New Year 2026

Mr.BlackFebruary 7, 2026About 3 min

I did one of these for 2025, so its only fair that 2026 gets one too, though it is a month late.

2025

2025 was a strange year, and I don't think that the times will get any better. It makes it hard to do a retrospective look at it because it is hard to extrapolate any lessons or anything of value from it. It is hard to not think that things are falling apart, and that the music is about to stop and what I'm holding is all there is to hold. This isn't a healthy position to take, but as prices go up and basic things like fucking RAM get priced to oblivion, it does raise the temperature of everything going forward.

I sit in a privileged place in my life: I don't worry about anything financially, my health needs are met mostly, and I could theoretically do whatever I want with this foundation I've built.

So: 2026. Lets break it down real quick.

Creative Goals

Creatively, I want to do two or so things and maybe a bonus third and fourth thing as time allows.

I want to convert the story I've been writing on my typewriter into something. This is slightly more complicated than one may think because the thing I'm writing is more of an artifact of the story rather than the story itself. I would still need to extract the story from the artifact in order to do any publishing, but that is fine.
I want to do more little zines, the really big one I did was good but I should be doing more little things. Finishing more things in general.
Continue Writing for this blog. I was doing ok but I need to find a better cadence than "when I feel like it."
(Bonus) I want to get back on the game-making horse, so that will involve learning Godot more.
(Bonus) I got some Blender knowledge that I want to capture because it seems like I answer the same questions over and over.

I highly value the creative output I do, and I refresh my resolve for it not to be tainted by AI. Just because I am made to do it at work does not mean I should let it taint this channel to myself. Nothing I write here is AI, nothing I output visually is AI.

Life Stuff

The goal is to get a house, or equivalent. I need a space to do life stuff, and a bigger kitchen. Submarine kitchens on WWII vessels are bigger than what I got.

At risk of being the most boring person alive, I also need to get out and exercise more.

I also need to consume more, as strange as it sounds. I should be part of the world if I hope to create things in it, and that involves getting out, reading, watching, participating, and so on.

The typewriter exercise is good, but I need to have things to write about. And, the best way to get in front of that, is to do things and see things.

Goals from 2025

If you go back to the bit I did for 2025, you will notice that the goals are roughly similar. That is no accident. A lot of that comes from my life position not really changing that much, for better or for worse.

Let's just do a reminder and check those really quick.

I have the train trip I wanted to do last year morphed into a different form scheduled for later, so got that going for me.
Pinball Expo (the one in Chicago in October) is on hold until I have a house, because there is a real danger I come back with a machine.
HalfBox zine I'll need to retool because the last one wore me out bad. I think I have more than proven it is in me, but I need to win the war against myself when it comes to that. What I did should not have been a 65 page non-fiction epic.
Lancer: One day. There is, however, a CAIN game that I think will happen first.
Cabin in the woods for vacation depends on if Pinball Expo happens, and I should call that in the air by the end of April.
Upgrading this website: I think I did ok, it needs more work forever but I have it doing exactly what I need to do, up to and including a gallery portion. I do still need to collate my OCT work, but that is a big project.
Gardening: that reminds me, I should get some sprouts going.

My last goal, and I think I've been doing an ok job at this, is to put my money where my mouth is. Offer material support. Be there for those you can help. Remember that one day there will come a day where you can't.