Gremlin O’Brien

The year of 2023 has been long, intense and vivid. Each day has ticked by unremarked upon, but I’ve absorbed each day, slowly making changes and riding life’s roller-coaster..

This year I started dating my boyfriend, M. Except for when one of us has been sick or busy, we’ve gone out every week. We’ve tried Mesa, the Mexican restaurant on James St. N. They had excellent margaritas. We tried Shawn & Ed. Brewing Co. and had some fantastic gourmet pizza and beer. We also tried Collective Arts, sitting outside on their patio and drinking sour beer and eating jerk chicken sandwiches. We frequented Williams. We took many walks and had many long conversations while driving around in his car. In the summer, we visited Long Point Beach and spent the day swimming and lying in the sun.

I’m going to write more journal entries this year. Everyday, if I can. And take more pictures.

What else did 2023 hold?

My nephew D. came into this world and my other nephew T. turned five.

My brother started dating his girlfriend A. He also continued exercising everyday and lost a lot of weight, which has inspired me.

On a global scale, we saw the continuation of the war in the Ukraine. The Israel-Palestine conflict raged on, with terrorist attacks from Hamas and bombings from Israel. Trump was indicted again.

I saw Barbie, Oppenheimer, the Little Mermaid, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the Super Mario Bros. Movie,

I read 30 books this year. Some of the highlights were Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, The Shining by Stephen King, Trust by Hernan Diaz, the Princess Bride by William Goldman, and Circe by Madeleine Miller.

I took several courses this year. I finished Poetry and Plays for the second time and passed the exam! I also took General Psychology, Intermediate Composition, and Advanced Fiction Writing. In December, I signed up for and got a jump on three more courses.

I”ll be writing about my New Year’s goals soon. I am approaching 2024 with drive and optimism, and intend on chronicling each day with journal entries and pictures. Here’s to new books, new movies, new courses, new friendships, new adventures.