2026 incoming

i have no idea what tomorrow will bring, or next week, or next month, but right at this moment i'm feeling flush with gratitude. in particular after this evening, which (so far?) has been nothing short of perfect. it included an onigiri dinner, and a celebratory glass of wine / shot of rum / cup of grape juice with a very expensive, but oh-my-god-worth-it chocolate egg from vegantino, and a beautiful moment with my son while reading the ocean at the end of the lane, and i have hope that tomorrow will be a good day.

...

mr smear had another good morning this morning. after he left, i got serious with gemini and produced a series of garbage pail kids cards for my family, including my mother who was a great sport about it ^_^

i spent a good chunk of the morning wrestling with AI on my side project, then i hopped on a bus to meet with a couple of ex-coworkers (skippity and lipgirl) for a coffee, where i got some more work done before they arrived. it was a fun coffee, but i was particularly glad that skippity arrived because i knew he needed support and we had a proper opportunity to talk about the big stuff.

from there i walked to dizengoff center, not realizing how much i needed to pee until i arrived there in a state of emergency :P

once i could think straight again, i found myself walking through the wednesday vegan market which i'd forgotten about! there was so much choice, and i was starting to feel quite hungry, but i ended up taking a couple of interesting-looking pastries (spinach and fake cheese) and the chocolate egg.

it was expensive, but i regret nothing.

i returned home and got a little more work done after mr smear arrived, i helped him through his homework (some of it a bit strained, but nothing too serious) and then played a bit of inscryption before dinner.

...

i'm scared for the iranian people right now, but hopeful that this is them finally mobilizing for real and getting the job done. and praying that we help them as much as we can. perhaps 2026 will be the year the entire middle east has been holding its breath for for decades 🤞🙏

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may you all have a year infinitely better than the last one. a year feeling safe, feeling healthy, mentally well, with good relationships and fresh air and exercise.