Today is apparently National Clean Off Your Desk Day.
I have a pretty packed day today but will put this on the calendar for tomorrow.
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[Article] 2026 Kicks Off [RSS Exclusive!]
This post is secret; you can only find it via my RSS feeds (and places which syndicate them). It's okay to talk about it or link to it, though. Thanks for being part of RSS Club!
At first I couldn’t get behind the “reboot to 2016” trend. It feels like if you want a nostalgic “simpler time” you need to go back around two decades, not one1… plus 2016 wasn’t even that great, was it?2
But so far, I’ve got to admit, 2026 feels like it’s off to a… challenging start, too. Several of the folks closest to me seem to be struggling, and it sucks.
Don’t get me wrong: 2026 doesn’t suck like 2012 sucked. It definitely doesn’t suck like 2017 sucked.3
But… I don’t know, it just feels like the first couple of weeks of 2026 have been… “playing on hard mode”.
Fortunately, I’m backed by the same kickass family team that handled the (tough!) challenges of those previous years, so I’m confident that we’ve got this.
But for a couple of moments, I’ve been enticed by the idea that maybe we could reboot ourselves back a decade! Wouldn’t it be nice if wishing something hard enough could make it so!
Anyway: better get back to trying to make this year… better. There’s lots of time left to turn it around, at least.
Footnotes
1 Although the trend’s been spearheaded by Gen-Zs, so I guess 2006 will be earlier than they can remember, if they were born at all!
2 The UK voted for Brexit, the USA voted for Trump, and Turkey failed to overthrow their authoritarian leader, resulting in even-tighter crackdowns on civil liberties. The USA saw its deadliest ever mass-shooting (at the time) at the Orlando Pulse gay nightclub, Islamic extremists killed and injured hundreds in France, and Hurricane Matthew flattened Haiti. We lost Carrie Fisher, Prince, and David Bowie. If you’re reminiscing about 2016 as a “good year”, you might be doing it wrong.
3 If you know, you know.
🫂 I don't want to make a big thing of this post or attract either prying or excess sympathy. So it's for RSS subscribers only! You're chill with just going "sorry things suck right now" and offering a virtual hug, right? 🥲
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On my morning commute (i.e., walking a few blocks to work!), I've started listening to Remembering Peasants by Patrick Joyce. I think this is going to be a good one.
