#...all the research I've been doing on judaism is probably a good thing overall though

[unravelingwires]

Daleds

Jaya had “read the Torah” on her list of tasks soon after she met Anne. Therefore, the realization that she wasn’t allowed to touch a Torah– that it was expected she’d need a rabbi’s supervision to study one– was a bit of a surprise. It took until after the war for her to hear a Torah reading, and she’d been dating Anne for years before she started properly studying Jewish texts.

[lavenderandlaurel]

lol I haven't posted in this tag since may but here we go. long rambling thoughts about 2022:

2022 was a big year for me, which is weird because it doesn't really feel that way. I started the year in a very different mental and emotional place than where I am now, and a lot of the goals I set and things I expected to change just haven't been as relevant as I anticipated. for better and for worse, I'm at the same job and in the same apartment I was a year ago. it seems likely that will be the case at the end of 2023, too.

but under the surface, a lot of things have changed. I started a major solo project at work (as opposed to juggling half a dozen smaller projects), and I got some accommodations that mean I'm a lot less worn out in all the other areas of my life. I completed my conversion to judaism. I started applying to phd programs, then changed my mind, decided to pursue independent research, and started a new creative nonfiction project that may or may not be a book someday. I've also taken on some new responsibilities, not all of them totally planned - team leader for an organization I started volunteering with last january, committee member for a professional organization I'm active in. I've been gradually getting better at being consistent and following through on some of the side projects I say yes to.

having more energy outside of work (relatively speaking) means I've been able to be more intentional with my hobbies, which I'm starting to have rather a lot of. I kept up bouldering from last year, more or less, and in the summer started looking for a kung fu gym to get back into martial arts, which I haven't done for years but have missed a lot. I am really loving the school and style (mantis) where I landed. at this point I am probably in the best shape I've been since sophomore year of high school, though it strikes me that I had to find solutions for my chronic fatigue before I could make regular exercise happen. I do think it contributes to me having more energy, but there's no way I could have been this active last year and still worked full time.

I didn't write as much fiction as I'd hoped this year - only about 50,000 words total, and I haven't posted at all. on the other hand, I'm still happily working on the same projects I was at the beginning of the year, which is truly unprecedented. the goal is definitely to finish at least one of them this year.

I did reach a lot of my language-learning goals, including finishing the chinese tree on duolingo, getting comfortable with the hebrew alphabet, and finding ways to keep up my spanish. on the other hand, I haven't been cooking or practicing piano much - possibly because I haven't been trying much in the way of new things and am getting a little bored.

I've read 64 books this year and will probably finish another two or three before the end of the year, exceeding my (low, for me) goal of 60. a lot of those books were lengthy nonfiction, which may be why the overall number isn't as high as it was a few years ago. I have also been watching a lot more TV, though. 2022 was really the year of the cdrama for me, but there were several other fantastic shows: the sandman, reservation dogs, a league of their own, killing eve. musically, the mountain goats have unsurprisingly stayed my #1 band, but I listened to a wider range of stuff compared to last year (shoutout to my habibi and ibibio sound machine kick of the last couple months). I also tried a couple of new video games, hades and control. I am not good at the third-person shooter format, but it keeps me from destroying things.

the one neglected area of my 2022 goals that I would really like to pick back up in the new year is improvements to my living space, like getting enough shelf space for my books and making sure the kitchen/dining areas stay functional.