First Thanksgiving in 2 years.
COVID-19, the novel corona virus pandemic killed Thanksgiving for two years for my family. Some of them are still terrified of aking contact with us. But the uncle we usually spend Thanksgiving with invited us over. We had turkey stuffing, ham, mashed potatos, mashed yams, and a kale salad. Plus 4 kinds of pies. Our uncle is convinced age takes a toll and there won't be another Thanksgiving like this year. (Unless his grown kids take over.) His sibilings doubt his words or think he's too pessimistic.
My sister gave birth to a baby girl last December so I've been getting used to being an uncle. Everyone at my uncle's house loved her. But she still has a great sense of stanger-danger. She is indeed a cute and precious little dumpling!
ssj_mato and I have been gettng more into Vtubers since 2020, "The Year of the Simp". Companies and indie vtubers have sprung up from the boom caused by people being cooped up. 2022 was a year for more cons to get back into the swing of things. A new con in San jose debuted to ride the Vtuber wave. OffKai Expo. Specifically more focussed on the vtuber aspect of the anime fandom. hololive was the comany that got ssj_mato and I into the vtuber rabbit hole beyond AI Kizuna. They made the first real forray into the English speaking market with hololiveEN. They didn't show up. But smaller company vtubers did make live appearances via screen broadcast. The panels are 90% vtubers on screen. They include how to get started yourself as a vtuber. Tips on making your own merchandise. Character model rigging. There were also live screen performances of v-singers I paid $20 to meet-and-greet Tenma Maemi of Phase Connect. A strange and lovely experience. TTalking with a cartoon kitsune on a big screen. She was broadcasting from Japan and could see us via camera.
Halloween was nothing special. Just a work day. I tried to make a mono-eye theme Jack - Lantern based on the Beholder of D&D. Just watched vtuber Halloween streams and scary story videos on YouTube after work. Ate a little candy. If I were a more affluent mamber of this society, like part of the bourgeoise, I'd have a more optmal choice of getting to celebrate more holidays. I work on Christmas this year. But my life could be worse At least I kept a steady job during the pandemic shutdown. Had food in by belly and access to the internet and vtubers. .
I spend the last couple years reading an online isekai novel called THE WANDERING INN. It has humor, action adventure, drama, character development, nuance and deconstruction. It's still going. I highly recomend it as reading.