A Year That Really Felt Like a Year
Can we all commit to being even weirder and more ridiculous (in a cool way) in 2025?!? Plus, some of the most popular WHN posts of 2024 (no paywalls!)✨ ✨ ✨
Hi hi hi.
Well, we did it. Another year has zipped right on by—for me anyway.
Sure, January felt like it was three months long, as I’m guessing it’s about to again. And election everything was dreadful. The rest of it feels like it was gone in an instant. But boy did it contain all the highs and lows of a real year lol.
Good thing I’ve got this place I made up to throw down so many of my thoughts and highlights because yes I absolutely am the girl who revisits her own IG Stories, Substack posts, concert videos, TikToks, etc.
Thank YOU all for coming along on this meandering—oftentimes absurd—ride. I mean it so, so much when I say that even a singular person taking pleasure in or connecting to something I write still feels like a damn dream. It really never gets old and there are definitely people in my life who know what to do if I ever start acting otherwise.
I get to yap my way through hyperfixations and fandoms and concerts and grief and astrology and middle age and outfits and album releases that make me feel like I just did many, many key bumps and Gen X nostalgia and TikTok trends and old boyfriends and inventing a college class and media literacy rants about DeuxMoi, and, and, and…
This lil WHN community is always down for what the fuck ever. A gift, that’s what that is! And you’re patient AF too. Like when my publishing schedule went a bit awry this in the back half of the year1.
You can scroll down to see (and click through to) the most popular posts of 2024. All the paywalls should be removed2, so if you’re not a paid subscriber you can access the archives for these. Shout out to all my beloved subscribers, but double shout out (Timmy C voice, natch) to all of you who spend a bit of your hard-earned money for We Have Notes. Like, whattttt is life sometimes?
If you were around this time last year, you may remember that I started a playlist on January 1 that I would add one song to each day. There were no rules or criteria other than the vibes I felt. Sometimes it was a new single released that day or a song I woke up with the lyrics for in my head that morning3. It could be a funny inside moment (like bumping to “My Humps” at a dear friend’s elopement reception), on theme for a holiday or event, to mark a moment for someone I love, or just something I heard and thought “yep, that’s it.”
It turned out to be both “unhinged and on brand” which is a designation my friend Allie came up with a while back for a huge chunk of my behavior. I couldn’t love anything more. As you’ll see from the song total, I missed three days4 somewhere. Sometimes I would have to backtrack to add after forgetting, but the lapses were never long. If there had been more than where we landed, I would have been furious at myself. But this feels just right.
It started with “This Will Be Our Year” by The Zombies…
…and ends with “A Long December” by Counting Crows. That also feels right.
I titled it 2024 TK when I started, thinking I’d rename it later. I think 2024 TK just works, as will 2025 TK. And there’s even a quintessential Abby pop culture through line: The Breeders dropped their album Title TK in 2002.
Sidebar: For the non-publishing folks, TK is commonly used to, well, hold space for something you’re going to add later. A variation on “to come”. This newsletter is riddled with TKs as I write and hopefully I find them all before I publish5. It could be as simple as “TK Hed” when you don’t have your headline yet or ”TKTKTKTKTKTKTKTK something funnier here about TK show” or “Abby TK, TK age.” You get the drift. You can also get really existential with the whole concept of life as a TK, but we don’t have time for that today. It lends itself to the playlist titles, though.
If you have Apple Music, you can find it here. I could probably be convinced to add a Spotify version for all you losers. JK about the losers part. Sort of 😉. But for real, comment or message me or whatever if that is of interest. Plus, any other suggestions of what you’d like to see in 2025.
Anyway, I hope this finds you doing whatever you’d like to be doing on this New Year’s Eve. I shan’t be leaving my apartment and couldn’t be happier about it. I guess this newsie is proper counterprogramming.
Now, I’m not really one for a bunch of hardcore resolutions, but if that’s your thing, go for it. As we know, I am very big on manifesting, however. Of course, I’ve got some very concrete wants like new albums from Harry6 and Haim—and if they made any music together in London this summer, I’d like to know ASAP. Tree Paine to be a guest speaker during one of my IU classes7. Everything Chimena designs for Chloé. The list goes onnnnnnnnnnnn…
Mostly, I just hope we can all be even weirder and more ridiculous in the coolest and kindest of ways in 2025. Both here and IRL. I know it’s gonna be bleak out there way too often, which makes it even more important to latch onto all the fucking joy we can, whenever we can + share it with others. Lean into the cringe. It’s really fun here.
You are seriously the best hangs. Happiest of New Years.
All the love.
xA
Behold some of the most popular stuff from the year that was…
In this post I wrote of Sisters (1991-1996):
And they will use the reunion moment to announce that the show about the Reed girls is finally on goddamn streaming. PLEASE. Clooney can introduce them. RIP Falconer. That was one tough TV death for your girl.
🚨 WELL GUESS WHAT I LITERALLY JUST DISCOVERED ON AMAZON PRIME 🚨
When I say just, I mean just. I haven’t even watched an ep, but you best believe we will be discussing this further v. soon.
I’ve never been this vulnerable on the internet before and I was extremely anxious to hit publish. Thanks for making it feel totally cool to do so + for all the comments and notes and connections 🥹.
31 is right around the corner. And we know that’s a very important number to me. I sense majorness coming. Also, I haven’t forgotten the banana post.
This is a true multitudes contained post.
I will never not be furious about how the culture elevated Hawk Tuah girl. But good god that Blasberg story was phenomenal stuff.
AND
So I guess what I’m hearing is I should spend more money and tell you all about it? Okay. Twist my arm.
I’m so glad this tribute to one of the greatest fans who ever lived made it to the top tier. My hippie soul still cannot believe I saw Dead & Co, Stevie Nicks, and Joni Mitchell live this year.
I was gagged over Chimena’s first show, which is documented in great detail in this post wherein I also wrote:
We love to see it—and those glorious wood wedges all in a row.
GET THEM ON MY FEET IMMEDIATELY.
(Will this be treacherous for someone with my foot issues? I don’t want to talk about it. That said, these busted feet of mine do much better with a wood platform than anything else with height.)
Fast forward to London in August where I received way too many signs that it was finally time to buy the shoes—as a “reward” for not purchasing an Eras ticket for the final night in London. Duh. I love them so much which tracks as two friends separately called them some variation of “Abby, but a shoe”.
Regularity is in for 2025, but so is letting ourselves off the hook. Especially us eldest daughter pathological people pleasers. You have no idea how much you all help me get better on that front. Ugh, there I am grading my behavior again. Alas, at the core…we are who we are.
If I missed one, let me know!
There’s usually a line or two playing on a loop in my head as soon as I reach consciousness. It sorta plays all day long. Sometimes it’s multiple days of the same one, sometimes it changes often.
It was a leap year, remember???
I’m dying every time I start to re-read this because of all of them crammed in here. And Substack has even added a TK warning, which I only just learned. Bless you, Substack. Though I still have a number of other UX notes for you when you have a sec.
How freaking cute is this gift? Sometimes I really wish I could do crafts. Ideas? I’ve got ‘em. Making this? Sounds like hell. As you may remember (lol you would likely not), “A small concern with how the engine sounds” has been one of my favorite lyrics from Harry’s House from the jump.
Yes, they’re letting me do it all over again next semester.
Happy new year, Abby! Loved reading and chatting here in 2024 and look forward to it in 2025!
Yes please on Sisters! I started watching on Prime last week and can’t believe how much of the plot was stuck in the recesses of my brain.