Bad Copy

I feel like every year, I begin these with commentary about how the year has been a struggle but then offer up some encouraging things along with a list that made it worth the struggle. That’s kind of the EOY formula, right? And while I don’t want to stray too far away from the standard, so many aspects of this year fucking sucked. That doesn’t even cover it. It was so much worse.

I watched communities in my city, Chicago, get pillaged by white supremacists dressed in military garb. They threw chemical weapons freely at the public and kidnapped non-white citizens and non-citizens with no real reprimand. It has been horrifying. Through the current shit show state of the country, I’ve watched friends and acquaintances lose their jobs, opportunities, and even autonomy. I’ve watched neighboring towns across the Midwest fight to keep access to their water as data centers angle to move in and devour their resources. It’s all been so surreal; and I have done my best to stay engaged and present so I can continue to help fight back and care for my community.

On a personal level, my 2025 was very different. I took a look back through my camera’s photo roll and realized how much I embarked on and accomplished this year and how great it was. I graduated from grad school. I continued to travel all over the country with my friend and my tiny dog snapping photos at everything we found interesting. I spent a lot of time with family and friends and tried to stay present whenever I was with them. I celebrated 5 years of sobriety. I ate a lot of great food. Ya know, normal life stuff. It feels strange to rate my year so high when I know how bad it has been for so many. I want to make sure I hold space for the terrible shit that has gone on and continues to go on across my city, the country, and the globe. With that in mind, here’s my silly little list of top things that happened this year. Some involve music, some involve just life things. But all of them contributed to helping me keep my head up during 365 days that felt exhausting, oppressive, and disheartening.

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10.) Girlie Girl Productions releasing a new album – Girliest Summer of Our Lives – which became my soundtrack of the summer. GGP, for those who may not know, is an AI band or rather a girl group. Or was… this new album for sure has actual artists on it. The songs are silly and flippant, about partying with your friends and blocking people who annoy you on social media all set to dancey pop music. In a world where every day feels like it’s crumbling down, GGP has made things a little bit better.

9.) As I mentioned, I finished grad school this year. I now have my master’s in social work. Unfortunately, just after I finished, the Trump administration removed the professional designated from social work – along with nursing and public health – which affected the job options and pay. So, I’m still floating around trying to figure out my next move, career-wise. I missed Fest this year due to starting a new temp job, which sucked. But I saved money, didn’t have to go to Florida, and didn’t get COVID or Fest flu this year. So… win some, lose some I guess. Since I don’t have a photo to encapsulate not getting a job in the career you worked for, here’s a photo of my dog in a bag wearing a cowboy hat.

8.) This year, I got to meet Midwest legend and horror TV host Svengoolie. I’ve been watching him and his show since I was in high school and I’m sure he’s partially the reason and I have such an insatiable appetite for horror movies. I even had him sign a photo of my dog Penne, who dressed up as him for a pet costume contest Halloween in 2024. We didn’t win, which was pure robbery! But Sven loved the photo, which made it all worthwhile.

7.) AND this year, Penne and I actually DID win the dog Halloween costume contest! She was dressed as MUTTdusa and I was a person that she turned into stone (or bone). I’ve wanted to enter this very specific dog costume contest before I even had a dog, so this was a big deal for me. For Penn, she didn’t care as much. She mostly cared about the treats that she got in her winner’s prize box and the pup cup I got her after the contest was over.

6.) In November, I saw Murder City Devils play at Park West here in Chicago and it was so great. I have loved that band since high school. In fact, my friend Ben and I used to drive around in his old Jeep during senior year blasting In Name and Blood over and over and I’ve loved them ever since. I was sad when they hung it up and I was elated when they booked reunion shows years later. I went to as many of their shows as I could. The night before this show, I had this super lucid dream that Ben and I were hanging out again (although we had not seen each other since 2013). Ya know the kind of dreams where you can smell the other person, or hear their voice perfectly? One of those. So… after the show, when I heard my name shouted out and turned to see Ben, I just shook my head. We hung out, exchanged numbers, and caught up like it was only a few months ago since we last saw each other. Music, always bringing people together.

5.) Kesha put out a new album this year, and if you’ve read literally any of my other EOY lists, you know that I would be remiss to not include that on there. Her new release, Period, is the first album she has self-released since finished her contract with Kemosabe Records. And if you know about her lawsuit with her old producer, Dr. Luke, you can understand why this self-release is so epic, bringing her a sense of freedom that she has never experienced when she was a signed artist. The sound is more reminiscent of her party girl days of yore but mixes in a queen serving cunt attitude that only comes with age and a solid sense of self. I also went to two of her shows when she came through the Midwest this summer. It was less of a concert and more of a live deep dive into her personal history set to her discography. Did I wear glitter? Yes. Did I lose my voice singing along? Yes. Did I cry? Of course, yes.

4.) This year I traveled to Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and New Hampshire all with my friend Kyle, my tiny dog Penne, a bunch of camera gear, and a car full of snacks. Over the years, I’ve found that frequent road trips help remind me of how small many of my worries and problems are in the grand scheme of it all. They have also helped me to keep in perspective how many similarities we all have, many more than our differences, and how important it is to focus on the humanity aspect of others over their political views and values which are likely to change. Plus, there’s just a sense of adventure that comes with a trip. The familiarity of a highway or freeway, no matter where you are in the country, as you point your car at the unknown and unwritten for a few days just grounds me. Here’s to MANY more of these trips in 2026.

3.) When my pals in Dollar Signs announced earlier this year that they would be hanging it up, I knew that I had no choice but to attend their final three shows in their hometown of Charlotte, NC at the famous Milestone Club. Kyle and Penne came with and we made a trip out of it. For three nights, I got to watch five of my favorite musicians play their hearts out one more time as the small yet packed room fed them back their energy tenfold while shouting along. I got to chat with each member one-on-one. I got to meet their families and their significant others after years of seeing them appear only on social media. It was a really nice time. Plus, I went out urbexing with Kyle during the day, so the trip was nothing but my two favorite hobbies – exploring and taking photos of abandoned buildings by day AND going to watch and photograph music in venues that kind of look like abandoned buildings by night.

2.) The moment they went on sale early in the year, I bought a ticket to see Jesse Welles at Thalia Hall in October. Like many people I know, I learned about the southern folk singer from his reelsthat he shared on Instagram where he sang protest songs under the powerlines in a beautiful field. This year, he released four albums, seemingly 1000 songs, and toured the country coast to coast and sold out most shows. I’ve always been a “lyric” person when it comes to music; it’s the first thing that always hits me when I hear a song. And if the lyrics don’t hit, it doesn’t matter how catchy a guitar riff may be or how solid a bass line is, the song doesn’t do it for me. Jesse writes the lyrics I wish I could. He has a way of putting ideas that have been floating around messily in my brain to words and rhyming them.

I had tried to get coverage for his show, but as the date drew closer and no one got back to me, I decided to just go enjoy a show without any requirements – no camera, no Notes app with info about the night. It was something I hadn’t done in years, but it was amazing. I felt like I was really connecting with music in a way I haven’t in a long time. Plus, having a room full of people singing and chanting FUCK ICE at a venue located in one of the two major Latinx areas of the city while “Operation Midway Blitz” was taking place shook me to my core. I witnessed many moments of resistance this year that helped to remind me why we continue to fight every day, and this was another great one. I walked away from this show thinking that my faith in music was renewed. We’ll see how long that lasts.

1.) There’s no way to not sound trite with this final and most important one, but I mean it. Further cultivating the relationships with my friends and family, and trying to forge new ones, were my favorite part of this year. After two years of school where I barely felt like I was able to keep my head above water while working, running the site, co-hosting a podcast, and all the other responsibilities I’ve tasked myself with over the years, I felt like I ghosted most of the people around me. So, I spent my post-grad time trying to be more present for everyone. I’ve spent time at my mom’s house helping her clean out some old memories by day and making food together by night. I planned a mega Chicago Christmas weekend with an out of town friend who was visiting where we ran all over the city doing holiday shit in a blizzard and stoking the flames of holiday festivity. I spent a lot of time thinking about those in my life and how our connections are symbiotic and I how I can show up more for the ones who matter most. For years, I’ve kept an overflowing plate filled with tasks and responsibilities that benefit others. But this year, I focused more on myself and those around me and helping them flourish.

Fuck ICE. Free Palestine. Happy 2026, ya’ll.