For those of you who’ve been reading these newsletters this past year it’ll be old hat to hear me talk about quitting Twitter, getting rid of my smartphone, etc. but last Tuesday the Chicago Reader published a whole essay I wrote on the subject. It seems to’ve struck a chord with a few people and I thank everyone who posted it on Facebook, Twitter, and every other social network they use.

At the beginning of December I went up to Andersonville for the monthly edition of Tuesday Funk and drew the readers, including my good friend, Bill Savage. Host Andrew Huff was kind enough to post all my sketches on the show’s blog. It was also that night that Andrew told me he’d be pulling the plug on his long-running local news site, Gaper’s Block. Over the years that site has helped launch many journalists’ careers, has been one of the few news sites I’ve seen to present stories online in a calm, aesthetically pleasing way, and has been incredibly supportive of my work. It’ll be a shame to see it go but it’s completely understandable that after twelve years Andrew would be exhausted and want to move on. It’ll be missed in Chicago nonetheless.

There’ve been a lot of changes in my life over the last year as well. This newsletter has been one of the constants and as such has helped me keep my equilibrium. So I thank all of you who read it even just every once in awhile. It means a lot to me.