Media experience: Wes Anderson rewatch project
February: Um, there is a war? Russia marched on Ukraine and Putin is very man-on-horse about it and the world is definitely like UM WAT when he is casually like, "don't make any sudden moves or I'm going to drop a nuclear bomb on you!" as though the Ukrainian populace has received instructions other than "idk molotov cocktails??" from their leadership.
Media experience: The Babysitter's Club (Netflix)
March: We went to Toronto for March break. The trip was a bit of a bust: our hotel pool needed to be booked ahead of time and was packed 24/7; it was rainy; Ikea was jammed; we basically kind of flopped around for five days. The big news story was the Covid mask mandates were slowly disintegrating before our eyes, which was crazy-making. I ran yet another March Madness and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was voted best franchise by a bunch of nerds. Writer's group kicked off, and seemed to promise some creative fruit.
Media experience: Turning Red (Disney+)
April: We got Covid! We got the fuckin' virus. It Happened To Me. Anyway, we were mostly fine, except Day One was sheer panic and Day Two was a migraine from the depths of hell; after than it was just trying to keep ourselves entertained and feeling disappointed and relieved that it had finally happened. I made an Easter meal from stuff we had lying around the house and it was good. Once we were healed, I helped put on an Earth Day event downtown for 150 people, and it gave me major Baby Dance Party vibes—doing nice things with/for nice people on a project I believe in.
Media experience: the Thor: Love + Thunder trailer
May: There was a shooting in Uvalde Texas and a lot of little kids died. I cried and I thought about it for a long time. The American Supreme Court drafted an overturning of Roe v. Wade, which was leaked and caused much uproar. I went to go see a friend in Montreal, and spending time with her and her family was an incredible experience of friendship and mutual admiration; I really love that we are still friends 25+ years after we met. I carry a lot of weird friendship trauma, and maintaining these nourishing relationships means so much to me.
Media experience: catching up on the Witch, Please podcast
June: The court officially overturned Roe v Wade and it was A Big Deal. Friends from America came and had a visit so I got to kiss their amazing cheeks and hang out with their lovely toddler and just bask in the glory of long-term international friendship. A friend had a baby and had a bad time of it, and I felt sad that she suffered and glad that her baby was here and well. School ended and NS graduated kindergarten and I felt like we were launching, but towards what? No idea.
Media experience: this blistering Jia Tolentino piece about Roe v Wade
July: There was A LOT of Stratford summer time around the house—I neglected to book any summer camps for Noah, leaving us desperately underprogrammed and with very few other children around to play with, so for the third summer in a row, we lived at the library, the coffee shops, and the splash pad. We went to a wedding in Toronto, which was fun. It was nice to get
dressed up and wobble around on high heels and eat a panna cotta in the
company of other step-cousins and family friends. Noah learned to ride a bike, which was thrilling.
Media experience: browsing Type Books for an afternoon and buying a lot of children's books
August: Cottage time this year was a bit tricky, because the first week was largely taken up by a work project deadline, so I sequestered myself in a bedroom and made charts for several days. Once that was done, though, we were free to swan around at the beach like usual—walk to the bakery, go play on the sand, help out with dinner, read on the deck—and that felt good. The cottage was under renovation and the farm was on the market, so things felt a lot less settled than usual, but it was good to be together when we were.
Media experience: seeing a Minions movie in a movie theatre
September: Back to school! September was a bit of a catch-my-breath month; after the hurricane of summer, it was nice to be able to watch TV in the middle of the day and have a regular wake-up time again. First grade started out well and then quickly transitioned to a litany of complaints; I'm not sure where we are with it now, but things seem slightly better.
Media experience: hoo boy, I binged Sex Education (Netflix) and loved it.
October: Thanksgiving, in which I cooked a duck for the three of us! The turn of the seasons! Wrapping up some excellent and fine TV shows! Getting a sinus infection! Buying a new computer! October felt productive and fun, with good weather and beautiful trees and nice family time. Noah spent the month fretting about what to be for Halloween, and ultimately decided on Ash from Pokémon. Also, the Queen died.
Media experience: Owl House (Disney+)
November: We went to Toronto and Noah started running a fever on the train; we were caught in the desperate hunt for Children's Tylenol for much of the weekend, which was an absolute bust. However...I had a great trip, with fantastic friend hangouts, museum wanders, thrifting alone (the actual dream!), and drinks out with friends. It was three full days of feeling like I was coming home to myself, and I felt, despite the fact that my family was sick while I enjoyed myself, very good about it. Later in the month we hosted friends for drinks at our house and stayed up until the middle of the night, and it was such a shock to the system that I felt giddy (albeit wretchedly hungover). November was a month of friendship the way it used to feel: chaotic and loud and hot-blooded.
Media experience: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix), one of my absolute favourites of the year
December: We had all been sick, off and on, since August, so this was the month that everyone looked like we had been deflated slightly. There was a school concert, in which Noah embodied that Dua Lipa "go girl give us nothing" meme. Then, right before Christmas, the sky poured snow for three days straight, and the wind howled, and the roads were closed, and my parents lost power, and it was One Of Those Storms where you take bets on if a tree is going to fall on your car. Everyone's Christmas felt sort of small and off-kilter, but at least there were no fires or emergency surgeries this year.
Media experience: endless, endless Christmas music
Year In Review: Oh man, this year just felt like...sort of nothing? A lot of the family stuff felt a little weird for some reason—lot of transitions and changes and interpersonal dynamics coming home to roost, sometimes literally—and while work was good and I learned a lot, it was also sort of unpredictable in its busyness and demands. I really like the friends and community that came through this year—the school parents, the Writers Group people—and yet I still felt a bit isolated...almost as if the last 2.5 years are still percolating away, but now their panic has gone underground. I didn't do any of my planned creative projects, which made me feel a bit weird, but ultimately I'm chalking this up to being a year that neither asks questions nor answers. See you in 2023, probably!
