I know the time for this has probably passed, but I consider strongly making a small summary of the past year's activities - of our family - 'the year that went by'. There is surely much to be thankful for, proud of, and as always, plenty of mistakes to learn from (and hopefully, not repeat in 2013).
Some mixture of inertia, shyness, laziness and lack of time ensure that I don't indulge this. Year after year, I plan it out, write a few sentences in my head, and then.. just..drop it. As the new year brings with it new challenges and pulls me in different directions, I just forget about the past one, fairly quickly.
My postdoc advisor from more than a decade ago, has a tradition of putting together a family newsletter and sending it to tons of people on his list. In the initial years I used to receive a hard copy in the mail, though recently, they just email the pdf.
Its wonderfully put together and talks about the highs and lows, and focusses attention on the achievements of the various members of his family. As the years pass, I notice that much more space is dedicated to the kids than the older members, and it is all quite amazing.
I remember back in college when we were (briefly) the editors of the campus magazine Campastimes, how hard it was to cull the material into two pages, and no more. We followed the three column format, much like this one. And boy, it was a HUGE PAIN.
This was back in the day when computers were hard to come by. Back in the day when editing software left much to be desired. Back in the day when our proficiency with anything other than the actual writing of the articles was very rudimentary, at best.
My main interest was in the writing itself, though I admit that I got enthusiastic about the formatting and the other appearance related aspects of the magazine by the end. I have always dreamed of putting something like that together again, especially now in these 'modern' times when it ought to be much easier to do.
But when I contemplate something like this, there is a back of mind voice that discourages me. Clean up your email folder missy it seems to say. Organise your office madam, it admonishes. Read more articles, girl, it says. Oh well. We'll see.
Some mixture of inertia, shyness, laziness and lack of time ensure that I don't indulge this. Year after year, I plan it out, write a few sentences in my head, and then.. just..drop it. As the new year brings with it new challenges and pulls me in different directions, I just forget about the past one, fairly quickly.
My postdoc advisor from more than a decade ago, has a tradition of putting together a family newsletter and sending it to tons of people on his list. In the initial years I used to receive a hard copy in the mail, though recently, they just email the pdf.
Its wonderfully put together and talks about the highs and lows, and focusses attention on the achievements of the various members of his family. As the years pass, I notice that much more space is dedicated to the kids than the older members, and it is all quite amazing.
I remember back in college when we were (briefly) the editors of the campus magazine Campastimes, how hard it was to cull the material into two pages, and no more. We followed the three column format, much like this one. And boy, it was a HUGE PAIN.
This was back in the day when computers were hard to come by. Back in the day when editing software left much to be desired. Back in the day when our proficiency with anything other than the actual writing of the articles was very rudimentary, at best.
My main interest was in the writing itself, though I admit that I got enthusiastic about the formatting and the other appearance related aspects of the magazine by the end. I have always dreamed of putting something like that together again, especially now in these 'modern' times when it ought to be much easier to do.
But when I contemplate something like this, there is a back of mind voice that discourages me. Clean up your email folder missy it seems to say. Organise your office madam, it admonishes. Read more articles, girl, it says. Oh well. We'll see.
