2013: year in review

Two weeks into 2014, I’ve still got my neck craned, looking back on the year past. And in my mind, if writers and critics can publish their “best of 2013” lists in November, I can publish mine a whole 2 weeks into the new year.

It’s times like these when I miss the days of faithfully writing in my (live)journal almost every day. I have definitely fallen out of the habit of dilligently documenting my life, but still relish in reflecting: stepping back at least once a year to take stock of my accomplishments, my failures. On what has changed, and what hasn’t.

2013 was eventful, to say the least.

If you’re a longtime reader, you know how this goes. Scroll down below to see 12 pictures of my face, accompanied by a brief summary of what went on in my life that month, paired with recommended reading/listening.

If you’re new here, here’s 2012 and 2011.

I put three stars next to the pieces I find ***Flawless.

January:

• My cat Louise moved into my house and my heart
• Dealt with a lot of stress at work
• Was frustrated by a lot of political issues, namely media coverage of Idle No More, and you know, the usual I’m always writing about here.
• Was completely enamored with Caroline Polachek for a hot minute

Recommended Reading:

• When Lovers Die by Malcom Harris (January 8, 2013)
• How to be a Person in the Age of Autoimmunity by Carolyn Lazard (January 17, 2013)
• Setting the Record (and the Hair) Straight by Mia Farrow (January 23rd, 2013)
• As Long as the Grass is Green by Thomas King (January 24, 2013)
• Betty Friedan Did Not Kill Home Cooking by Emily Matchar (January 25, 2013)
• Nerd Rage: Gendered Tech During the Rise of Radio by Matt Novak (January 30th, 2013)

February:

• I wrote about my frustrations with the world of fashion blogging
• I became more and more of a cat lady with every passing minute
• Margaret Atwood tweeted at me
• Margaret Atwood tweeted at me about Léa Seydoux’s cleavage
• Margaret Atwood.

Recommended Reading:

• Michelle, Beyoncé and the Fruitless Politics of Respectability by Mychal Denzel Smith (February 5, 2013)
• Fatshion Police: How Plus-Size Blogging Left Its Radical Roots Behind by Kelly Faircloth (February 6th, 2013)
• Mental Health: Let’s Talk by Bossy Femme (February 12, 2013)

I was babely in the month of March so you get two photos:

March:

• Said goodbye to a very important mentor in my (radio makin’) life
• Admired the awesome new graffiti in my neighbourhood
• Cheered on Simon has he published a phenomenal new book, Mélanie.
• Cried my heart out when Jason Molina passed
• Cut my hair real short again and had lots of feelings/questions about gender

Recommended Reading:

• Who’s got their eyes on Canadian Spies? by Tim Growes (March 1, 2013)
• ***Looking for Azealia’s Harlem Shake, Or How We Mistake the Politics of Obliteration for Appropriation by Nicholas Brady (March 7, 2013)
• How Fashion is Queer by Alison Bancroft (March 14, 2013)
• I Am Not Your Wife, Sister or Daughter. I Am A Person. by Anne Thériault (March 18, 2013)
• Anatomy of a meme: The real story behind the Swedish mannequins that looked like “real women” by Jeff Yang (March 18, 2013)

April:

• Visited my family in Trenton for the last time before they moved
• Spent a lot of time thinking about place, home, dis/location
• Was fascinated and terrified by rape culture, consumed far too much media about it…
• Listened to excessive amounts of Mykki Blanco
• Read that piece by Ariana Reines again and again and again
• Enjoyed freakishly warm temperatures

Recommended Reading:

• ***An Hourglass Figure: On Photographer Francesca Woodman by Ariana Reines (April 4th, 2013)
• Navigating Masculinity As A Black Transman: “I Will Never Straighten Out My Wrist”  by Kai Green (April 5, 2013)
• On Calling Things By Name: Rape, Exploitation and Victim-Blaming Aren’t Bullying by Beth Lyons (April 11th, 2013)
• Anonymous Comes of Age by Simon Lewsen (April 23, 2013) 
• Hollywood’s utter failure to accurately portray female journalists by Neda Semnani (April 30th, 2013)

May:

• Was really really pissed by tragedy in Bangladesh
• Enjoyed my partner’s newly acquired 1963 Mercury Meteor a lot
• Became really interested by sound art

Recommended Reading:

• ‘The Great Gatsby’ Still Gets Flappers Wrong by Lisa Hix (May 3, 2013)
• Fat Queer Tells All: On Fatness and Gender Flatness by Allie Shyer (May 6, 2013)
• The Death Toll in Bangaldesh is a Feminist Issue by Flavia Dzodan (May 10, 2013)
• I Hired an Esteemed Cat Photographer to Take Photos of My Cat by William Foster (May 14, 2013)
• Lost and Found by Teow Lim Gow (May 22, 2013)
• ***James Salter’s A Sport and a Pastime by Sarah Nicole Prickett (May 29, 2013)
• Seventy Years Later: The Zoot Suit Riots and the Complexity of Youth Culture (May 30, 2013)
• Forever 69: Fu*k the Commodification of Sex by Fiona Duncan (May 31, 2013)

June:

• Was pretty sad all the time
• Thought a lot about this

Recommended Reading:

• Why the Spying Scandal Is a Serious Racial Justice Issue by Imara Jones (June 17, 2013)
• If your name is Ahmed or Fatima, you live in fear of NSA surveillance by Anna Lekas Miller  (June 19, 2013)

July:

• Worked a lot, challenged myself
• Started spending too much time/money at the new record shop
• Met Nadège
• Went out lots of amazing little weekend roadtrips in our Meteor
• Found my dream house for sale
• Worked too much

Recommended Reading:

• Reclaiming ourselves by name by Christi Belcourt (July 1, 2013)
• Punk Is Not Just for Straight, White Guys by Suzy X (July 25, 2013)
• The Generation We Love to Dump On by Matt Bors (July 9, 2013)
• ***George Zimmerman, Not Guilty: Blood on the Leaves by Jelani Cobb (July 13, 2013)
• ***The Violence of Organized Forgetting by Henry A. Giroux (July 22nd, 2013)
• Rape Joke by Patricia Lockwood (July 25, 2013)

August:

• Iris came to visit
• Went to Sappyfest (after years of saying I would, finally!)
• Went swimming in the OCEAN
• Drove more in one day than I ever had before (I learned how to drive in 2013!)
• Got a flat tire
• …and then spent the rest of the month working way too much.
• Oh yeah! Hosted a lovely house show

Recommended Reading:

• H is for hubris, Hugo; S is for sordid, Schwyzer by Flavia Dzodan (August 4, 2013)
• Goodbye Ohbijou: Notes on music, labour, and the impossibilities of satisfying multicultural ideals in Canada by Casey Mecija (August 16, 2013)
• Just because I wear vintage… by Mary Van Note (August 22, 2013)

September:

• (proposed) charter charter charter charter (of “Quebec values”)
• MARSEILLES!
• Seeing Louise Bourgeois and Kiki Smith pieces in the Palais des Papes, par hazard
• On my way back from France, a 5-day pit stop in Montreal
• Going to see the expos at Musée McCord with Karina, loved Wearing our Identity
• Spent a lot of time thinking about pop culture criticism

Recommended Reading:

• Can the White Girl Twerk? by Ayesha Siddiqi (September 5, 2013)
• The Hijab is Not a Political Tool by Humera Jabir (September 24, 2013)
• ***She Came to Riot by Jennifer Pan (September 25, 2013)
• Why Fashion Should Stop Trying to be Diverse by Minh-Ha T. Pham (September 30, 2013)

October:

• Worked a lot.
• Saw La Corriveau’s cage
• Read… a lot.

Recommended Reading:

• always already// why you can’t crip cyberspace by jes sachse (October 8, 2013)
• ***The Courtesan Dies at the End by Tom Jokinen (October 9, 2013)
• Enough With The Open Letters: Let’s Talk About Appropriation And Race by Renee Martin (October 9, 2013)
• In Defense of Rihanna by Muna Mire (October 16, 2013)
• White Feminist Fatigue Syndrome by Brenna Bhandar & Denise Ferreira da Silva (October 21, 2013)
• Seeing me Seeing You: The Trouble with Blue is the Warmest Colour by Manohla Dargis (October 25, 2013)
• Dig Deep: Beyond Leaning in by bell hooks (October 28, 2013)
• My Lai, Sexual Assault and the Black Blouse Girl: 45 Years Later, One of America’s Most Iconic Photos Hides Truth in Plain Sight by Valerie Wieskamp (October 29, 2013)
• The Musée des Beaux-Arts Shows its Colonial Hand in Inukt Affair by Joseph Henry (October 31st, 2013)
• Why Is the American Media Ignoring Nabeela Rehman’s Testimony About Drone Attacks? by Rohin Guha (October 31st, 2013)

November:

• Had an amazing night with Annemarie
• Went skating with Annemarie
• Cultivated quality time with friends

Recommended Reading:

• ***The Disconnectionists by Nathan Jurgenson (November 13, 2013)
• Lily Allen’s Anti Black Feminism by Ayesha A. Siddiqi (November 13, 2013)
• Hard Out Here for a White Feminist by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd (November 13, 2013)
• The Fashion Pirate takes on the Fashion Critic by Arabelle Sicardi (November 18, 2013)
• Trans Day of Remembrance 2013 by Diana Tourjee (November 19, 2013)
• The wrongheaded obsession with “vanishing” indigenous peoples by Elissa Washuta (November 24th, 2013)
• ***Girl trouble: we care about young women as symbols, not as people by Laurie Penny (November 30, 2013)

December:

• Went to Toronto for work for the first time ever
• Met some of my radio heroes
• Spent (quality) time with great old friends
• BEYONCÉ
• Accomplished some major goals
• The Atlantic called me “an inquisitive Canadian researcher“
• Walked along my favourite beach in Petawawa on a winter’s night with my parents

Recommended Reading:

• Boy Next Door by Stacey May Fowles (December, 2013)
• Your Friends and Rapists: How dick culture permits the crime by Sarah Nicole Prickett (December 16, 2013)
• 2013: The Year ‘the Stream’ Crested by Alexis C. Madrigal (December 12, 2013)
• Anticipating the Revolution: On Beyoncé and Beyoncé by Chris Randle (December 18, 2013)

Happy new year.