The new year is just around the corner, and like a few of my friends, I’m waiting for the final episode of Stranger Things to drop while making sure I have earplugs ready for when the sky explodes later tonight. I’m also going to make a stab at highlighting (summarizing) my year. I’m doing this for absolutely no one but myself; it’s an only-child coping strategy. Watch me cope like a champ!

Let’s hop in the wayback machine to January — a more innocent time (if we completely avoid politics) when the temps weren’t predicted to be a balmy 81 like they’re forecasting for Friday. I mean, who doesn’t love shorts in winter? A lot of this you already know.

• I accepted the mantle of interim manager for 18 amazing folks, which became a full-time gig in July. There was a lot of personal juggling, and I quit orchestra to avoid screaming into the void thanks to the added demands.
• Leaving the orchestra meant I missed the last concert, missed the other violists, and definitely missed the chance to say goodbye to our conductor. He was the best conductor I’ve had so far. (The worst was the guy who threw things at the podium and screamed at the entire orchestra over Beethoven’s Fifth back in college. I have an unreasonable distaste for Beethoven’s Fifth borne from trauma.)
• We returned to the office — something I have a lot of thoughts about, but those thoughts may be career-limiting, so you’ll just have to meet me for margaritas, and we’ll dish.
• Driving to work one early morning, the week after I got booted from carpool (I’m “inconvenient,” which may be a euphemism for other unpleasant character traits I bring), a dump truck sideswiped me while cruising at about 65 MPH on a major highway with serious construction. I was fine. My mirror was not. I was horrified when the collision folks showed me the line running down the length of my car where the driver made contact until he shaved off my side mirror. That was neat.
• I rejoined the orchestra in August, where we had a delightful new conductor auditioning to be our full-time conductor. He set a high bar, and while he’s not our previous conductor, I do like him, and I already miss him. Another conductor is auditioning at the end of our season, so we’ll see how that goes
  • A boon for returning – I got to see the other violists, and really, that’s the second-best thing ever. I am required to say (without being coerced at all, honest) that the BEST part was getting to hang out with my stand partner again. On more than one occasion, she has made me laugh so loudly that my outbursts have silenced large groups of people. Come to think of it, the other violists are great at doing this, too.
• At the end of October, The Jay Walkers raised $10,692, bringing our all-time fundraising total to $51,201.45 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). WOW! We were awarded AFSP’s Impact Award along with four other teams. Huge thanks to everyone for their support — whether you cheered us on, walked, or made a donation, you helped make a real difference in people’s lives.
• And then in December, I wore a Christmas tree outfit and sang “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” with some other folks to a roomful of people (maybe around 100), quite loudly and possibly quite badly, while throwing out all the jazz hands (there wasn’t a jazz hand left unthrown when I was done). Yep, that happened. I may write more on this, but it deserves its own blog, which will probably be called something like My St. Crispin’s Day Speech. (This will give you time to bone up on Shakespeare’s Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt.)

Movies

I went to some movies, but not as many as I normally do, which makes sense given that I was so slammed I stopped going to orchestra and stopped going to the gym. (Three things that fill my bucket.) As I scroll past the 2025 blockbusters and best-of lists, I recognize maybe three movies. That’s unheard of for me because I’m usually more on top of what’s out. Of the movies I managed to see, I liked the latest Knives Out installment and Superman. Yep, that’s almost my entire list of movies I saw this year, I wish I’d seen One Battle After Another (or really anything – Running Man – anything).

I did just see Song Sung Blues, which was good, but I got derailed by a trailer for Project Hail Mary. Which meant I spent the entirety of one movie getting wrapped around the axle about a movie that isn’t out yet just because Ryan Gosling was cast as Dr. Ryland Grace. Between me and thee, I’m more than a little worried about how it’s going to be adapted, and I wonder if the theater will be cool with me booing loudly if I’m overly disappointed. I mean, I really loved the book – like probably in my top 20 books of all time, and I’m doomsday-prepper-level ready to be disappointed. No offense to anyone — it’s just that I also read The Martian and saw that film adaptation, and… ehhhh.

Books

Speaking of books, I didn’t have time to really read and got bogged down in two overly-long romantasies (800-900 page). This genre combines two genres I don’t particularly enjoy — fantasy and romance. I’m okay if you do, but they’re just not my thing. I gave it my best, and after trying to keep a straight face, I found myself uncontrollably snort-laughing through super intense scenes. Aside from good belly laughs, the next best thing those books gave me was the joy of recapping them to my new carpool buddy. I’m still not sure why I got kicked out of the first carpool. It’s so weird.

A Quick Side Story About Carpool

In the first carpool, the person had stated quite that they don’t like “gay” things — e.g., they claimed they “fast-forwarded through all the gay scenes in Bohemian Rhapsody,” which left a friend and me perplexed. Did they only watch the credits then? So me being me, I kind of conned them into not only singing but dancing to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” and may have had a wee silent squeal inside when they sang, “…where boys and girls can all be queens every single day.” Again, not sure why I got kicked out. Who doesn’t love carpool karaoke? Monsters.

Anyway, Back to Books

Of the few novels I read, the only real standout this was Fredrik Backman’s My Friends. It’s so good and is exactly what I love in a novel. (Storygraph tells me that based on my reading preferences, I veer toward books that are adventurous and emotional. Note: Not romantacies or anything you’d describe as “cozy”.) I’m currently finishing The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer, which is a delightful sequel to The Clementine Complex.

TV

Honestly, I watched way too much TV, but my standout shows were Daredevil: Born Again (which I know we already covered — psst, they have the trailer out for Season 2 — squeal!!!! Just sayin’), The Pitt, Andor, Slow Horses, The Bear, and Murderbot. Peacemaker gets an honorary mention because I ended up liking it by the end, but it took a few episodes to get there for me. Now I’m just waiting three and a half hours until Stranger Things drops. They better not kill Steve.

Goals (Not Resolutions) for Next Year

• Read more
• Move more
• Get out more (hopefully out of state)
• And maybe — who knows, we’ll see how we feel — practice my viola more???

And if all I manage is nudging one more person toward being less worried about “gay things” — simply human things — then I will have done something that matters.

And on that note, that’s a wrap on 2025.