2021 recap

© Emily John Photography

It is the end of October 2022 and I haven’t written about 2021 until now (I guess that is your a preview of how busy 2022 has been). It is important to me to have this record of our year out there, so I'm still posting it.

Sometimes it’s better to remodel a kitchen than move to a new house or to negotiate at your current job rather than switch to a new one. Sometimes all you need is right in front of you.

The kitchen thing was a huge deal for us from about February through May last year. In order to refinish the hardwood and paint the walls, we had to move EVERYTHING out of the main floor of the house. It all went into the garage or basement. It was almost like moving. We lived in the basement for a few months. Looking back, the experience had its positive notes. Maybe it brought us all a little closer together for a little while. But doing the dishes in our kitchenette with limited counter space is something I am happy to be done with.

I can’t write about my job situation here, but let’s just say I was at another crossroads in the fall, and I was rewarded for not making a bigger change. It just took some sleepless nights to get there.

The kids were active in skiing, soccer, and of course school. Veronica really got into manga and anime. She’s becoming an amazing artist, although she doesn’t share her drawings very widely. Omri continues to try new things and seems to enjoy anything that involves being around other people.

I’ve been stepping back from Moon Lake Multimedia work, only taking on 3 or 4 paid gigs over the year. I have been focusing more on my day job but also on pursuing some more personal creative projects in my spare time.

I had a photo accepted into the Minnesota State Fair’s fine arts exhibit, which felt really good. This was my second time getting in over six years of submitting photographs. The framed image was sold at the fair and somebody else contacted me to purchase a copy as well. It wasn’t a huge money-making proposition, but I appreciated the validation. It’s one of the biggest competitions in Minnesota and hundreds of thousands of people walk through that exhibit.

I was even more excited about my short film, “The Decisioneer,” making its debut at the Eagan Art Block film festival in September. I have complicated feelings about showing the film to others. It is not an easily appreciated or crowd-pleasing piece of work. I feel it is important to understand the constraints under which it was made, so I don’t like to show it without an introduction. There is something murky and challenging about it that appeals to me in the way watching old black-and-white foreign films does. By the way, I might blogging less, but I am writing on Letterboxd more.

Family trips from the year included Santa Barbara for spring break and our second week at Camp du Nord. I think we merged our anniversary with R's birthday and spent a night at the Hewing in Minneapolis, which was fun. In the fall we spent a night at a B&B in St. Paul. I'm glad to have a wife who prioritizes our relationship and finds these opportunities for the two of us to get away.

Honestly, the years are blurring together, so maybe I better just stop here. It's almost time to start on the next recap!