Heading down to Portland OR today to join Swatkins and the Positive Agenda for their NYE show, opening for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. One final sojourn in the world of funk before total immersion singing about my feelings, and I’m looking forward to ringing in the New Year doing what for me passes as dancing.

Today is day 364 of 365, approximately 109,000 words into this MoaT experiment. Not surprisingly, I’ve learned a lot from writing every day. Reading back over early entries, I cringe a little at the self-helpy tone and bromide-heavy content, lots of “here’s what I’m thankful for today” kinda stuff. Not that there’s anything wrong with paying attention to the little things, but it was a weight off my shoulders realizing I could write about our reptilian overlords and, if anything, people were more receptive. As the aforementioned Swatkins put it, “God forbid people read something for entertainment.”

I also started with unrealistic goals - I’m going to set aside two hours in the morning to write etc etc. Thankfully, this newsletter’s become an exercise in embracing the moment. There are certain things in my life - songwriting, for example - for which I’m happy setting aside uninterrupted blocks of time, but I write this thing when I can, like right now, waiting on friends in the lobby of the Sheraton Grand in Seattle. So, I don’t have an ironic typewriter, or quiet nook in my house where I dream about a Pulitzer. I mean, I’ve written this thing naked, for christ’s sake.

What I do have is a six figure word count and marked improvement as a writer, all from repurposing a few minutes a day I’d otherwise spend scrolling through Instagram. That feels good.