Congratulations! If you’re reading this then you have survived January, for another whole year.

Unless, of course, you are a ghoul returned from the dead with misty eyeballs, hankering for the taste of human flesh and a craving to cause chaos but distracted momentarily by a backwater blog on the internet. If that’s you, then I do thank you for visiting and hope you enjoy the diversion.

And it’s been, let’s be honest, an interesting start to the year. What with the Doomsday Clock, Brexit Day, Coronavirus, Australian fires and, well, Piers Morgan and Laurence Fox, there’s been plenty of things to get sad or mad about. And that’s just the big wide world out there, not to mention the stuff that goes on in your own, private lives.

So I’m just dropping into the Dust Lounge today to say:

Go you. You’re awesome. Goddamn congratulations on making it all the way to February with minimal bloodshed along the way (hopefully). Congratulations on kicking January in its ass, on getting up and getting on, on turning up and out. You did it and you’ll keep doing it.

Keep writing, keep creating, keep making those images – keep doing the things you do that make the world a better place.

And if all you’ve been able to do so far this year is keep on waking up, keep on getting up, then keep on doing that – you’ve got this.

So be proud of the little things that you’ve achieved so far, be proud of the big things you’ve got going on and celebrate where you can. Because y’all just passed January and the rest of the year stretches ahead with unfettered potential. Go grab it.