January 2025 Monthly Roundup

Love is in the air, Waywards reader. Can you feel it?

Valentine’s Day is just two weeks away.

Yes, it’s a highly commercialized holiday. And, not that I’m making this observation from experience or anything, but when too much of the love in one’s life has been unrequited, it might not always seem like a holiday worth celebrating.

Regardless, I still have a thing for it—and, if I may, I’ve got a thing for you too. I’ll always be your Valentine, Waywards reader. So go ahead. Call me a hopeless romantic if, and especially if, it pleases you, as that’s what I aim to do.

Alas, I don’t have any published pieces to share with you this time around. Publication of the piece I worked on and wrapped up over the holidays got delayed. But stay tuned. You’ll see the link to it in the next monthly roundup, barring any unforeseen hiccups.

I also got another story commissioned this month, though neither the deadline nor time frame for that one have been set yet.

I’m still working one or two days per week on the book project I told you about. Along with teaching, doing paid member organizing/outreach work for my lecturer’s union, and making minor contributions to the union for freelance journalists I’m also member to, I’m honestly a bit exhausted.

Don’t worry. I’m never too exhausted for you, Waywards reader.

I do wish I had more time and energy to wax poetic. I’ve been slowly writing another song-poem, this one too an adrenaline-effectuating drum beat provided by a good friend of mine back in Illinois. It’s a work in progress.

I managed to complete one poem this month, however—an acrostic I wrote in about 45 minutes for my younger sister on the eve of her birthday. You can check it out below this picture of my Buddy I took a few minutes ago.

Happy Birthday Katy!  How long have you known me?  At least since you can recall… Plenty of time to make good memories… Pathways we made crawling through clothes racks as kids at the Fairview mall… Yep, and a few years later we ate dinner watching the Simpsons on TV  Brother and sister, we grew up together, so we could never really grow apart If I’m not mistaken, we blasted Jock Jams in the basement while roller skating around Really, like Lisa and Bart, we fought, but that’s only because we both have a lot of heart Trips down the block to JC Video, Nick’s Shaved Ice and other spots that were in town  Hours spent playing Uno and walking with Lucky to Hardee’s or nearby Moto Mart During car rides, we’d play make believe in the back while mom played that oldies rock sound As young teens we jumped on the backyard trampoline in between hitting ping pong balls hard Years later, you survived a stabbing attack, proving you’re the toughest, pound for pound  Kin, we had fun listening to Sgt. Pepper’s and going to see Dylan in Champaign And after mom died, we wrote a magazine feature together, telling your tale  Turning tragedy into triumph, dealing with addiction, we found humor in it all to stay sane You changed, yet remain the same; we still have each other’s backs, so neither of us can fail!

If February happens to be your birthday month, here’s wishing you an early happy b-day. I won’t be writing you a poem, but you don’t always get everything you want, Waywards reader. You think you can have your cake and eat it too? Well, I suppose that’s only fair when your birthday rolls around.

Until the next monthly roundup rolls around, whether you turn a year older in the interim or not, I encourage you to keep reminding yourself that you are loved, Waywards reader.