I'm doing admin for the next Fife VegFest (January 19th). It's very exciting to see this list of local vegan companies who have already confirmed their places. We've doubled the venue size and already are nearly full.

We'll be announcing the first batch 'officially' (on mainstream centralised social media) this weekend, so consider this a sneak peak for the fediverse (or the two people who read my website).

I've made plans for next October, which is the furthest I've thought ahead in very many years. And perhaps the first time I've assumed I'll still be in Fife in a year without a second thought..

After serving two terms, I'm not standing in the upcoming W3C TAG election. I have loved working with the TAG, and been privileged to learn so much from the other members and wider community over the last four years. I wouldn't rule out running for election again in future. But for a while at least, I need to dial back the time I spend behind my keyboard, and put more focus into my (geographically) local community.

If you have a vote in the election, I would strongly encourage you to rank highly Lola Odelola and Sarven Capadisli. Lola has a strong technical background, ample experience of W3C processes, and a track record of fighting for marginalised voices in tech; we've had brilliant, hope-filled conversations at TPACs about what the future could be, and how to build the ethical tech and systems to get there. I worked with Sarven for several years in the Social Web WG days and never have I met someone with such a strong sense of justice and so relentless in pursuit of what they believe in. They'll do the work needed for the TAG to have impact, and far better than I ever could. If these two are elected, I'll sleep easy.

It probably goes without saying that you should also re-elect Hadley Beeman, who has been an invaluable member of the TAG for many many years, a great mentor, and a reliable voice of wisdom.

life goes on

(for me)

and it doesn't

(for many)

and i feel it every day

i feel connected to everyone

and helpless

i've been writing more

it's the only thing

that seems reasonable

that doesn't seem

obscene

I've been writing all year, and pretty consistently since July, so NaNoWriMo/WritingMonth feels a bit redundant this year.

It trained me for years in controlling my inner editor, which has been invaluable to me in all kinds of ways. This summer I've been taking classes and learnt some more technical stuff, including the superpowers of plotting and structure. But November has been a special month since I was a teenager, so I'm still going to keep the habit of tracking writing stats.

I'm writing a second draft of the pile of words I made last November. I'll be logging word count on my site and NaNoWriMo - because I like the charts - and I've set chapter goals on WritingMonth because that's more meaningful than word count at the moment.

Also my living room floor is strewn with index cards and post-it notes. I need a tri-fold display board or something.

Throwback to 30th November 2023:

I'm up to 50,151 words and there's a whole 20 minutes of the day left. I still haven't written the fucking ending, but I've sure as hell built up to it...

I wrote the ending last Monday! 11 months later.

• Lots of recuperating on the sofa. My sinuses hurt. Not up for much. Mum left. Lots of nice people brought me treats.
• Finished The Alchemist. Read Kindred, The Color Purple, started Worthing Saga.
• Wrote and did a lot of plotting.
• Made lots of nice things to eat.
• Fought (and won) TDBank, got my USD back after they made my account "dormant".
• Planted winter brassicas and did some more harvests.