Well, well, well...
Much like a Spotify Wrapped, the end of the year comes unknowingly, in a burst, and leaves very little room for preparation. Aside from the fact that you know that it's coming, but unaware of the actual day, or time.
Where can one start? The war in Ukraine is still going on, the war in Gaza is still going on, and plenty of other wars that we don't and probably won't hear about in the news are still going on. Sudan, the Congo, Yemen, Syria, the lot. The United Nations struggles to come to an accord on how to actually put an end to any of these longstanding conflicts, aside from from throwing lots of money towards initiatives that work, until they don't. It sucks that we wake up everyday reading WaPo, NYT, FT, Forbes, whatever, seeing headlines about how fucked up the world is. Boring take, yes. It rings true, though. As of late, I've definitely noticed that I've not been interested in digging deep into news articles as much as I would have in the past. Learning that you can OD on news? News to me. Pun intended.
Anyways, let's get to the real year in review. Moved from New York to DC. I don't regret it, most days at least. There are plenty of things that I miss that I wish I could've just stuck in my pocket and brought with me. My problem is that I've earnestly tried to make my experience in The District the same as it was up north. That's just not possible. And it's taken me months to realize that. All for the better, albeit a little bit later than I expected. My job here is a job. Nothing special or anything to brag about, just like any other job that I've had. What I will say though, is that it's been good for my professional development. But who cares about that shit in their late 20's anyway?
There are some choice things to appreciate about this city. The museums are free, which is also super corny, but it is nice being able to go to the Renwick on your lunch break. My local breakfast spot is dirt cheap. The metro is clean. People, sometimes, smile at you when you are running on the trail. It's like one huge town of almost 700,000 people.
But, speaking of people, the lot of them suck. Brown nosers are everywhere. The ladder climbers. The Hill Bros. It's unspeakably annoying being surrounded by suits all of the time. I've also gotten the most amount of parking tickets in my life being here for what, 7 months? Parking police here walk with their dicks hanging out. They're seriously the worst.
Then there's the inequality, the tent towns, overpriced brunches, plenty of other shit to complain about it. All in all, this place is, for a lack of better words, interesting.
New York will always be a quintessential place to be. I'd be lying if I wasn't trying to make my way back their one day, but we'll see how the cards play out.
I went back to Montreal, learned some french, drank lots of beer, walked from one side of the city to the other, and really experienced the Joie de Vivre.
I got kicked out of El Bar in Philly for speaking spanish, went to see Le Tigre in Baltimore, made plenty of trips to Richmond, moved into my first apartment dolo in DC. It's been a year, to say the least.
I've laughed, cried, broken multiple skateboards, popped open plenty of bevs, taken tons of photos, sat on the Amtrak at 2 am going down the grease coast, spent the most time I have with my family in over 3 years, went to therapy (bc it's free at my job, don't trip), and, most importantly, have found solace in myself.
There's not really much meat in this post. It's more, like, a rant of the squiggles that roll around my brain.
To end, I've learned a lot about myself and those around me in the last year. The good, the bad. I find respite in knowing that even with the grandiose amount of change from this year, it's still been a good one. Change is quite uncomfortable, I can't lie. But, it teaches you *insert any cliche lesson here*.
Here's to 2024 and whatever it brings. I pray to God that I don't see any of you at Helen's on New Years.
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