WRITING

Why 2021 Was More Than a Panic! at the Disco

You know about next year, don’t you? Just like 2020, too

Happy New Year! Or as The New York Times put it recently, here’s wishing you

A Happy Panini! A Joyous Pandemonium! A Terrific Panorama! Or, my personal fave, A Marvelous Panic! at the Disco.

And you know what they say about next year, don’t you — It’s just like 2020, too. Get it?

With the silly humor out of the way, I’d love to get down to “brass tacks,” whatever that means.

I was relatively “new” to Medium at the beginning of 2021. Having joined in mid-December 2020, I was adjusting to the ebb and flow of steering an online writing avocation.

I had a few hits — and an awful lot of misses. I learned how to format my essays; how to write banging headlines — even though the preponderance of Mediumites tend to call them “titles” for some reason — and how to connect with publications, both large and small.

I also learned to mourn the pubs that quit on us during 2020, including P.S. I Love You and The POM.

I wrote about family, teaching and sports. Speaking of the fam, I mentioned my Nana dozens of times, because of her predilection for the perfect phrase. For those of you who care, I’m thinking of doing a roundup of those verbal gifts. Stay tuned!

I wrote about Texas, because that’s where I’m from, y’all, and there’s a lot to unpack there. I wrote a requiem for a room. OK, it was my high school classroom of more than two decades, so I was a tad attached.

I wrote about Tucker Carlson — twice, for some strange reason. The first attempt at ridiculing this Faux News phony was funny, I thought, but one of my readers wrote me a nasty comment.

Speaking of the Premier Prick of Pontificating, I wrote an awful lot about politics, proving you can take the girl out of D.C., but you can’t take the D.C. out of the girl. I weighed in on gun violence, fuel prices and Vanna White. Why, you ask? Please click on the last link to find out.

I wrote a lot about The Former Guy at the beginning of the year, and tried to stay away from him as his presiduncey faded away into a bad memory.

I wrote — a couple of times, I guess — about Medium. Not so much to complain, as many of us do, but mainly to try to figure out how I fit in on this platform, and why. I wrote about fostering kittens in Hawaii and my kitty, Cleo. I attempted to write humor, for two different pubs. And I more than appreciate their willingness to take this newbie and shape her into a semi-OK scribbler of satire and such.

And the past two years revolving around the Panic! at the Disco? I wrote about that so much that I learned some editors prefer Covid-19; some like COVID-19, and one or two favor Coronavirus — sometimes caps, sometimes lower case. Not the disease, of course — the way in which it is characterized in print.

I discovered the fine art of Shortform writing. I tried valiantly to trim my verbiage the last couple months, and greatly appreciate the platform to do so.

I wrote About Me. Ad nauseum, I’m sure.

This piece started out as a modest reflection — an attagirl, really — on my plunge back into writing this past calendar year. It’s gonna end up — as you probably surmised — as a list. Please enjoy a few of these offerings. Or all of them, if you’re so inclined and have the time.

I’m looking forward to next year — and as the late comedian Joey Adams might say, “May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.”

Tales of My City — January 10 — My fam and I lived in the Capitol Hill neighborhood for 12 years. This is my reflection on the U.S. Capitol insurrection. Yes, I took it personally.

Don’t Rush Me — February 17 — Not to speak ill of the dead, but I did. Let’s just say I wasn’t really upset about Rushbo’s demise.

Welcome to Wisconistan — March 3 — My daughters went to college in Wisconsin, and they were witnesses to Governor Scott Walker’s attempt to steal teachers’ dignity.

Give the Kid the Nobel Peace Prize — April 22 — 17-year-old Darnella Frazier was bold and she was brave in capturing the last 9 minutes and 29 seconds of George Floyd’s life.

Inviting George Floyd to my Classroom — May 24 — If I were still teaching, a look at my proposed lesson plans for learning about George Floyd and the collective American conscience.

America has a Target on Her Back — June 17 — My nephew was at the scene of the Green Bay, Wisconsin, mass shooting; a former student was out on a Saturday night in Austin when a shooter went crazy in that city’s entertainment district. They both checked in “safe” on Facebook.

Toto, I’ve a Feeling We’re Not in Kansas Anymore — July 14 — It’s really a crime that this insurrectionist doesn’t know the difference between the U.S. Capitol and the White House.

The School of Thought on Breaking Bad — August 17 — Sometimes, the “real world” comes a little too close to the classroom.

My Students and I Faced Our Own Ground Zero — September 8 — When my classroom turned into an emotional triage ward.

Parton vs. Zuckerberg — October 20 — Who do you think would win that contest?

Taylor Swift’s Revenge — November 16 — Ivanka didn’t have a chance.

Living in Joan Didion’s Reality —December 23—We lost a Great One right before Christmas. I’m still trying to process it.

So, there you have it — my 2021 wrap-up. From poetry to shortform, to full-blown opinion, I put in the work, I do believe, to the tune of 250 or so online articles. Give a big cheer, for the New Year! And I’ll see you in 2022.