My Top 5 Posts of 2020
Posted on December 30, 2020 Posted by Athena Scalzi 16 Comments
Season’s greetings, everyone! I kind of accidentally went on a hiatus for the past week, with it being my birthday and Christmas and all, but I thought I’d post one more thing before the New Year. I want to share with you my top five favorite posts I wrote this year.
Overall, I think my writing on here this year is vastly improved from my blog writing in 2018, and I’m glad for it. I’ve had so much support from all of you that has really made me enjoy doing this, and I want to continue providing quality content for your entertainment. With that being said, here are my personal favorite pieces of mine (not in alphabetical or chronological order):
- I Regret To Inform You All That I Miss High School
- This Vacation Blows
- Understand That You Can Never Understand
- The Art VS The Artist
- Saved (?) By The Bell
These aren’t really in any particular order, just kind of the order that felt the most right to me? I’m not sure.
Out of this list, I would love to know which is your favorite! And/or if your favorite of mine isn’t on this list, I’d love to hear which is your favorite. Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!
And thank you all for reading! Your support means the world to me.
-AMS
The “I Regret To Inform You All That I Miss High School” piece talked to me in a lot of ways even though I have been out of HS for close to 40 years. I thought it was a very well written and articulated piece
I look forward to you continuing in 2021
The High School one (although I also have been out of high school for over 30 years and never missed it much) and also the “Understand That You Can Never Understand” post were favourites of mine. I also think your pieces this year are an improvement over the 2018 posts.
“Understand That You Can Never Understand” really spoke to me, and to the people I shared it with on various social media. So many of us have disabilities of a wide variety of kinds, and you shared that experience so well. Thank you!
Your narcolepsy post was really good. It resonated possibly a little too much with my son, who’s in a similar situation (a couple of years older than you, symptoms at 14, diagnosed at 17). We have an ongoing conversation about empathy and its limits and your post aligned very well with his side of that discussion.
But while that was the one that resonated most, kudos also to the rest of the work you’ve done here. It can’t be easy to put yourself out there to your professional writer dad’s audience. You’ve done it with skill and grace and had interesting things to say. Well done on bringing something positive to this shitty year, and best wishes for 2021.
My favorite part of your writing is how you present your thoughts with a gentleness that’s deceptive. I get to the end and realize,”Hey, I never looked at that quite that way.” That’s a gift.
Also, you write some darned good ad copy!
I enjoyed all five of the posts you identify here. Of those five, “This Vacation Blows” was the one that caught me up most effectively – you write a highly effective rant, Ma’am, which is an art form after my own heart! And I hope your friend went to Ohio’s Labor agency and got help for being ripped off by his uncle, too.
I also liked “A Four is a Two is a Six,” a whole lot. I absolutely share your frustration with the garment industry!
For me, the post of yours that I found most revelatory was “Periods. What Are They Good For?” OMG, you clarified SOOOO much that has puzzled me about communications with folks in their 20s and 30s – including my own offspring! It still feels a bit odd to me to sprinkle exclamation marks through my writing, but I make a conscious effort to do so when writing to folks who are several decades younger than I am, just because I don’t want to come across as a mean old grump, even though I am! See, I just went back and changed that period to an exclamation mark, just for you!
I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know this side of you better, Ms. Scalzi! I’ve known you through your father’s eyes and perceptions for a while, which is also interesting, but it has been a treat to see your personality and your impressive writing skills directly as well as filtered through him. I wish you a happy and a very HEALTHY New Year, and I look forward to reading your work here in the months to come!
It has been a pleasure and a privilege to watch your growth as a writer on these pages. Looking forward to ‘whatever’ you will share with us in 2021.
Your post “Periods. What Are They Good For?” actually changed my writing! I sell online and lots of my customers are in their 20s. You made me realize that I might be coming across as angry with having a period at the end of each sentence. So I’m making an effort to change that! Of the pieces you listed, the high school piece was the one that lingered for me. I didn’t like high school then or now, so I envy those who miss even parts of it!
Absolutely the one that stood out for me was “Understand that you can never understand.” An important topic, clearly explained. The one that resonated most for me was the rant on clothing sizes :) I wish you a wonderful 2021. 2020 can go jump in a toxic waste dump where it belongs.
I love your mix of straightforwardness and exuberance! And to those who snark at your posts being different from your dad’s: well, as far as I can tell, the blog needs to be by a Scalzi and about whatever.
I have enjoyed all of your essay pieces for this blog; I don’t think I could pick a favorite! You have a gift for not only sharing your perspective with others, but encouraging them to share their thoughts and experiences as well. I get excited whenever I see a new piece of writing from you — not only because I get to read your thoughts, but because I get to read all the interesting comments from people who respond to what you’ve written. I’m curious to see what you will be moved to write about in the new year (and I admit to hoping your might take up some of your dad’s long form political screeds — assuming he’s too busy wrestling with his book).
You have definitely made your presence felt this year, and it’s been wonderful having you share your thoughts. I look forward to hearing more from you in 2021!
Thank you Athena for your perspective, insights, and unique authorial voice! I bet 10 or 20 years from now you’ll be looking back with pride. And occasionally with surprise: “Oh wow, I forget actually writing that; it’s really good too; go me!”
“A Four is a Two is a Six” — every woman I’ve dated groused about this and with good reason… why no one sues manufacturers to force accuracy is a head scratcher… something that I naively thought in mid-90s would be resolved as ever more clothing was ordered online… somehow it got worse?
“This Vacation Blows” — personalizing a crisis is what make it human and emotionally graspable… horrid truth is, as that scum Satlin put it “death of one man is a tragedy, death of a million merely a statistic”… which seems to be Trump motto (and life goal)… piece touched on that w/o too much self-pity…
“Understand That You Can Never Understand” — ditto… and more so… I predict this piece will end up added to coursework at a number of universities as professors recognize it makes chronic illness graspable to those clueless or luckily untouched by illness… though I doubt medical schools ever would add it…
till now I never suspected there was such a thing as ‘writer genes’… we’ll have to check in on your kids and grandkids to determine if recessive or dominant …
Nice. I never did get to comment that day, but since I have a second chance,,,Hell NO, I don’t miss ANYTHING about high school. But then, it was a long, long, very long time ago. Distance and absence do not make the heart grow fonder.
Nice job this year, Athena.
I also loved “Understanding that You Can’t Understand.“ I appreciate that you wrote it in a way that it’s applicable to me and a lot of other people. I’ve enjoyed your videogame posts, too. Keep up the awesome writing!