2024: A Summary

 Hello, everyone!

It has been a long year for me, but a good year! Overall, not as intense as last year, which has been very nice. This year has been a big one for me as a fan of Brandon Sanderson: he published a new book, Wind and Truth, on December 6th - the final book of the first half of the Stormlight Archive! Stormlight is set in a shared universe called the Cosmere, and I spent the ten months before Wind and Truth rereading every single book Brandon's released which is set in the Cosmere. It took a lot of time, and required substantial planning to ensure I started and finished at the right times, but it was enjoyable! This year also saw me finally finish my academic career and start looking for a job! Stressful times... I actually observed to Granny recently: I would have had mock exams in 2018 and 2019 during A-Levels, and possibly during GCSEs as well. So this is the first time in six, maybe even seven or eight years that I haven't had assignments and work to do over the Christmas holidays! (Which has been lovely, by the way!

January

January 2024 was pretty busy but fun! One of the highlights for me was visiting Neve and Huw. Uncle Will takes part in a local pantomime, and I decided to go visit so I could watch the pantomime. it was a performance of Sleeping Beauty - it was great! Will played his role very well - he played the king. (At the end of the show, they addressed relatives of the actors, Neve and Huw got to be Princess Neve and Prince Huw!) I enjoyed getting to spend time with my cousins, who are as adorable as ever.

A lowlight of January was looking for housing...it's so difficult to find anywhere. Everyone either already has plans, or hasn't yet started making plans. So that was fun...

My good friend Micah was pied in the face at CU as part of a Promise Auction. (He played my son/nephew in the murder mystery party!)

February

February was a pretty busy month! I had a lot of coursework to do - specifically for a module called This Writing Life, where I had to create a portfolio of different types of writing, such as interviews, book reviews, or, well, blogs! It was fun, but intense!

One of the highlights of February was actually connected to this: one of the pieces I decided to include in the portfolio was an interview of my parents, discussing the Thames Walk they did back in November. Namely, I started the interview by asking how the walk was, and my dad somehow forgot the purpose of the interview: his response was "What walk?" (The rest of the interview went well - though I didn't end up using the interview material in the portfolio, I couldn't discuss enough about it to justify its inclusion.)

I also discovered Victoria Aveyard's Realm Breaker series in February; I absolutely loved it! Very much recommend it!

A lowlight was, once again, being single on 14th February...not really! I don't know if I really had a lowlight for February, to be honest. It was busy, and it got stressful at times, but I had a good time.

Rainbow view from the university library

March

March...had its ups and downs. I guess it was kinda...average uni life. Impending deadlines, lots of assignments. Word Alive did get cancelled (permanently, apparently), which was very sad. The CU did our own little thing, a CU getaway in Essex, which was fun! Downside: I (accidentally) went cold-turkey on antidepressants the weekend before, so I was not much fun to be around the first couple of days. But other than that, I had a good time, and I enjoyed spending time with CU friends. (It was also my one and only time being able to go to a CU getaway...)
We did a karaoke night, I think the penultimate evening? That was great, though I only had the courage to do one song (and barely audibly, as well!) Looking back, I wish I'd been braver - especially as one of my friends, who's super shy, had the confidence to go up on stage and do a rousing chorus of Let It Go from Frozen.

I started my Brandon Sanderson reread in March, as well, which I enjoyed! Got off to a good start with the three Secret Projects which came out in 2023! I also got to spend the Easter holidays (after the getaway) with Granny and Tessa down in Devon, always a highlight! (I forgot my antihistamines, which now means that, whenever I visit Devon, Granny texts me a day or two before to say "Remember your antihistamines!!") Pet allergies suck when you're an animal-lover. (Has that actually come up in my blog yet? Probably came up at some point since getting Oreo.)

CU getaway!

April

April picked up where March left off, in Devon, getting to spend time with Granny and my great-aunts and great-uncle Bob. (And Pippa, Tessa, and Marvin, of course!
I very much enjoyed spending time with Granny and my great-aunts, it was very fun! However, my parents went to Rome part-way through April, while I stayed in Devon. I definitely had a good time, though it would have been nice to go to Rome as well. (Especially as Kylie, an old family friend, lives in Rome, along with her fiancee. I am, to date, the only immediate member of my family to have not met her fiancee, who's called Riccardo.)

However! Another highlight of April was hosting meals for several friends, which was great! I really enjoyed having my friends round, and I enjoyed getting to show off my culinary skills. 

I also visited the Natural History Museum with a friend, the future Doctor Caleb Miller, which was very enjoyable! I appreciated the opportunity to spend time with him and just hang out, it was nice!

Scenic Dartmoor! I love this picture, it looks like the wisps of cloud and fog are fighting!

May

In May, I started work (in earnest) on my Master's dissertation, which ended up being titled An Exploration of Dualities and Representation in Science Fiction and Fantasy. (Wordy, I know!) 

I guess that's both a highlight and a lowlight of the month. On the one hand, I'm weird, and I enjoy undertaking challenging writing. On the other hand, dissertation-writing is pretty stressful, especially when you're trying to figure out how to actually start the thing. (My method was to write out everything of Eleventh Interval that I'd already planned, then decide what could stay as part of the dissertation.)

Another highlight of the month was going into Henley-on-Thames with a couple of friends, which was very nice! They're both really lovely people, and I don't see a lot of them, so it was good to spend time with them. (As it happens, one of them, Anna, is also friends with Karys - they met when Karys went on a Scouts trip to Madagascar a few years ago!)

Me with Anna (middle) and Emma (far left)!

June

One of June's biggest highlights was the murder mystery party!! I had a lot of fun arranging and hosting it, and I was very happy that my friends had a good time as well. In fact, I enjoyed planning it so much that I decided to write it as a murder mystery story! (Once I'm done with Eleventh Interval, of course.)

I also enjoyed celebrating Neve's seventh birthday - they grow up so fast! I love getting to spend time with my cousins, they're very adorable little children. On the other hand, they can be pretty stressful...at one point, we were duelling with plastic golf clubs on a trampoline, which I will concede wasn't the best idea. I accidentally clobbered Huw on the head, which was bad enough...but he was unhurt, and so he decided that he wanted to continue swinging golf clubs while bouncing up and down. (I passed, naturally.) 

June also saw a gradual separation as people started moving away from Reading, which was sad. I did get to see people - the CU held a leavers' picnic, and a group of my friends got together in the middle of June to have one last night out together. It's still sad, though - time wears on and everything ends, eventually. 

CU picnic - me with the current CU presidents!

July

July was a busy month, between job applications and dissertation.
I did finally manage to find a new house, which was nice! Bit of a mixed bag, in a way. My housemates are both very lovely people, and I do like them. But they're also very busy all the time, so I don't (and didn't) see a lot of them. End result was, I felt quite lonely for much of July, and I wasn't in a great place mentally. On the other hand, I did land an interview for a really awesome job as a library assistant at a local school...but didn't get the job itself. Which made me feel actually heart-broken. (Actual rejections in the romantic-relationship sense have hurt less!)

On the other other hand (for real, this time), I visited Granny again in July! I had a great time, even though the weather was not so sunny. I especially enjoyed climbing up Rippon Tor with Granny, Sally, and the dogs - I love a good hike on the moors. Devon in general is a great place for walking - especially if you have energetic dogs like spaniels or lurchers. 

"Energetic", in lurchers' cases - this is Pippin after a long holiday in Devon!

A view of the moors, with Granny, Sally, Pippa, and Tessa

August

Sadly, I was still a bit lonely for most of August, with people either away or busy. I spent most of August cooped up inside my room, looking for jobs, writing my dissertation, and trying to not procrastinate. (Oh, and this was when my computer issues started - with a month left to go until my dissertation was due!)
On the other hand, I did go to Stratford-upon-Avon with Josh at the end of August, which was loads of fun!! I really enjoyed spending time with Josh and exploring Stratford, and we had a good time learning more about the life and times of Shakespeare. (I was scandalised to learn that somebody actually dug up the Bard's skull!)
One of the highlights of Stratford was seeing an authentic Shakespeare play with Josh. We saw The Merry Wives of Windsor, which was brilliant. Not one I've seen before, so I enjoyed the opportunity to broaden my Shakespearean horizons. (As an aside, one of the characters in the play looked and sounded like one of my university friends. I won't name names, but suffice it to say that it made the play very interesting!)
Josh is one of my closest friends, it was very lovely to spend time with him. He's always there when I need him the most, and I'm very lucky to have him in my life. (Fun fact, my protagonist's brother is based heavily on Josh! The protagonist is based heavily on me, so make of that what you will!)

Me and my bro outside Shakespeare's birthplace!

September

September saw me finally submit my dissertation. Hooray! I actually managed to get it in a couple of days before the deadline, so I got to spend some time relaxing. I celebrated by having a meal out with my parents and Josh (naturally), and Abi, who's another very dear friend of mine. So finishing my dissertation, and celebrating with friends and family, was a definite highlight of September. I also got to see Sally - she visited Eynsham for a bit, so I rushed home to visit as well. It was very nice to see her, and to see Pippa, who is as adorable as ever.

As for lowlights...I dunno, really. The job-hunting has continued to be stressful. (And annoying! I have submitted seven applications to the University of Reading. All of them have been rejected!)
I was also still having computer problems, though they were somewhat more manageable by this point, as I no longer had dissertation deadlines to worry about.

Spaniel at rest, if you can believe it! (Pippa's actually a very calm dog, for a spaniel.)

Though really, apart from finishing my dissertation, subsequent celebrations, and seeing Sally, I don't suppose there's a lot to talk about in September. So I have the perfect opportunity to showcase The Eleventh Interval!

Behold: the first couple of paragraphs of the prologue! (I shouldn't get in trouble for sharing anything, even if my dissertation is the intellectual property of the university - I actually wrote this section after submitting my dissertation!)

Prologue

The shadows of this world conceal many secrets and ghosts. Civilisations have risen over the ages, banishing the cold and the dark. Humanity cocoons itself in light, believing that this chases away fear. The truth is far more complicated. This universe was born in chaos, elemental forces clashing and driving apart, boiling out and shrinking inwards. The echoes of this war persist, felt most keenly during times of great change and upheaval. Nameless forces yearn for freedom, trapped for the moment but slowly rippling across the world. Tendrils of power seep around the planet, watching and waiting. Soon…

One of these tendrils lurks in shadows outside a crowded cinema, taking an almost-human form. Watching as a young couple leaves the cinema, laughing and chatting. The tendril snaps to attention, alert, as it sees the young man. Tall and wiry, dark-haired and tan, piercing golden eyes. The mark of one who sees beyond the here and now, perceiving what could have been, what will be, what must never be. Almost as soon as it perceives him, he perceives it, turning to look directly into the shadowed street where it lurks. It melts into darkness, slipping into the cracks of the world. Undeterred, unphased, satisfied. Withdrawing across the surface of the continent, it streaks over mountains and jungles, through caverns unexplored and long-drowned beaches. It passes over darkness untamed and cradles of civilisation alike, watching a continent writhe in chaos and disorder, finally coming to rest in a dim and gloomy cave, where shadows dapple the walls, and ethereal lights glimmer at its centre. Restless powers turn away from the world, looking inwards and contemplating what will be, and their opportunity for freedom.

I also tried taking up drawing cats. (Heavy emphasis on "tried" - I'm leaving the art to Karys in the future!)

October

October started off with a lowlight...Sally had a heart attack and spent a fair chunk of time in the hospital. That was very stressful and worrying. Honestly, it could be a lowlight for the whole year. It very much hits home...older relatives seem invincible, even (and especially) once they're older, because they've been around for the entire time you've existed, and you have no frame of reference for them not being there. Though Sally is out of the hospital and doing a lot better now, so that's good. 
I have gotten into the habit of writing letters to Granny and Sally and Jenny, which is a very nice way to keep in contact - especially because they're from a generation before texting or emails, so they appreciate a good old-fashioned letter. (My gran and great-aunts are literal Baby Boomers, as it happens. And, incidentally, living proof that the Baby Boomers, as with every other generation, have their good eggs and their bad eggs.)

Onr of the biggest highlights of October, for me, happened right at the end of the month (fittingly). Two of my friends got ENGAGED!!! Super exciting, and I'm very, very happy for them!! (As I commented to them when the news came out, I'd been waiting on it for about a year!) All going well, the wedding will be in June, and I am thrilled! (I tried to persuade my friends to give everyone in the wedding party (and me) titles, like Maid of Horticulture...but I don't think they've taken me up on that. Still get to bake for them, though!)
Overall, I'd say that if Sally having a heart attack was one of the lowlights of the year...my friends getting engaged was one of the highlights. That's life, it can sometimes be the most bewildering mixed bag.

The happy couple!! This photo is not from October, but it's still a beautiful picture!

Incidentally, pretty much all of the photos I actually took in October are pet pictures. So enjoy a loaf of Oreo.

November

In November, I was heartlessly abandoned. (My entire immediate family happened to be away during my birthday: my mum teaching in Bournemouth, my dad in Africa, Karys also in Africa on sabbatical...) So Abi and a few others very kindly organised a get-together on my birthday, which was amazing! We mostly chatted and ate snacks, and I had a good time. I received multiple pairs of socks, including a Star Wars set from a fellow Star Wars fan. (I am proudly wearing a pair of socks from that set even as I write - probably one of my favourite birthday presents!)

I did receive presents from my family; my mum and dad got me several books, and Granny, Jenny, and Sally pitched in to get me a new rucksack, which can fit a lot of stuff. (My mum actually dropped off the presents from her and Dad in the rucksack!)

And another big highlight of November: I spent the day with an old friend, who I haven't been able to see in years! She lives in France, but she came to England to visit, stopped by in Oxford, as she'd never actually gotten the opportunity to explore, and texted me out of the blue to ask if I'd like to meet up. We did meet up, and we had a good time looking at museums and roaming around Oxford - it was wonderful to catch up!

Pals enjoying bubble tea on a chilly winter day!

One of the books I received for my birthday was a collection of Miss Marple stories, which my parents found in a charity shop. I got three postcards free of charge as well; they were stuffed in the back of the book. Two were filled in - it seems that part of the book's journey involved being gifted as a Christmas present, in Pennsylvania, I think, in the 1980s! Then it finds its way across the Atlantic, to Oxford, and finally down to Reading, forty-odd years later. (The third postcard is currently blank, and I intend to write in it and send it to a friend. Whoever ends up receiving a forty-year-old postcard, you have been forewarned!)

I also had a good time visiting Granny and Tessa for the third time this year, at the end of November - and it was great to see Sally, after her health scare. Tessa has a new ball, which she loves playing with and rolling around - I have several videos! 

As for lowlights of November, I'm not sure. Not being able to celebrate my birthday with family was a little disappointing, but not too bad. I did experience another mental health slump, which is life. But overall, it was a pretty decent month!

Birthday cake!

December

Man, every time I get to December on these summary blogs, I remember the 2019 blog, where I jokingly described December 2019 (the last month before Year of Covid) as 'a month of trials and tribulations'.

Which doesn't relate to December 2024, just a random comment. December 2024 has been pretty good. One highlight was graduating - I officially have a Master's Degree in Creative Writing! (I passed with distinction, by the way.) I got to graduate alongside a very good friend, who did the same course as me. I appreciated the opportunity to graduate alongside her, because she had her undergraduate graduation the December after the rest of us - so I'm glad for her that she got to graduate alongside some close friends this time! I also bumped into one of my undergraduate coursemates - she did a Master's in Diplomacy, and her ceremony was at the same time as mine! In fact, we lived together in our first year, and graduated together in our final - talking about coming full circle!
I've also thoroughly enjoyed Christmas, and spending time with family! Karys is back in the UK now, and she stopped by in Devon for a bit before coming back with us. Which meant that I had to stay with Sally the last couple of days of the visit, but I really enjoyed getting to spend a bit of extra time with Sally. We played one of my all-time favourite games, Splendor, which I got my own copy of for Christmas; it's also one of Sally's favourite games. She always enjoys playing board games, it was something she used to do with great-uncle Stuart. So it's something that brings us closer together and connects us to Stuart, which is nice.

The second time we've graduated together!

Me and my pals! (Ryan, the handsome man in the middle, did not graduate, but he was there to celebrate! Both of us, but mostly Rūta, his now-fiancee!)

Another big thing happened in December: I finally finished my Cosmere reread, the day before Wind and Truth came out! And...well. I guess, in a way, Wind and Truth was a bit of a lowlight of December. I won't give spoilers, as I have a friend who reads the blog and is reading Wind and Truth (and she's probably still only on chapter 10!) And I wouldn't say it's a bad book, it's great in a lot of ways, and I really enjoyed it. But in some ways, it was a little underwhelming. I guess partly that's just what happens when you spend over a year building up hype. But I do feel a little bit worried about the future of the Cosmere, from a narrative perspective - a lot of the complaints I've seen about Wind and Truth have also been directed at other Brandon books published recently. Though on the other hand, we have around a year until the next big Cosmere book, and another couple of years until the next one after that, so hopefully (fingers crossed), there'll be some change for the positive.

But, like I say, I enjoyed Wind and Truth overall, and I'm positive that the rest of the Stormlight Archive series will continue to be good, along with the rest of the Cosmere!

In a way, it's a good metaphor for life. This year's been a bit tricky, there's been rough spots. Sometimes you're not sure if the driver even knows themselves where they wanna go. But there's good stuff as well.

And, for me, the biggest thing about this year has been hope. I've been trying to find a job and housing, which is difficult and stressful. But, throughout it all, I've had hope that God has a plan for me. He has a plan for everyone, and that plan will work out. It feels strange, almost, to have that hope. That confidence, that optimism that things will work out.

And a thought I had the other day...yeah, God's plan involves pain and loss. But isn't that always the way of things? To create one thing, you need to end another. To enjoy happiness, you need to understand pain. What is a beautiful sunrise, to someone who's seen sunlight every day of their life, but another day? Conversely, to someone who's never seen it before, it's the most blindingly glorious thing they've ever witnessed. Love and loss, delight and pain, they define us, they make us what we are. I don't know if we could fully appreciate the good things in life without the bad. And I'm no theologian or Biblical scholar, but maybe that's part of God's plan - he wants us to experience life to its fullest, including all the bad things, so that we can enjoy the good things.

And maybe I'm just creating justifications. Who knows for sure? But this feels like as good a place as any to wrap up. 
My family always did a New Year's Eve tradition where we'd eat Chinese sweet and sour chicken and discuss the 'sweet' and 'sour' things about the year. So I invite you, dear readers, to consider the same. What have been some good and bad things for you, this year? And what are you looking forward to (or not looking forward to) next year?

Random stats:

-Fun fact: New Years' Resolutions can be trivial things, little goals you want to achieve throughout the year. So one of my resolutions is to collect a football t-shirt for every country I've ever visited. (I have England, Cameroon, CAR, and Kenya. Need USA, Germany, France, Scotland, Spain, and Italy next.) I encourage my readers to likewise come up with fun resolutions!

-Days until the wedding (Rūta and Ryan's): 5 months, 14 days. (Can you tell I'm very excited?)

-Number of friends who have gotten engaged this year: Four! Including two of my childhood friends!
-MA results: Passed with Distinction (72% on the dissertation!)

-Ranking of the Devon pack, in order of good behaviour: Pippa, Pippin, Marvin, Tessa. (The pack being our family's dogs...the Pips are lovely as usual, Marvin is his usual bossy self. Tessa is a lazy old lady who doesn't like going on walks if Granny isn't there, so she's at the bottom of the list.)

-Games of Splendor won: I won two games, Sally won the third. 

-Number of armchair-beds slept on over Christmas: One. Sally has an armchair in her office which can be converted into a bed...a surprisingly comfy and delightfully unique bed. She told me it might be a bit small, and I was expecting a bed where my legs would hang over the end. Nope - the arms of the armchair do not fold away, so you have bed-arms. Which is actually pretty comfy!

-An exciting piece of news, which came out only yesterday: Christi had her third child yesterday, an adorable baby girl called Salome Jubilee Prechter!! (I predicted that the new baby would be a girl from the moment I learned Christi was expecting!)