ABCs of 2021

It's time for the annual tradition of this blog - an alphabet of things that happened this year:

A - Art Outloud - Toward the end of June, there was an art exhibit held in Victoria park. I was late getting to it so I missed some performances, but I do recall there being a maze with dad jokes at various points and some sort of slow moving dance performance as well.

B - Blogtober - Somehow I wrote a blog post every day of the month in October. Will I do it again in 2022?

C - Community Fridge - The Farmers' Market initiated a program where people could donate money and then the market would buy food from the vendors and donate it to the various community fridges. As a result I got to deliver donations on multiple occasions. Every time it is a bit heartbreaking. The fridges are almost always empty when I arrive and there always appear to be people waiting for anything to arrive.

D - Dating - I tried the online dating thing again for a while before getting frustrated and just deciding that being single is fine (which won't stop me from flirting with the next cute woman I see).

E - Eye - Early in August, I started seeing some flashes in my right eye. This led to an emergency visit to an optometrist, a follow up with my normal optometrist, a second screening with my optometrist a bit later, and finally the most unpleasant eye exam I've ever had with an opthamologist. Both eyes are fine and the opthamologist doesn't need to see me again, so that's good.

F - Fire: the final chapter of the YAAG - Margaret and Gerald's garage was burned down, but they made use of it to hold one final art exhibit during the Cathedral Arts Festival. It was film shot of the fire projected onto the remains of the garage. Mostly though, it was an opportunity to sit and visit with people I haven't seen much in the past couple of years.

G - The Garrys - My first concert since March of 2020 was The Garrys and Wolf Willow at the Artesian. It was a good show and between vaccine checks and mask requirements, I felt reasonably safe.

H - The Haunted Swamp - Silt studio, in conjunction with Swamp Fest, held a mix of a haunted house and art exhibit at the end of October. There were fire dancers, a fortune teller, an interactive video piece, and visits with friends.

I - Iron - My iron levels continue to be of some concern. Enough so that at one point, the doctor's office phoned me for an extra appointment. (Although when I went in, my doctor was a bit confused about why I was there so it may have been a communication issue with his staff.) The low iron levels may have been related to low B12 levels so now I'm supplementing that as well.

J - JP Saxe - I wouldn't normally include something like this, but J is hard and I admire that he was able to write a song with the title "Dangerous Levels of Introspection" and actually use introspection in the lyrics. If someone had bet me, I would have guessed that to be impossible. 

K - Kitchen - I spent a lot of time in the kitchen baking.

L - The Last Children - Presented by Curtain Razors in mid-October, this was a play set in an apocalyptic world flooded by uncontrolled climate change.

M - Megan Nash - Wrapping up a busy (given the circumstances) November of going out was the Megan Nash concert at the Exchange. It was a delightful evening full of awkward banter - exactly what I'd expect from one of her shows.

N - Nuit Blanche - It seems like every year, Nuit Blanche is plagued with miserable weather. This year, the afternoon was stormy, but by the time the event actually started, it was lovely.

O - Office - The University required that I come back into the office at the end of July and I've been there ever since. There was talk of a permanent work from home/flexible work policy coming out in the fall, but it has been delayed until early February. Just a bit after that update came out, Omicron pushed the University to delay return to classes until at least mid-January which also means I get to work from home until then too. I'll be glad not to have to leave the house, but not so happy about the reason that's possible.

P - Untitled Peter Tripp Project - At the end of August, the Untitled Peter Tripp Project came to the sound stage. I'm not quite sure how to describe it - perhaps immersive theatre - but it felt like something that would happen in a space in Brooklyn not Regina. I spent a lot of time afterwards thinking about the nature of nostalgia and how, for me anyway, nostalgia is often set in a period before I was even alive.

Q - Quit - Technically, I didn't really quit, but I stopped being the team lead at the University and it has greatly improved how I feel about working there. There are fewer interruptions, less stress, and I seem to actually have time to get things done.

R - Relatives - In October, relatives came to town. There was much baking.

S - Supervisor - In April, I was hired by the Farmers' Market as a supervisor. Mostly this consisted of the same sort of thing I had been doing as a volunteer but now I had to actually get up in the morning on Saturdays. There are no scheduled indoor markets in 2022 right now, so I'll be working less which is okay.

T - Travel - I didn't travel anywhere this year. About the closest I came was when I investigated flight prices to New York after an Air Canada email arrived. There were some incredible deals, but it still doesn't feel like the right time to go away.

U - Ultrasound - At the end of May, I had an ultrasound done. They wouldn't let me take pictures of the inside of my own body so I can't post any. My doctor wasn't alarmed by any of the findings.

V - Vendor applications - Early last year, I spent Tuesday afternoons doing zoom calls as part of a committee that was evaluating and approving new vendors for the Farmers' Market. My favourite part was eating the samples.

W - The Weather Station - Almost as soon as this concert was announced, I bought a ticket. I've seen them a couple of times before and they always put on a great show. There was no opening act, but there were two sets. Delightful.

X - Xmas - Christmas felt relatively normal this year except that I was more exhausted than some times. I still managed to do all the things though.

Y - Yard Party - In mid-July, Margaret and Gerald held a largish gathering in their yard. It was the first party I had been to since all this started.

Z - Zero colds - One nice thing about masking and social distancing is that I didn't have a head cold all year long.

And that's a wrap on 2021. Happy New Year!