Having almost reached the midpoint of 2015, I thought it was about time for a brief year-in-review post.

It has been quite the year so far. I have published two more books (The Imperfect Document and ‘Dear Monday…’), and have another one (Quiet on the Outside Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Quiet on the Inside) almost ready to go. I have been going regularly to open-mic readings, and now participate in two writing groups—both of which are useful for trying out new material. In fact, I think my writing has improved significantly, especially since I began writing new poems every day. I am also more willing to edit when necessary.

Most recently, I had three poems appear in the 2015 edition of Spindrift, the art and literary journal published by Shoreline Community College (where I went to properly learn graphic design); and, as I posted a few days ago, I wrote a poem for the Lament for the Dead web site.

Health-wise, I am feeling better. Though I do need to drop some excess weight, I am experiencing less sleep apnea, and very little anxiety. A big surprise is that cutting out bread has helped quite a bit. I miss my toast (and the occasional grilled-cheese sandwich), but that is offset by how much better I feel in general.

On the other hand, though I have had more paying work (copy editing) this year, it has not been enough to keep up with everything, so I finally depleted my savings last month. I am currently looking for more work; at the same time, I have had to resort to asking my folks for help—which I hate doing. (I realize that everyone needs some help now and then, but that doesn’t make it any easier.)

I did get around to starting a Patreon page. Nothing has happened with it yet, but I am cross-posting my poems there, as well as occasionally posting poems that do not appear anywhere else. Some adjustments will undoubtedly be necessary.

Meanwhile, the extra downtime (seven weeks since my last copy-editing assignment) has given me time to embark on a bit of purging. I have been getting rid of some stuff (mostly books, CDs, and videos) that I don’t need anymore. In addition to reducing some of the clutter, and opening up a bit of shelf space, doing this has given me a few extra bucks from time to time. I also came to the conclusion that some of the nostalgia that kept me hanging on to some things was not even good nostalgia; that has made it easier to get rid of things I might otherwise hang onto for too long.

So, halfway through 2015, I am broke as shit, but generally much happier. I just have to keep on going as best I can.