January 2015: First email of the new year came from Glimmer Train, listing their 2015 submission schedule. Notes from my mother and sister, the latter's birthday coming a few days after the new year (I didn't send her a card this time around.) Healthcare.gov reminders. An old friend from Louisiana saying hello, who apparently now lives in Australia. More emails from Glimmer Train. Happy birthday emails from my parents and sister. A starred PDF file of a magazine write-up I did for an off-Broadway show in 2013. I check out a poetry slam, my first since moving down here. Parents write to tell me New York City is getting snow. I begin to notice my laptop is dying a slow death.
February: More Healthcare.gov reminders. A picture of myself I sent to myself. A Glimmer Train 2/28 deadline reminder. My skin develops a rash from what appears to be the new body wash I'm using. Some strange drama with my niece's family I don't fully understand, but seems unsurprising. Suffer from a brief bout of morbid curiosity with social media, where I re-evaluate my priorities.
March: Bemoan how much I am not writing. Snap photo of some dude barefoot at a gas station. My aunt suddenly passes away. I write to the mother of my dead ex-girlfriend. Fly to Albany, crash at friend's place, who drops me off at the funeral home the next day. Stand graveside in the cold during the quick service. "Hilton HHonors" sends me something regarding exclusive travel specials. I fill out my NCAA tournament bracket. An email I sent to the Times Union regarding a potential story they published about my real grandmother in the early 1960's. I complain about my horrific plane ride from New York that found me sitting overnight at Dulles International until I could catch an early-bird to Charlotte the next morning. I accept the fact I probably cannot come home for an extended period again unless I find a cheap hotel. Stay at a cabin in eastern Tennessee to help clear my head.
April: Livejournal - a site I haven't posted in since 2011 - invites me to get my friends to sign up. Wordpress sends me four emails in two days reminding me to pay up in order to keep my domain name. I sign up for J Crew job notifications (there's a distribution center nearby.) My aunt's 64th birthday would have been April 21, so I wonder how my mom and cousin are dealing with it. A friend forwards me a link to "The Oregon Trail Generation." I send a photo of a beer on the balcony railing I'll later post to Twitter.
May: More Glimmer Train and J Crew job reminders. A journal entry that simply says "a few moments of solitude this Saturday afternoon." Pictures sent to myself of the apartment which I'll eventually send to my parents. Google reminding me I signed in on another device. Attend a slightly warm outdoor wedding where I know almost no one.
June: Lament over the five years since her passing. Seriously consider taking in a wayward teenager because her mother never wanted to be an actual mother. MetroPCS tells me to "get my Microsoft Lumia 640." Apply for a job at Mars Hill. I never hear back from them. More Glimmer Train deadlines.
July: A job I applied to almost a year ago writes to notify me the position has been canceled.
August: I comment that I've been swimming a lot. I submit poems to a few places. Google tells me my password has changed. A site I unsubscribe from email notifications sends me an email notification telling me I successfully unsubscribed from receiving email notifications. Notice that the last few years I tend to either ponder or actively leave places around late August.
September: Talk about going to the beach, which never really materializes. Buffalo's alumni association advises me to "get my UB email address today!" A rejection notice from McSweeney's. A trip to Charlotte involves much libations and hopefully cheers up an old friend. I realize I made a Tumblr account long ago and never posted on it. A friend sends me a sex offender registry screenshot of some old dude who sits in his truck and watches kids at baseball practice.
October: An old ladyfriend reaches out to me for some reason. I sign up with Dollar Shave Club. Forget my parent's anniversary and my mom throws a subtle guilt trip about it. Sign up with something called "Memrise", but never use it. Changed my primary Facebook email. Get depressed (again.) Finally hear back from my niece, who I wrote seven months prior. Wonder if her father screens her emails, or if she really doesn't use the internet all that much. I sign up with this Snapchat thing. Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse sends me some sort of crap.
November: Literally nothing of consequence.
December: Higheredjobs.com reaches out to me about my largely unused account. My parents confirm my mailing address, as if they lost it or something. My mother sends a rather petty email for no reason at all. Comment how nice the weather is. Discover my father plugs people's names into obituary databases. Discover my father finds out his sister died two months ago from this method. Discover nobody told my father about her passing. There's a monsoon here Christmas Eve morning. I get socks, sriracha veggie straws, and eat more ham and mashed potatoes than I should. Compile a year in review now, because it's not like anything's going to be worth mentioning these last five days of the year. Pour a shot of 1800.
February: More Healthcare.gov reminders. A picture of myself I sent to myself. A Glimmer Train 2/28 deadline reminder. My skin develops a rash from what appears to be the new body wash I'm using. Some strange drama with my niece's family I don't fully understand, but seems unsurprising. Suffer from a brief bout of morbid curiosity with social media, where I re-evaluate my priorities.
March: Bemoan how much I am not writing. Snap photo of some dude barefoot at a gas station. My aunt suddenly passes away. I write to the mother of my dead ex-girlfriend. Fly to Albany, crash at friend's place, who drops me off at the funeral home the next day. Stand graveside in the cold during the quick service. "Hilton HHonors" sends me something regarding exclusive travel specials. I fill out my NCAA tournament bracket. An email I sent to the Times Union regarding a potential story they published about my real grandmother in the early 1960's. I complain about my horrific plane ride from New York that found me sitting overnight at Dulles International until I could catch an early-bird to Charlotte the next morning. I accept the fact I probably cannot come home for an extended period again unless I find a cheap hotel. Stay at a cabin in eastern Tennessee to help clear my head.
April: Livejournal - a site I haven't posted in since 2011 - invites me to get my friends to sign up. Wordpress sends me four emails in two days reminding me to pay up in order to keep my domain name. I sign up for J Crew job notifications (there's a distribution center nearby.) My aunt's 64th birthday would have been April 21, so I wonder how my mom and cousin are dealing with it. A friend forwards me a link to "The Oregon Trail Generation." I send a photo of a beer on the balcony railing I'll later post to Twitter.
May: More Glimmer Train and J Crew job reminders. A journal entry that simply says "a few moments of solitude this Saturday afternoon." Pictures sent to myself of the apartment which I'll eventually send to my parents. Google reminding me I signed in on another device. Attend a slightly warm outdoor wedding where I know almost no one.
June: Lament over the five years since her passing. Seriously consider taking in a wayward teenager because her mother never wanted to be an actual mother. MetroPCS tells me to "get my Microsoft Lumia 640." Apply for a job at Mars Hill. I never hear back from them. More Glimmer Train deadlines.
July: A job I applied to almost a year ago writes to notify me the position has been canceled.
August: I comment that I've been swimming a lot. I submit poems to a few places. Google tells me my password has changed. A site I unsubscribe from email notifications sends me an email notification telling me I successfully unsubscribed from receiving email notifications. Notice that the last few years I tend to either ponder or actively leave places around late August.
September: Talk about going to the beach, which never really materializes. Buffalo's alumni association advises me to "get my UB email address today!" A rejection notice from McSweeney's. A trip to Charlotte involves much libations and hopefully cheers up an old friend. I realize I made a Tumblr account long ago and never posted on it. A friend sends me a sex offender registry screenshot of some old dude who sits in his truck and watches kids at baseball practice.
October: An old ladyfriend reaches out to me for some reason. I sign up with Dollar Shave Club. Forget my parent's anniversary and my mom throws a subtle guilt trip about it. Sign up with something called "Memrise", but never use it. Changed my primary Facebook email. Get depressed (again.) Finally hear back from my niece, who I wrote seven months prior. Wonder if her father screens her emails, or if she really doesn't use the internet all that much. I sign up with this Snapchat thing. Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse sends me some sort of crap.
November: Literally nothing of consequence.
December: Higheredjobs.com reaches out to me about my largely unused account. My parents confirm my mailing address, as if they lost it or something. My mother sends a rather petty email for no reason at all. Comment how nice the weather is. Discover my father plugs people's names into obituary databases. Discover my father finds out his sister died two months ago from this method. Discover nobody told my father about her passing. There's a monsoon here Christmas Eve morning. I get socks, sriracha veggie straws, and eat more ham and mashed potatoes than I should. Compile a year in review now, because it's not like anything's going to be worth mentioning these last five days of the year. Pour a shot of 1800.