happy new year (2026 edition)
let's make this recap an annual thing
2026-01-01
Well, this was a crazy year. I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t left me in a weird spot, but I don’t think that’s necessarily for the worse. I’m floating in a sea of potential; a lot of it is very scary but very exciting.
</2025>
On New Year’s Day 2025 I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish in the year, knowing that I probably wouldn’t manage everything but I’d be able to do one or two of them at least. And that’s roughly what happened! Let’s see now - in no particular order, what did I get up to…
- Finished uni (graduated with first-class honours!)
- Did NOT move to Scotland. But I did move in with two awesome people in the same city I did my undergrad in, and it’s definitely the best living situation I’ve ever had here.
- Did NOT manage to find a job. I’m on the dole right now. I don’t hate it yet but I definitely will start to if I can’t find something soon.
- Fell out of love.
- Fell in love again, but this time with… with an AMERICAN???? ughhhhh (<3)
- Met even more friends from the internet, and oops I’m in a polycule now.
- oops everyone in the polycule is therian and I’ve started meowing.
- Started making YouTube videos about whatever I feel like.
- Got Syncmap to a functional state and did some performances with it - for my uni final project, then while I was visiting Switzerland, then most recently for a Concept Null event.
- Put together some really cool URLfest sets; I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of this motion graphics thing! And it’s immensely encouraging to see people’s reactions to both my music and my video - much like most artists, I have a habit of getting all up in my head about the quality of my work. It was nice to have that pressure release of “No, this is awesome actually” coming from people who hadn’t seen my stuff before.
- Updated most of my legal paperwork to my new name. Still missing a couple of things.
- Tried daily-driving Linux; but it looks like I’m still gonna be mostly using Windows for the time being.
<2026>
This coming year is a mess of branching paths. I’m not yet sure which ventures I’ll end up taking, so let’s list some potentials, and see what comes of it all.
-
Career: Will I…
- Find a “normal” salaried job?
- Start training to do motion graphics or VFX or sound design for the film/TV industry?
- Become a full-time artist?
- Start a freelance creative agency?
-
Hobbies: Will I…
- Fix that old laptop I’ve had sitting around for months?
- Set up my old desktop PC as a media and/or web server?
- Finally learn to DJ?
- Make a game? (I’ve an idea for a Big game I want to do, but enough sense not to jump straight into that. It’s worth starting out with some smaller projects to get the hang of things.)
-
Art: Will I…
- Finish and release that album I’m working on?
- Design and print (and sell) some stickers?
- Keep up with my YouTube videos?
- Start an arts collective?
-
Health: Will I…
- Finally get diagnosed with, and medicated for, ADHD? (Seriously. Not having this is starting to really hold me back.)
- Develop a consistent bedtime/morning routine? I hear that this is the best way to manage unmedicated ADHD but, God, it isn’t easy.
- Pick up some kind of sport or exercise? Even if it’s just going on a daily walk or cycle around town, that’d be something.
- Get better at cooking? I’ve improved a bit in the last year, but there’s certainly room for more.
Whew! If one thing’s certain about that mess, it’s that I’m really quite uncertain about what’s to come for me this year. I’ve got so many things that I want or need to do, and plenty of spare time to put towards those ventures now, but there’s a weight hanging over my head that I’ll need a consistent income if I ever want to pull off a lot of my more ambitious ideas. Plus there’s the significant matter of bottom surgery - which I’ll need to save up something in the realm of €20,000 to have a chance at accessing. That figure’s been hanging over my head for the last few months, and it’s not going anywhere this year.
Still - with uncertainty comes hope, and I do think there’s potential for 2026 to Be My Year. I’m excited for what the future holds! How couldn’t I be? I could end up with so many good stories before this one’s out.
So here’s to that.