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Thoughts for the New Year
Jan. 1st, 2025 01:34 pmMy New Year’s Resolution for 2024 was to read fewer books, and to read them in the spirit of true leisure, rather than with a despairing eye on my to-read list which somehow only seemed to grow longer the more books that I finished.
I am happy to say that I achieved success! Not only did I read fewer books this year, but I have high hopes that the numbers will be lower still next year, in part because I haven’t signed up for any more Dracula Daily inspired “read the Sherlock Holmes/Raffles/Jeeves & Wooster short stories!” substacks. The email format worked great for me when I was working at the library, where I had plenty of time to read at the desk, but this year I was constantly falling behind.
Given that I exchanged a part-time job where I had hours to read at the desk for a full-time job where I rarely have time to read at all, you might expect a large difference between the number of books in 2023 and 2024, but in fact the change has been relatively modest, largely because when I moved into my own place I decided not to get internet.
I love it! Now that I’m not spending hours each day spinning my wheels on various websites (over the years, my poisons of choice have included Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr…), I have so much time! I’m enjoying my reading more, I’ve picked up new hobbies (dulcimer, D&D), and when I sit down to write, I actually write, instead of “writing” for three hours but half an hour in I decide to look up some detail, and then since I’m online anyway might as well check my email, and look at these new DW comments I need to answer, and why not just check Twitter, and why have I gotten so little done in this three hour writing session???
Dreamwidth is the only social media site on which I’m still active, which is good for my peace of mind but perhaps not my writing career. Deck the Halls with Secret Agents didn’t do badly, but I bet it would have done better if I were more active on Bluesky. And Bluesky has not yet started to induce the “that’s an hour of my life I’m never getting back” feeling that I get from Facebook and Twitter, presumably because it’s still showing me posts from people I’m actually following rather than random ads. So I may try to be a bit more active there in 2025.
I do miss being able to watch things at home, but I have sourced a dumb TV from a friend, so once I get a DVD player I’ll be good to go.
Now that I’m getting a new place with a guest bedroom and therefore, presumably, more guests, I am a little concerned how said guests will feel about this internet-less existence, but hopefully being able to watch something on a TV (albeit with choices limited by the available DVDs) will soothe their troubled souls.
At some point the exigencies of modern society may force me to get internet, and that point will probably be when my parents grow too frail for me to call them up and say, “Hey, I’ve been gifted a month-long subscription to National Theater at Home, can I come over to your house to watch Romeo and Juliet in the guest bedroom?” (Or “I have the sniffles, can I work remotely in the guest bedroom rather than going into the office?”) But for now I’m quite happy leaving the internet at work.
***
My goal for 2025: I’m going to have a garden! I plan to plant a small herb garden, basil and chives and thyme and rosemary. Also cherry tomatoes and blueberry bushes and raspberry canes, which will probably between them fill my relatively small garden space. Also I’d like to have a compost pile, but I’ll need to do some research first. Because of the aforementioned small size of the garden, it will perforce be near the patio, so I’d like it not to smell too badly, as otherwise it would not be pleasant to sit on the patio gazing out at the pond in the lowering dusk.
I am happy to say that I achieved success! Not only did I read fewer books this year, but I have high hopes that the numbers will be lower still next year, in part because I haven’t signed up for any more Dracula Daily inspired “read the Sherlock Holmes/Raffles/Jeeves & Wooster short stories!” substacks. The email format worked great for me when I was working at the library, where I had plenty of time to read at the desk, but this year I was constantly falling behind.
Given that I exchanged a part-time job where I had hours to read at the desk for a full-time job where I rarely have time to read at all, you might expect a large difference between the number of books in 2023 and 2024, but in fact the change has been relatively modest, largely because when I moved into my own place I decided not to get internet.
I love it! Now that I’m not spending hours each day spinning my wheels on various websites (over the years, my poisons of choice have included Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr…), I have so much time! I’m enjoying my reading more, I’ve picked up new hobbies (dulcimer, D&D), and when I sit down to write, I actually write, instead of “writing” for three hours but half an hour in I decide to look up some detail, and then since I’m online anyway might as well check my email, and look at these new DW comments I need to answer, and why not just check Twitter, and why have I gotten so little done in this three hour writing session???
Dreamwidth is the only social media site on which I’m still active, which is good for my peace of mind but perhaps not my writing career. Deck the Halls with Secret Agents didn’t do badly, but I bet it would have done better if I were more active on Bluesky. And Bluesky has not yet started to induce the “that’s an hour of my life I’m never getting back” feeling that I get from Facebook and Twitter, presumably because it’s still showing me posts from people I’m actually following rather than random ads. So I may try to be a bit more active there in 2025.
I do miss being able to watch things at home, but I have sourced a dumb TV from a friend, so once I get a DVD player I’ll be good to go.
Now that I’m getting a new place with a guest bedroom and therefore, presumably, more guests, I am a little concerned how said guests will feel about this internet-less existence, but hopefully being able to watch something on a TV (albeit with choices limited by the available DVDs) will soothe their troubled souls.
At some point the exigencies of modern society may force me to get internet, and that point will probably be when my parents grow too frail for me to call them up and say, “Hey, I’ve been gifted a month-long subscription to National Theater at Home, can I come over to your house to watch Romeo and Juliet in the guest bedroom?” (Or “I have the sniffles, can I work remotely in the guest bedroom rather than going into the office?”) But for now I’m quite happy leaving the internet at work.
***
My goal for 2025: I’m going to have a garden! I plan to plant a small herb garden, basil and chives and thyme and rosemary. Also cherry tomatoes and blueberry bushes and raspberry canes, which will probably between them fill my relatively small garden space. Also I’d like to have a compost pile, but I’ll need to do some research first. Because of the aforementioned small size of the garden, it will perforce be near the patio, so I’d like it not to smell too badly, as otherwise it would not be pleasant to sit on the patio gazing out at the pond in the lowering dusk.
