january 1: happy new year!
It's been a long time, hasn't it?
In its last incarnation, this site was primarily used for bonus features related to articles I've written, or as a workaround for Facebook's continuing ban on Canadian news websites. Since the last time I wrote on here, I haven't been in the mood to round up the extra stuff and I've abandoned FB for 12 million reasons.
This site has evolved over its two decades, from an online diary to testing writing ideas to placating tech overlords. Having been dormant for over a year, I feel it's time to properly resurrect it with yet another new direction.
That new direction? Going back to the "curio emporium" aspect of the title by digging into the thousands of files on my computer and posting material I've collected for reasons ranging from cool artwork to potential use for future professional assignments.
As social media decays into forms I'm not in love with, maybe it's time to return to an older form of online communication and see how it holds up in the mid-2020s. This is part of a plan I have to also resurrect Tales of Toronto as a site for my adventures into Toronto's past and present, and to continue my Substack newsletter as an update on my current activities.
If all goes well, I'll post a daily curiosity here, such as today's New Year's cartoon from a century ago, which I suspect reflects many feelings last night regarding the changeover from 1925 to 1926. To keep myself on track, I'll likely write several days worth at a time, unless current events dictate something more relevant.
Washington Star, January 1, 1926.
As this editorial suggests, I'm going into the New Year with a sense of hope about what's to come after a rocky 2025. I wrote a lot about these feelings, along with a review of the past year, in my most recent newsletter, so I won't repeat them here. Resurrecting this blog is one of those hopeful things, to show I can still churn out some fun stuff (hopefully!) and reawaken the joy I used to get from writing on here eons ago.
I hope that despite all the dumpster fires out there, you can find some time to ponder future opportunities, pursue a creative impulse or long-held dream, and fight against the doombots who want us to live in a permanent state of fear, misery, and uncertainty. I've done enough of that to drive me bananas, and I don't want to further those cycles.
So welcome back to the Curio Emporium. I hope you'll return for future visits.
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