Ugly stuff first: I got slammed, bad, by the flu. I’m doing better with the second round of treatment, but I’m still not fully recovered. I’m essentially being treated for pneumonia, but what I’ve got is an epic sinus infection that’s messed with my hearing. It’s a huge drag and it’s been going on forever and it’s made me very cranky. I’ve been whining about it a lot on Facebook, you should totally unfriend me.
Now, on to better news. Some of this repeats what I’ve already posted — indulge me.
- I won a Solas Best Travel Writing Award for my piece on visiting the seventh continent. The magazine that published it was pretty psyched, as were the folks that sent me down there.
- I have a new gig writing letters to space. I know, right? Assuming the suits continue to like what I’m doing, it will run until Commander Hadfield returns from the ISS in May. Bonus? I can’t say enough good things about my editor there. He’s great to work with. How’d I land (heh) that gig? Essentially, I posted something like, “OMG COMMANDER HADFIELD!” on Facebook, the editor saw it and said, “Hey, I have a crazy idea…” Seriously. that’s how it happened. No, really.
- I resigned from the board of Passports with Purpose. Maybe you think it’s weird that I’ve listed this as a good thing, but it is. If you’re going to work for free, you had better love it with your whole heart, and the growth of that organization was causing me not to love it with my whole heart.
- Sometime soon, I’ll have a story coming out on Lonely Planet about aloha shirts. I’m looking forward to seeing that go live. My last one went up in December, it’s here. Bonus? My editor there is super excellent, I love working with this guy.
- My band, The Castaways, got booked to play a main stage — Fisher Green — at this year’s Northwest Folklife Festival. That’s equal parts terrifying and excellent. Recording is in progress for our second CD, I’ll be in the sound studio as soon as I’m healthy.
- Last month, I did agency work as the User Experience Lead on what’s going to be a truly gorgeous website when it launches. I made a staggering amount of mistakes, but my team was incredible — they knew they were taking a risk on hiring me to do work I’d never done before and they supported me the whole way. I love working with the crew at what used to be called Zaaz and is now Possible. I’ve been signed to work on something super secret for the next month or so, I kinda can’t wait to hear what it is.
If I were fully healthy, I’d be saying this: Things are awesome. As it goes, they’re not bad.
Good stuff always comes to passionate people.
Congrats on all of the positive developments! It’s so cool that Chris Hadfield has become such a part of the zeitgeist at the moment. I’m used to being out of touch with popular culture (someone recently had to explain Duck Dynasty to me), but for a change I feel on top of things because I can speak quite authoritatively about Chris, who grew up in my town. I had a moderately cringeworthy fangirl moment the other day when he posted a photo of my house from space (Which is conveniently a block away from Chris Hadfield Public School) I have a feeling that you would have understood completely! Now,carry on with your kicking of ass and taking of names.
I’m a new follower of your blog and it’s good to know that things are going great for you… except for your health. But I’m sure you will recover soon and go on with your adventures.