm determined. I'm also joyfull.

And I have the sparkly stars to prove it.