A Quick 2024 Retrospective of Good Things

2024 was a lot of things, a lot of them not so great. But, there was good stuff too! Here’s a quick recap of some good things and favorites from 2024:

• Jodi Chromey’s multiple posts about how men don’t appreciate art created by women (start here) bounced around in my head all year. My intention for 2024 was to read more fiction by women, and it was extremely successful! How successful? Read on!
• This year, I discovered the work of Annalee Newitz. My favorite novel that I read this year was The Terraformers. It’s an incredible feat of world building that had me so bought in so quickly that by the time the flying moose shows up early on in the book, it made total sense.
• I didn’t stop there! Other great books by women I read this year:
  • Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
  • The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz
  • The Waymakers by Tara Jaye Frank
• My favorite album of the year? Tigers Blood by Waxahatchee. I don’t often get lyrics stuck in my head, but this album lives in my head.
• My favorite song of the year is definitely Learn to Swim by Joshua Idehen. It’s gorgeous and gets me in the feels every time.
• I played a decent amount of video games this year. My two favorite games this year were Dredge and Astro Bot.
• I lost more weight! I lost about 35 pounds this year and for the first time in over fifteen years, I’m under 300 pounds. I feel better than I have in years, and I’m now less than a hundred pounds from my goal weight.
• After over five years as a non-manager, I’m a manager again. This happened towards the end of the year, and caps off a year full of stretching and operating at a scope larger than I could have had at a small startup. Gusto continues to be a lot of fun to work at (we’re hiring!).
• I successfully broke my Instagram and Facebook addiction. This is a list of good things, so I won’t share my thoughts on Meta and mainstream social media, but the apps no longer live on my phone and I don’t miss them.

I think that’s all for now. I’m still trying to figure out what my intentions (aka resolutions) are for 2025, but I think they’ll largely be what they were this year: appreciate more art made by women, continue getting healthier, and do more fun stuff.