What Sort of Year has it Been?
2024 was packed and, therefore, exhausting. That sums it up, so you can stop here if you’re not interested.
For whatever reason, circumstances conspired to make this a very busy year, gaining momentum by the month and then the week. It all ground to a halt on Christmas Day, and we welcomed a day to do nothing. It was the first unscheduled day in what felt like months.
Professionally, St. Vincent Pallotti wrapped one year and began another pretty much the same. The current sophomores are less behavior-challenged but equally disinterested in learning, while the incoming honors freshmen were better prepared for high school than I expected.
I didn’t expect how many moving parts there were to the Yearbook. It was one thing to take notes and have my predecessor talk through processes, but once I was on my own, it was clear she did things automatically and didn’t think twice about it while I found myself working hard. Of my 27 students, about eight consistently want to work on the pages, which I am told is on par with schools nationwide. We have turned in the first quarter to the printer, so cross your fingers.
Highlights outside of the classroom were the spring musical, Six, and the fall production, The Play that goes Wrong.
There were two more semesters of teaching Making Graphic Novels at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Working with students who wanted to work and excel was refreshing; many deeply impressed me with their finished works.
Speaking of graphic novels, January through July had the added burden of judging the Ringo Awards, where I reviewed some 647 submissions.
We certainly made the most of our time, visiting with friends and family during 2024, but we took in quite a bit of culture. In addition to numerous productions at the Olney Theater, we saw performances by Audra McDonald. Bernadette Peters, Alan Cumming, Norm Lewis, Kristen Chenoweth, Rhiannon Giddens, Gregory Alan Isakov, Ray LaMontagne, Kathy Mattea, and even had lunch with entertainment from a Beatles cover band.
We also managed to fit in a few New York Mets games, including one with the 7 Line Army in Philadelphia, which we saw with my cousin Lily. We returned to Philly this month, along with her proud parents and brother, to see her conduct the overture to the Philadelphia Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker Suite.
There were also a few trips, including a relaxing cruise through the Maritimes, making my first visits to Bar Harbor and Nova Scotia, among other stops. Deb and I made a rare pilgrimage to the New York Renaissance Faire in addition to attending the Maryland Faire with Kate. Our nephew Zachary got married in July, with a destination wedding in Vermont, which was lovely.
It did, though, require missing Shore Leave’s debut in its new Pennsylvania digs, which was a shame. I did make it to Farpoint, as they have settled into a new Maryland facility. There was also my first trip to Trek Long Island and a return, of course, to the Baltimore Comic-Con.
As if we weren’t busy enough, Deb decided we needed to do more things together, so we’re trying out work with the Appalachia Service Project. Much of the year is spent fundraising to defer costs for the annual June trip to the region to help rehabilitate homes. We never thought it would begin with collecting 1000 pine cones, which we then spent two Saturdays affixing to wreaths, which were sold through Deb’s church. We also spent a day fixing a shed for a parishioner.
There wasn’t much time left for writing, although I did manage some work. In the coming days, I’ll be musing on the current state of my freelance life. The big thing this year, of course, was the promotion for and release of the mammoth Superman: The Definitive History, which I am immensely proud of.
I continued as president of the HOA Board of Directors and was happy to have a relatively quiet year for the board. Similarly, I judged for the Maryland National History Day competition and continue to freelance edit for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America blog.
Don’t ask what we watched because it was one streaming series after another, and at anywhere from six to ten episodes a piece, we managed quite a bit. Our film-going dropped off as there just wasn’t much that motivated one or both of us to make an effort and pay the price for the movies.
Sadly, the year also brought loss. Deb’s brother John passed away in the spring, leaving a huge hole in the family fabric. Two months later, I bid goodbye to my old friend, Alan Chafin. As we age, we’re watching friends and other loved ones struggle with their health issues and recognize this is a new, unwelcome phase of life.
So, 2024 had some terrific highs and two deep lows. The rest was a rich mix of activities that energized and interested us. As retirement looms in our futures, we see these as glimpses of our lives when the work ends.
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