what do you want to do before 2023 ends?

TAKIN' THE BUS TO ACCOUNTABILITY TOWN!

The other day I bought fellow geology-artist Vojta’s calendar for 2024, A Year With Rocks. Each month is paired with one of his rock paintings: April is orbicular grandiorite, August is lapis lazuli, and so on.

The coolest thing about this calendar, though, is the way in which it follows the timeline of our Earth’s history. I’ll let Vojta’s description do the talking:

I took the age of the Earth (4.6 billion years) and condensed it into 366 days. That means that each day of 2024 corresponds to 12, 568,306 years of our planet’s history. I chose several important events (such as the first emergence of life, the Great Oxidation Event or the extinction of dinosaurs) and calculated which day of the year they correspond to.

If you know a bit about the last 4.6 billion years, you’ll then know that a LOT goes on in the ‘December’ of our timeline. I mean, in late November, we’ve only just had the Cambrian explosion, when all the complex critters came to be.

Dinosaurs appear around the third week of December, and then disappear just after Christmas.

And when do humans show up?

Less than one second to midnight.

🕰 Time Is Running Out

Here on the final day of November (also St Andrews Day, happy Scotland day to all my Scots and Scotland-lovers), I sit with a list in my head of the things I want to get done before the end of the year. And I kinda feel a bit like that calendar.

It’s almost the end of the year! Quick, get the dinosaurs out! Get another ice age on the go! Where’s the humans? Oh, god, don’t tell me we forgot about the humans!?

Of course, the Gregorian calendar is a human construct and time can really be anything. A new year or new season can be marked by a number of things, like a solstice, a birthday, or a new school term. Maybe the year doesn’t really refresh for you until you celebrate Chinese New Year or Rosh Hashanah.

For me, though, December is it. Did you know that until recently, Scotland didn’t even really celebrate Christmas? My Grannie has told me this many times. We get two public holidays on Hogmanay (what we call New Years) because that was our main winter celebration. Christmas only became a public holiday in Scotland in 1958! And even then, we were still more keen on Hogmanay!

So with December looming, I have a bunch of things I want to get done. And when they’re complete, I can step into the new year with a fresh feeling of fancy freshness! Time to roll out the dinosaurs and the ice age!

In order to make sure I actually do these things, I’m now going to share them with you. Let’s take it to Accountability Town!

🏫 Accountability Town

Welcome weary traveller, to Accountability Town! What brings you here to our efficient village?

Oh, you’re lookin’ to finish a project eh? Get that laundry done? Pick up your dry cleaning [crap, I have just realised I have to pick up my dry cleaning], or even just stay committed to your daily doings? Well, come right in.

okay i want to play this game now

Take a a ticket in the lobby of our town hall, and when your number is called, stand up and swear yourself in as a new citizen of Accountability!

Do you solemnly swear to finish what you need to finish before the end of the year? Do you commit to being a good citizen of Accountability Town? Will you help your fellow villagers stay on track? Will you agree to not obsessively check Instagram or Facebook or decide that you need to do a deep clean of your entire house because you can’t work if your house is not entirely deep cleaned?

Grand, just sign on the dotted line, my friend!

the mayor is not evil and will not hunt you down if you fail to finish what you said you would get done in Accountability Town

📜 My Own List

This morning I went to my favourite branch of Gail’s, the London purveyor of croissants I could shove in my mouth until I die from butter poisoning, and sat down to doodle and write in my A6 notebook. I have about 30 pages left of this notebook, and it’s my aim to fill them all by December 31st. I am quite bad for finishing up entire notebooks, but there’s no better feeling than cracking open a new Moleskine or Leuchtturm in January and pretending that this is the year you are going to commit to a regular notekeeping habit. I am going to gift myself that pristine moment of delusion, goddammit. So, I am going to finish my notebook by Hogmanay.

Secondly, I have about 4 books left until I have hit my reading goal for the year. It’s going to be a modest 30 in total, but for me this is a really good number! I go through phases of being a big reader and then not being able to pick up my Kindle for a few weeks at a time. But this year I’ve found that I have let myself read loads, and have read some amazing books, as well as some real stonkers (magical castle school? brooding male love interest? well, ya got me hooked). So my other goal is that I am going to have read 30 books by the end of the year. And to make it a bit easier on myself, I’m saying yes, novellas, fanfiction and graphic novels count, if that’s what it takes to get me over the line.

Lastly, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, I am also going to [clenches teeth and fists] finish….. my…. album….! I AM GOING TO FINISH IT! Even if it kills me (Olivia, it is not going to kill you, your perfectionism, however, might kill you). When I say finish, here is what I mean: I want to complete all my little backing vocals, extra recording and detail work so I can finally send it to my mixer Ian who has been incredibly patient and waiting for this collection of songs for the last several months. Ian!!! Hold on!! It’s Happening!!!

I, Olivia, solemnly swear to have my album ready to be mixed by the end of 2023.

🪄 What About You, Pardner?

Well, now that I’ve taken you on a quick tour of my loose threads, what are yours?

Take a minute to think about what you want to have wrapped up by the end of the year. Is it an application? An artwork? A draft? Or maybe you just really need to organise your wardrobe!

I welcome all of you to come and write what you want to finish in the comment section, which you can find here:

If you’ve never left a comment before, now is the time! We have a good little chat over here weekly and if you’ve been a long-time lurker, consider this a warm welcome to say hello.

So go on, write down your must-dos for December and lets all cheer each other on through the gruelling task of sitting down (or standing up!) and Actually Getting It Done.

Then we can have treats.

🎆 Happy New Year Already!

Lastly, I am declaring it the Official Season of You Being Able To Listen To My New Years Song! Happy New Year came out last year and I really love it, it’s like if Low’s ‘Just Like Christmas’ had a little sister for new years eve. Embarrassingly this was my Top Song of 2023, as judged by Spotify, but I’m 90% sure that’s because my Spotify account is linked to my mum’s Sonos speaker, and she played it about twenty times on the day it was released.

You can also find it on all them streaming places, and Bandcamp!

Wanna make my year? Check out some ways you can support me & my music:

• buying a ‘Gneiss Guy’ tote bag on my Bandcamp

• listening to my music on Spotify and adding it to your playlists

• forwarding this newsletter to a friend!

• and if you haven’t already, subscribe:

Til next time! Be good,

Olivia 🌈✨🏔🎶