November

1: our first time being in the new place together
2: the big (U) haul
3: morning noon & night riding with The Golden Casket
4: getting some dining stools
5: loading up the Fit for the last* leg of moving
6: Matt (joke?) proposing a writing race between me and Anna where the loser has to delete all their story files
7: One Good Dog
8: when he texts about the roasted veggies he made (and raves about them when I get home)
9: my coworkers somehow accidentally thinking it's my birthday (but hey, they brought vegan donuts, so I ain't complaining)
10: thrift couch window-shopping
11: an industrial backwoods stroll
12: getting reinvested in Extant
13: obsession with a new Sims world
14: a dinner meetup with old coworkers
15: Matt saying of a coworker liking Guy Fieri, "She thinks frosted tips and barbecue sauce are the epitome of masculinity"
16: talking Modest Mouse and Pitchfork with Matt
17: hearing of the depravities of Rimworld
18: a video of my brother performing at a very underground venue
19: playing Cards Against Humanity and Scrawl on our "staff training day"
20: Ghosts & the visceral reaction I had to it
21: Happier Than Ever
22: last day of a four-day week before a four-day weekend
23: a critique session in our writing group
24: stocking up + starting some of the food a day early
25: quick thinking in a plumbing crisis
26: a walk around the patio while on the phone
27: watching the new season of F is for Family together
28: recreating the KFC bowl with leftover mash and Gardein chick'n tenders
29: the greater diversity of interactions in the Sims 3
30: the age disparity truly being revealed when I say Pride & Prejudice (2006) was my favorite childhood movie and Matt admits to writing a college paper on it when it came out

October

1: stumbling upon the La Cueva arroyo trail
2: JB getting excited about my juggling ability and showing off the juggling stash he keeps at work
3: Life's Work
4: sudoku at the desk
5: a trail stroll on my break
6: a discussion/debate over exploitation vs representation
7: Jack and Erin's podcast
8: absolutely vibing to Sylvan Esso
9: a Where's Waldo-style book of photos where a border collie is hiding in different landscape images
10: seeing the book I put on hold in the book drop and knowing I'm next in line
11: traversing gravel trails, dirt roads, and arroyo-side paths in the northeastern quadrant of the city
12: almost approaching JB's book tower record (and the stack tumbling and crashing down as soon as I walk away from it)
13: coming to a fuller appreciation of Feist just in time to start listening to another album of hers
14: after hearing "1234" and remembering it somehow, learning that it was buried in my memory from the 2008 Grammy Nominees album
15: a fuzzy-bellied roadrunner trying to catch grasshoppers
16: unexpected skellie in the back office
17: talking about The Lathe of Heaven with MB before his sci-fi book group
18: driving by apartments to scope them out
19: a near-essay of a book review
20: printing out my own staff pick labels
21: first apartment tours
22: following my apartment tour guide around the city
23: trying a script format to break writer's block
24: "TIGUANA" (or, the damn cleverest vanity plate I've seen to date - on a Volkswagen Tiguan)
25: two fairly solid offers after hectic searching
26: my coworker inviting me along to her writing group (& everyone sharing their prompt tidbits)
27: transposing the script format to prose
28: returning to a Sims family full of drama I don't remember instigating
29: Sims 4 binge day two
30: bunny snacking on fallen leaves
31: coworker JTA wearing a very cozy-looking Chewbacca onesie

September

1: my coworkers' personalities coming out little by little
2: a walk around Los Poblanos
3: catching vanity plates like Pokemon
4: mixing up my fast-food Beyond Meat tacos
5: slippery elm going down smooth
6: water guillotines, or, chilling in the Bachechi Open Space
7: videos of dogs using buttons to talk
8: nearly bringing a ninety-year-old woman to tears and my coworker giggling about it
9: the immediate difference in reading a book that captures my interest (as opposed to slogging through because I thought it might)
10: How Stella Learned to Talk
11: my coworker and I complimenting each other's blue raspberry Fits
12: making red curry at home near (though never quite) as good as Thai Vegan's
13: coming across the under-the-desk legal pad of 10+ years' worth of incident reports
14: JB teaching me step 1 in mending books
15: skull-shaped candles
16: making book lists on Goodreads
17: starting Dead Space 3 together
18: One Last Stop
19: Eamon & Bec's new cabin reminding me of my aunt and uncle's house + property
20: catching up with old and new library coworkers at Erna Fergusson for the new employee policy training
21: writing chat with my coworkers who are hosting the library's NaNoWriMo program
22: reminiscing and cross-referencing our book lists
23: reading from Educated while listening to Young the Giant
24: a 12-mile ride after a good long sedentary while
25: the homestyle bluegrass/folksy vibes of Feist's Metals
26: some much-needed journal venting
27: playing a Yusuf/Cat CD on the circ area boombox and stirring some nostalgia for a coworker
28: hiding in the far corner amongst the paperback spinners, book in hand and listening to the rain outside
29: judging a book by its cover (& title) and being inspired to pick it up
30: walking along parts of my commute route and experiencing it in finer detail

July & August

July

1: breezing through a relationship self-help ebook while at the desk
2: visiting two of the eighteen Albuquerque library branches that I haven't been to before
3: switching gears to a new audiobook: a new narrator with new cadence, a new story with different style & pacing
4: hiking the Chamisa Trail
5: buffalo taco + kale wraps
6: speechless moments at work
7: "Mickey's Descent into Madness"
8: chatting with my coworker during the last hour of our workday
9: Foals - What Went Down
10: playing darts with my brother
11: seeing the scene in Django Unchained that inspired the meme
12: when the book is basically a recap of stuff I learned in college 
13: CloudNone's Last Train Home EP
14: seeing the Karen haircut in the wild
15: him mixing me up an Arnold Palmer to take with me to work
16: starting the Take a Hint, Dani Brown audiobook
17: Supernova
18: watching some Disney/Pixar before work
19: roasted cauli + Brussels
20: an after-work nap
21: trying a new multiplayer game
22: the predictable misunderstanding that almost fucks everything up right before the end of the book
23: watching him get his hair cut
24: eating out at a new-to-us New Mexican place
25: tiptoeing through the night sprinkle
26: getting hit in the feels by Atypical Season 4
27: artichokes and olives on salad
28: returning to an OG eating spot
29: my coworker's invention of DVD Jenga
30: Outer Wilds
31: the South Valley Library

August

1: money counting
2: chili mac for lunch
3: bitchin' about the service even as we keep coming back for the food
4: Hour of the Witch
5: ice cream and sorbet
6: Sweet Tooth
7: eating out at Rosemary
8: a documentary about the romance novel industry
9: Transparent
10: roasted chickpeas and veggies
11: crispy cauliflower sandwich
12: when the comic is way darker than the tv series
13: blustery winds through rolled-down car windows
14: Boardwalk Empire
15: his arrogance completely snuffed by the first stall-out
16: a few moments of cuddling, even at the price of there-and-back lunch-rush traffic
17: braid looking absolutely TIGHT (with barely enough hair to pull it off)
18: observing a fledgling pigeon with its parents
19: a unique narrator voice in a novel
20: finding my way to the anglerfish fossil (with a little helpful nudge)
21: when the character you thought was being strung along was actually the one who was lying
22: another Fit parked by my Fit at my workplace
23: Barry
24: first time seeing someone's gender as X on a driver's license
25: jaywalking over to the AutoZone for a compressor to solve my low tire pressure situation
26: well-wishes and send-offs from my coworkers
27: finding Feldspar in Dark Bramble
28: playing Island Saver again for the first time in a year
29: listening to Tea for the Tillerman 2 with my dad
30: his impromptu breakfast for me on orientation morning
31: starting work at a new* branch

June

1: flamingo 'fit with pink Crocs 

2: shooting the shit with our server at the Acre

3: everyone saying goodbye and congrats to a retiring coworker

4: an unprecedented diversion to the Beyond

5: hiking in the badlands (El Malpais Nat'l Monument)

6: a vlog of a Tesla roadtrip through the southwest

7: taking a walk during my afternoon break

8: calling in to recoup

9: firing off at twilight

10: 77,777 miles

11: chonky pitbulls walking around the gun store

12: finally getting the Incredibles 2 memes

13: baking buffalo bites (cauliflower + tofu)

14: "Tap Dancer" (as a sign of my growing love for the album)

15: him frantically looking for his phone while it's in his hand

16: first marksmanship lesson

17: Love and Other Words

18: an adult-establishment adventure

19: trying to find the nastiest local apartment listing on Zillow

20: Lego-style picture guide for furniture assembly

21: The House in the Cerulean Sea

22: watching Invincible together

23: slipping into a pocket of pitch black

24: a patron telling me my mohawk reminds her of an Ethiopian braided hairstyle

25: a surprisingly fast visit at the packed urgent care

26: him calling in so we can spend the day with my fam

27: jumping into my parents' Broadchurch binge

28: starting the Good Omens audiobook & Amazon prime series in tandem

29: the opening paragraphs of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 

30: stormy evening hike in the foothills

x

May

 1: online shopping on my phone while sitting in a store parking lot 
2: a book that I stumbled upon by chance brilliantly and uncannily expressing my current existential dreads and feelings
3: the new straight-to-carts check-in system
4: trying a menu-offered vegan option at Scalo
5: finally getting an interview for one of the  environmental internships I applied for
6: moving some tables and chairs from the piled-up covid stash
7: a momentary storm
8: a hike in the Jemez
9: sort-of recreating the papas rústicas I loved from this one Chilean restaurant (and trying out Bitchin' Sauce)
10: talkin' cars and ABQ drivers with my fave Uber driver (I've only ridden with him twice, but still)
11: browsing Craigslist cars
12: We are never meeting in real life
13: running to meet my on-time Uber driver
14: Battleship Rock
15: checking out the Fit in person
16: reflexive expression of my book characters' nervous anticipation
17: my car story coming to its happy ending
18: bringing home the Fit
19: vibing to CDs checked out from the library
20: driving to the end of the road(s)
21: ridealongs with the fam
22: car stuff with my dad, music with my mom, and projects with my bro
23: a mini road trip to & from Elephant Butte 
24: knowing Bojack so well that I can enjoy it even when the TV is smashed to absolute hell 
25: sharing Izi on the Honda Fit subreddit
26: eating out at one of our OG restaurants
27: season 2 of Special
28: climbing the rocks to look over the stream & falls
29: downhill coasting but having to weave through a dangerously narrow labyrinth of cacti
30: Dear White People 
31: three Fits in a line on the highway (one of them being my car's twin)

April

1: a friendly neighborhood cat accompanying me partway on my journey
2: my wrecked legs giving the illusion of a hard workout even though I bailed early
3: revisiting songs from my 2020 playlists
4: the Uber driver letting me DJ on his unbelievably bass-heavy sound system
5: DoorDash delivering lunch to my work
6: rental minivan giving me flashbacks to driving on school trips
7: a spirited little disagreement over whether "grey" or "gray" is the proper spelling for the color
8: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
9: car detailing videos
10: the grotesquely suburban experience of buying a full shopping cart's worth of groceries and bringing them home in a minivan 
11: 50/50
12: "Dudes who are down bad"
13: going to Target after work for some Ben & Jerry's Netflix & Chillll'd non-dairy ice cream
14: doing a phone interview from the comfort of the minivan's third row seats
15: being commissioned for a children's room project
16: Such a Fun Age 
17: David Attenborough's A Life on Our Planet
18: the dealership deploying the suave salesmen only on the repeat visits
19: him rolling over to check the time on his phone, then casually commenting on it being a year
20: morning moments in the civic plaza
21: the lady at FedEx coming over to the copy machines for a chat
22: the insurance claim finally feeling somewhat taken care of
23: a growing obsession with Geoguessr 
24: rest stop at a gazebo at the midway point on my bike ride
25: the fact that Bryan Cranston's autobiography opens with the letting-Jane-die scene from Breaking Bad
26: learning about RAGBRAI from a coworker and adding it to my bucket list
27: filling six book donation boxes
28: a romance featuring elderly protagonists
29: when the settlement check gets posted
30: hiking around the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve