2020 Best of the Year

In a pandemic and election year of lockdown, isolation, and strife it was wonderful to note how my reflections back on the year's Sensorium (although the entries were sparser--I usually try to blog the senses once a week and this year there were just 13) contained rich and delightful memories.

2020 was the year in which I got my first tattoo, started the dog training Academy, framed more art, adopted Lily and Tish, played a lot of Divinity 2, and published a second solarpunk story.

In 2020, I also discovered the importance of rest. My word of the year for 2021 will be Restorative.

Standout senses:

Taste: elderflower and rose lemonade purchased at the local drug store and snap peas because the dogs loved them, too

Sound: Sebille's Theme, the music in Divinity 2: The Original Sin by Borislav Slavov and Jean Donaldson's phrase "happy snacky" the ideal state of a dog ready to learn

Smell: timothy grass from working on the farm

Sight: green leaves and blue sky lying the backyard this summer and looking up; images of Shetland--my pandemic travel voyeur fantasy

Touch: plump and plumped; dogs: weight, warmth, and in sweaters, Lily's head on my writing wrist, being sniffed

Quote of the Year:

“Someone treated you badly. It's all right. You're with us now.” — Rey, Rise of Skywalker

Fiction of the Year: hands down this short story collection by Susan Palwick which was just the balm I needed for 2020

"Work for a future where nothing needs to be broken for people to get what they need, and where no one's success cancels anyone else's." — Susan Palwick, "Wishbone," All Worlds are Real: Short Fictions

Non-Fiction of the Year: so many dog training books!

"Could we decide that training is, ideally, a partnership of sentient animals—one human and the other non-human—which has the goal of increasing the joy of both partners as well as everyone around them?" — Plenty in Life is Free - Reflections on Dogs, Training and Finding Grace, Kathy Sdao

Comments

Thoughts on "Depression Hates a Moving Target": What I Mean by Relatable

Relatable — I used this word in my reviews of Depression Hates a Moving Target by Nita Sweeney on Goodreads and Amazon . It's a nice word, but overused of late. So, it feels lazy. What do I mean? I connected with this book. It made me reflect more on my own first marathon experience. It made me want to put on my running shoes and head out the door again. In fact, I did. Now, typically, my mental health doesn't hinder my ability to do the stuff I want to do and my body flies under the radar. Still, I also felt goofy stepping out in my running gear a lot of the time. I didn't see myself as a "runner" or an athlete. And, I had no idea if I could run 13 miles let alone 26.2 when I started. More to the point, could I stay moving for the 4+ hours straight it would take to complete the marathon? To do the training mileage, I knew I'd have to run through streets and trails on my own and that made me nervous, too. Waves of grief wash us to strange shores. Whe...

What is Solarpunk? Good question, great answers from our community

What is solarpunk? My fellow Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers authors Commando Jugendstil and Tales from The EV Studio put together this video for the Turin International Book Fair . It features editors and authors from the solarpunk community sharing their thoughts. Together we're imagining optimistic futures based on renewable energy. My soundbite was: "Solarpunk futures are — green spaces with clean water that are pedestrian, collective, feminist, creative communities. And they include non-human animals. " Mary "solarpunk" Shelley cat did a great job (at 6:15) helping from her rather ridiculous cat tree which she absolutely loves. And what better time to wear this solar-colored "Veganism is Feminism" tee from The Herbivore Clothing Company . Seriously. I'm holding a stack of solarpunk books: Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers edited by Sarena Ulibarri which includes my story "Watch Out, Red Crusher!". Wings of R...

Springy story review: "State Change" by Ken Liu

Why it springs to mind: You'll never look at an ice cube the same way again. Where read: In the 2014 Hugo award-winning Lightspeed Magazine , August. Length: 5,194 words Summary: A woman has an ice cube for a soul. Memorable: How the story invites us to think about the shape of our soul, how it (or our perception of it) influences us and how it changes. What ordinary every day object would your soul be? A silver spoon, a beech stick? A great party conversation starter, this. Quote: “All life is an experiment." Notable: The protagonist Rina is an avid reader (always a good choice). Pairs well with: T.S. Elliot, Edna St. Vincent Millay Origin: The story was written in 24 hours based on a writing prompt. (See Author Spotlight: Ken Liu ) About the author: Ken Liu’s debut novel, The Grace of Kings , the first in a fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty, is due out from Saga Press ( a new Simon & Schuster imprint ) in 2015.

Shel Graves' Sensorium

Search This Blog