If I count my years by the number of gray hairs on my head then
I would be ageless and immortal
38 years on this planet, and it’s been rough going here and there, but I haven’t yeeted myself into the sun yet, so that feels good. And at the rate this planet is heating up, I may not even have to. Haha, climate change jokes, I have to laugh or else I will cry.
Anyway, this year I am fighting a losing battle with the encroaching grays on my head, and I don’t really mind, except I would rather they unionize and come in all at once so I could be a cool, youthful looking silver-haired person instead of a brunette who may or may not have dandruff? (Seriously, I can’t tell you how many times I have caught the glitter of silver under the bathroom lights and thought it was dandruff, except I don’t have dandruff; it was a gray hair.)
Having a mid-year birthday is a little strange. As a child it meant no one came to my birthday parties because everyone was traveling on vacation. As an adult, it means I can’t really reflect on the past year of my life because it always feels so bisected by the turning of the calendar. Nevertheless, let’s give it the old college try, shall we?
At a certain point past the age of 32, I’ve sort of just…forgotten how old I actually am. In all aspects (except physically1) I still very much feel as though I am the same person I was when I was 25. Now that I’m 38, I’m just going to round up for 40. I mean, I never was very good at math.
So, as per yearly tradition, I am offering a discount on a paid subscription to and she abandons her mind to obscure arts. I am changing things up a little going forward (more to come later), but let’s just say that I’m going to be putting a lot more content behind a paywall, mostly because I am going to be putting more of my real, vulnerable self online and I need that bit of extra protection. More for me than for you, if that makes sense.
Still, I hope there are other incentives that entice you to subscribe!
🚨 From now until SEPTEMBER 1, 2023, you can get a 20% discount on a subscription to my newsletter by using the link below 🚨
what can i expect as a paying subscriber?
Behind-the-scenes stuff — drafts, inspiration, annotations, deleted scenes, etc. for all my writing, including to-be-published work. The posts are going to be structured a bit more like my old newsletters, less essay (...maybe), and more stuff. Sketches, drawings, inspirations, etc.
Twice as much content. More essays, more podcast episodes.
I also have a Discord server to which my paying subscribers have access but...I am old, so I’m still trying to figure that out. 👵🏻
Ebook versions of Unadulterated Wintersong, said previously unpublished novel, as well as all annotations for my published work, in addition to PDFs.
Blogs, meditations, and journal entries that are a lot more candid and open about the publishing process and my personal life.
Anyway, here’s to another trip around the sun for me. 생축, JJ.
And even then, aside from the lactose intolerance ㅠㅠ I don’t feel the adverse affects of aging just yet.
Happy birthday :)