I was thinking of expounding on the past year but thinking about it more just kind of depressed me so I'm just going to leave this here as a bit of a bullet point.

Had a very nice Further Confusion.

A bit afterward my maternal grandmother, my last grandparent, passed away after a multiyear struggle after suffering a debilitating stroke.

Had a very nice Anthrocon.

A couple days afterward my father passed away. I really don't want to go into details. Still dealing with a few things relating to that that's going to take a little while to resolve.

To top the year off, the house water heater gave out (granted, it was in the house when we moved in in 93 or so, and probably the original installed in the house) So had to pay out of pocket to get that replaced straight away.

So been a very rough, stressful year. My mood has been up and down. I think things are settling down and I'm in an okay enough spot for the moment.

Work has been going okay, I love what I do, my coworkers like me, and they're working on getting me set up a bit better so more hope there.

Been playing a lot of games. Still enjoying Dragonflight. Not the best WoW expansion (My favorites so far have still be Pandaria and Legion) but I warmed up to the last patch (despite it shifting from a story about the dragon flights to the night elves and then cramming the dragons back in at the last moment, sure whatever) and have been enjoying myself and even working on alts which I haven't done much in a while.
Also picked up a ton of fantastic indie games, some I backed on Kickstarter and excited to finally have in my paws. Fur Quest was very cute and pretty shocking. Small Saga was everything I hoped and more. Also started Baldur's Gate 3 which has been an amazing treat. I need to get back to Jack Move which is a really cool cyber punk RPG. Currently working my way through Sea of Stars which is a gorgeous love letter to Chrono Trigger. Also got into the Geneforge 1 remake, Mutagen, which has been a treat and looking forward to the sequel remaster, which I had never had the chance to play so excited to try that out next year.

I've also been reading a fair bit. I started the original Shadowrun trilogy which is pretty dense but enjoyable, I've always loved the setting and need to go back and play Shadowrun Hong Kong. Been reading Doctor Who novels, latest was a Past Doctor Adventure for the 4th Doctor, Festival of Death, pretty decent one! I am really sad they quit the line (ages ago, I know) the newer novels are much lighter and young adult oriented, from what I've read of the 10th doctors books so I'm kind of nonplussed there. I got 'To Steal the Sun', a novel I helped back on kickstarter which was a pretty decent set up and story, though it definitely oversold the title (Spoiler that they give away very early on, 'the sun' is just a very shiny treasure trove). I would recommend it though for a decent book.
Also picked up the Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grande Chataeu, a silly romp by Dr Cecil H. H. Mills, uncle to Game Grumps' Arin (which I've also been watching regularly these days) If you like the young mystery novel genre, think Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys, with some flippant humor, it's a treat, I'm going to pick up the 2nd book soon. Now to pick out my next book to read from my (much too sizable) to Read pile.

My own writing, I haven't been doing too much. Mostly little tidbits here and there to tease friends. For those that missed them, I uploaded a few recently. Still trying to here and there. I know i need to get better about posting stuff. Easy for me to just distract myself these days. Still some projects I want to work on that I hope will get steam going on them eventually.

Socially, I apologize if I've been quiet or fallen out of contact. This year has just been murder on my mood so some long streaks of just doing the hermit thing or just talking to a few people. And it's been a rough year on friends, big moves, money issues, home issues. It's been stressful for everyone. have had some losses here too. A friend I knew for a long time and had to cut ties with when he just got very mean and confrontational, I kept tabs on and have watched him slide into what I can only describe as mental illness and I don't think I can help and may have even lost his home. Another, a playmate I knew for over a decade and then began to ghost me. I got some closure. I'm not happy with the answer, but I got it. And then just, growing distant with other folks or folks putting some distance in with me. Hurts but I understand.
So yeah, trying to juggle being social. It's hard and this year has probably been the hardest. So I apologize again if I've been distant or standoffish or have gone quiet. I love my friends and I am so, so lucky to have so many people that I know care about me. I want to do better for all of you.

I've been managing as best I can. I still have my little dog with me and it's been an adjustment with the holidays, my sisters and I have been keeping in touch and doing things when we can. Had a nice Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with my youngest sister and her daughters. We're going out tomorrow (Saturday) for a little early New Year's Eve celebration at a teppanyaki restaurant we like, since most places will be busier Sunday (and she has work). Otherwise, New Year's will probably be like usual for me. I'm up til midnight every day anyway so it'll just be a normal quiet night where I text a bunch of folks at midnight (or when it hits midnight for them). I won't lie that I haven't been hitting depression patches, but I am trying to make sure I stay on top of my responsibilities, including taking care of myself, even starting to lose a little weight now that I have full control of what food is in the house and I've made a commitment to cut back on sweets, both real sugar and artificial sweeteners. We'll see how it goes, though my doctor has been very impressed with how well I did with my cholesterol.

Anyway, I guess I had more to say than I thought. Just a rough, painful year. I'm still kind of anxious with what can go wrong next. But that fades with time. So here's to hoping 2024 will be better for myself and everyone. Thank you all for taking the time to read my little ramble.