February

1: stories about survival in the wilderness after a plane crash
2: making food and enjoying it together at a silent dinner
3: sneaking an uncatalogued book out of the library because I really wanted to read it (shh...)
4: (the glory and majesty of) crossing the Delaware
5: dirt-stained clothes after a day of yard work
6: guessing games while we work
7: when "who's the spy among us" games get super amped up
8: hands-on construction work (framing the floor and three walls of a shed)
9: the intense anxiety, then liberating relief of hot-seat truth reveals and learning deeper, more personal things about other people
10: watching someone experience the beach and the ocean for the first time
11: picking up where I left off with a friend I haven't seen in a while (and didn't think I'd get to see again)
12: the strange, disembodied, in-the-limbo freedom of sitting in on classes while not being fully committed to them
13: comfortable, joking rapport with my adviser
14: ordering a tea at Crossroads, then heading upstairs for a more casual committee meeting in the Grille
15: talking with someone at a party
16: Black History Month Jeopardy
17: personalized interactions with patrons (since I know some of them pretty well by now)
18: carried away on autoplay tunes
19: one-on-one alphabet teaching and practice with a first-time signer
20: so much New Mexico representation
21: checking out Queers & Allies and meeting some new people
22: serious throwbacks to the Dimension days
23: writing novel tidbits in left-hand cursive on a chalkboard
24: a sequel to my first ode to Bi Hall, coming at the end of "Show Your Love for McCardell Bicentennial Hall" Week
25: coming across a (somewhat dark) George Harrison album I hadn't heard before
26: accompanying my lab-mates upstairs to release Alfred the ladybug into the greenhouse
27: a good-food lunch after days of disappointment
28: satirical cartoons on architecture and society

January

1: New Year's Day feast (or, a more proper karamu)
2: adding more words to my Spanish vocabulary through reading a novel in the language
3: spying on a nub-nub nibbling the plants in our yard
4: jeering and laughing at daytime soap operas
5: listening to Monstercat hate-lists while stuck awake at 3 a.m.
6: positively devouring the audiobook of The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
7: taking breakfast in a booth seat
8: drawing homework for the first time in a long time
9: "Journey" by Jim Yosef
10: working together on our chair ("sitting plus...")
11: hilarious short films showing rage to the extent of insanity
12: my excitement, after so long, at finally hearing the entirety of Rogue's "Fortress"
13: snapping pics of and with our chair
14: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
15: ingenious, innovative sitting+ ideas
16: when sketching something produces a better result (and is more satisfying) than photographing it
17: Spanish House event - making gazpacho
18: class tour of the all-solar-powered houses on campus
19: inviting a friend over to bake brownies for my vegan birthday
20: walking together under starlight
21: shadowed sliver of an orange crescent moon
22: a challenge to be more poetic in my design
23: playing some paddle tennis
24: dreams of simple gestures filled with tenderness
25: 3-D modeling my tiny house design (by hand and through SketchUp)
26: laughs at language tables
27: reading an entire book in a few hours while on my shift
28: going up on the fire escape to sketch and soak in the winter sun
29: a DROELOE kind of mood
30: seeing classmates' tiny house ideas and drawings
31: the calming, repetitive act of slicing through pages with a paper cutter

December

1: a breathtaking union of gorgeous vocals and strong, powerful electronic melodies and bass supports
2: Twizzlers dipped in frosting
3: the supermoon as seen through spindly, skeletal winter branches
4: mysterious morning mist
5: the pain and hope of animal rescue and recovery (videos)
6: the rushing of the creek under starlight
7: peer-pressuring two club-buddies into coming to language tables
8: humming/singing "You Are Here" and "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)" to myself in memory of John Lennon
9: watching and feeling a little kid's excitement over a button-pressed card dispenser
10: the fortuitous discovery of how smooth my bald head can be
11: snacking on chocolate chips
12: informal phone interview with a New Mexico-based tiny home builder
13: some classmates chatting about driving stickshift
14: song mashups (otherwise known as black MIDI for the brain)
15: "imagine a round-table discussion with these influential people" exam prompt
16: library books to educate myself about Kwanzaa
17: being productive while (stuck) in the airport for many hours
18: filling up a bag of books
19: family game night of Cards Against Humanity
20: making vegan latkes for the last day of Hanukkah
21: learning to crochet (again) and listening to an audiobook
22: walking in step as we share a pair of earbuds and traverse the path around the garden center
23: talasimu, or Kwanzaalien
24: dreams commingling with reality and subconscious desires brought to the surface
25: helping plant the Christmas trees/shrubs
26: first day of Kwanzaa
27: gazing out at the far-off city lights and highway lines while on a night stroll at the edge of the neighborhood
28: "Kunze Kwadoka" by Oliver Mtukudzi
29: blackberry bars and relatable rants
30: messing around on the piano and coming up with a joke album
31: just managing to finish preparing the karamu/birthday meal before 2018

November

1: my friend informing me of a new veg restaurant opening in our hometown
2: epic music playing in my head during a stats test
3: perusing accidentally vegan snack options at the grocery store
4: heavy, dark music to match a pissed-off mood
5: binge-watching vegan "what I eat in a day" videos
6: a killer Uncaged Vol. 3 album mix
7: joking with the guys in the tech booth while they set up lighting cues for our performance
8: Cheat Code 2.0 album mix
9: not getting stage fright in front of the bright lights
10: failed churro experiment (and having a friend over to help out)
11: planning out the closing chapter
12: bath time for Patchie
13: examining the individual patterns of snowflakes sticking to my sweatshirt
14: neatly and efficiently completing my one-page-a-day goal for my final paper
15: music to motivate a workout (and breaking a sweat)
16: catching up on telenovela night
17: everyone reaching to take a freshly-baked sugar cookie off the plate
18: "Dreams" by Rogue ft. Laura Brehm
19: Bi Hall walkabout
20: deliberating on Athens' first move in the 4th-century-Greece (BCE) political simulation
21: bringing a stack of books back to my dorm to get me through Thanksgiving break
22: listening to an audiobook while cooking and doing food prep
23: a simple, filling bowl of mashed potatoes with gravy
24: tiny chickadee hopping onto twigs and dry leaves and belting out its eponymous song
25: "El Deafo" by Cece Bell
26: annotating a manuscript to prep it for draft 2
27: getting unreasonably excited when they serve some of my favorite food in the dining hall
28: the huge, stupid grin that I can't suppress upon revisiting my favorite Spanish song ever, "Billy y las botas"
29: the comforting familiarity and overwhelming beauty of listening to George Harrison's music (even/especially after going so long without hearing it)
30: Monstercat merch package

October

1: "My Galaxy" by Eminence + Markus Cole ft. Q'AILA
2: walking by fields with the breeze blowing over my head and Gregorian chants playing in my ear
3: toying around with cover design ideas for Helven
4: brainstorming recipes with green chile (after receiving a care package from a friend)
5: writing advice from Ellen Brock
6: the results of my first film photography experiment
7: making vegan green chile cornbread
8: a bit of rain blowing through
9: dark chocolate bits in cereal
10: labyrinth procession and meditation to honor a teacher we've lost
11: Rameses B's concept album Reborn
12: fledgling signers braving language tables
13: encabalgamiento at the chapter level
14: watching video reviews of various electric cars
15: beating boredom with a book
16: excitement for an ASL song interpretation
17: chilly air against my cheeks as I bike
18: treadmill reading
19: gathering books from the library for research
20: handing off the driving baton on our road trip to D.C. from VT
21: basic solo D.C. exploration (to/from National Mall)
22: an afternoon hanging out at Georgetown waterfront park
23: a Gallaudet University girl racing up to love on Patchie
24: Contact + one-word story as car games
25: Notaker's "Terra"
26: texting with my physical therapist
27: vegan Halloween candy recommendations from The Vegan Zombie
28: my boss bringing some apples downstairs for me
29: adding "Sentient" by Mr FijiWiji and Tülpa to my SoundCloud playlist
30: wading through a pile of leaves
31: silo skyline

September

1: stroll through the shade along the field's edge
2: photoshoots with Grandpa's old Olympus SLR camera
3: (almost) everybody wanting a taste of what I'm cooking
4: walking desert paths by evening light and the glow of the moon
5: wandering in the bosque
6: the cuteness of Tokyo Machine's "Bubbles"
7: coming across an old video/reality TV show episode we made years ago
8: transporting endangered tadpoles to a more stable habitat
9: moving into a new room
10: meeting and talking to a few of my house-mates
11: getting business matters done and out of the way on the first day
12: friendly catching-up chat with an old classmate
13: a long soliloquy-discussion about the confusing morality of veganism
14: walking the TAM and suddenly seeing deer bounding over an adjacent field
15: the exhilarating, beautiful, uniquely innovative anti-gravity dancing of Bandaloop
16: a story about internet (more-than) friends meeting up in real life
17: catching glimpses of forest animals
18: fresh-faced first-years coming to check out ASL club
19: first time catching the Monstercat podcast live
20: environmental murder-mystery corruption thriller Cromo
21: wild New England meadows tinged with golden evening light
22: Balmorhea's first full-length album release in five years, Clear Language
23: "family" dinner in the Spanish House
24: wandering the shoreline + coves [?] of Lake Champlain
25: a generous turnout at our club meeting
26: an interesting new vegan offering in the dining hall - tofu lentil sloppy joes
27: jugando en el cafecito (playing [games] during Cafecito)
28: gathering to watch "El ministerio del tiempo"
29: language table chats with some new club members
30: "Hooray! Todd Episode!" (S4:E3 of BoJack Horseman)

August

1: parodying the Great British Baking Show while making vegan coffee cake
2: family endeavor to clean my brother's room
3: baking vegan pop tarts
4: uncovering older Stonebank and Stephen Walking tunes
5: the conclusion to the Seeds of America trilogy
6: an afternoon at Tingley Beach with the little ones
7: little crocheted romphim for Boomer
8: a story that combines dream-like time and space with quantum and metaphysics
9: "Make My Day" by DROELOE
10: a post-dinner game of backyard soccer
11: reading an old favorite story and still feeling the same emotions for/with the characters
12: the middle twins' first time traveling by plane
13: chatting with Grandma's neighbors
14: riding the trike around and exploring the neighborhood
15: learning about native Alaskan life
16: playing gin with a New Mexico-raised, Alaska-residing man I met on the train
17: meeting my grandma's boyfriend
18: "Fire Dancer" by Victor Kelleher
19: cooking shepherd's pie to celebrate Virgil's 85th birthday
20: watching the Alaskan wilderness go by
21: wildlife spotting on the tour bus through Denali National Park
22: reconnecting with people we met earlier in our travels
23: brownie cupcake-muffins for Boomer and Pongo's birthday
24: meeting and hanging out with Grandma's besties
25: bundled in a new hoodie
26: "Sun Won't Rise" by Seven Lions feat. Rico and Miella nvmbr edit
27: late afternoon walk in a loop around the neighborhoods
28: seeing the southwestern landscape from up above
29: dropping in and saying hello to an old teacher
30: walking barefoot along the sidewalks of the neighborhood in the falling night
31: roadrunners running through the park