New Year's Resolutions

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with friends and loved ones. I got four different puzzles to keep me busy. I still struggle with stretching out my arms, so I've started circling the puzzle table like a shark, hunting for the pieces I need.

Although sharks seem far more chill about their hunts. Rarely do you ever see a shark shout "Why are there so many lawn pieces!!!" But I digress.

As we go through the weird in-between times of the holidays, I was thinking about the New Year. I've never been one for making resolutions. I prefer to take long-term goals and break them into sizeable chunks throughout the year. But it wouldn't hurt to start.

I'm planning a trip to Japan in late fall of 2025, so for my New Year's resolution I would like to learn some basic Japanese, even though it means putting up with the passive-aggressive attitude of the Duo lingo bird.

What about you? What resolutions are you making for 2025?

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays with loved ones. May your day be filled with feasting and fun.

Also, it wouldn't be Christmas without this classic.

5 Points

I wanted to write up a small history of the 5 Point neighborhood in NYC. Made famous by the movie, "Gangs of New York" and Sprocket's home, 5 points is a fascinating neighborhood that's full of great history.

But then I spent the bulk of my morning creating a Druid/Barbarian Firbolg for a new D&D campaign and ran out of time. So here's a youtube video that covers the fascinating story of 5 Points.

You may notice that the Dead Rabbits were active from 1840-1860. I moved them up and kept them around in my book, set in the 1890s, because they're such a fascinating group.

Whenever I deliberately change history to fit my story I feel guilty, as if I'm committing some kind of history-based sin. But then I remind myself that I'm writing a fictional novel with airships in it so really, it's fine.