crowstina aquafina: rows garden (feat. alex boisvert)

happy new year's eve eve! i said i wasn't going to rush and put out a puzzle for the sake of putting out a puzzle (something i'm really, truly, finally leaving in 2024 is weird notions about my own productivity! comparing yourself to other people is a thief of joy!), and i was true to that! alex came to me a few weeks ago and asked if i wanted to do a puzzle, and the timing worked out! a rows garden puts up a bit of a fight in construction—it's a lot of killing your darlings, and finding new darlings, and having a lot of difficult conversations with yourself about words like ANAEROBIC. but we did it! it's here! just under the wire! we hope you like it.

in alex's words—happy new year everyone!

(brevity is the soul of wit)

and don't worry, we had it test solved. any lingering issues are actually 100% kate's fault.

a while back, i declared that i had discovered the meaning of life, and that it's three relatively simple things: 

1. wearing sunscreen
2. finding/creating/multiplying joy
3. a little bit of mischief  

i stand by that, but want to add one other thing—hell is not other people! i'll be taking that with me into 2025, and hope you are all able to take forward things that serve you and leave behind things that don't. onwards and upwards! 

NOW, WHERE SOLVING THE PUZZLE IS INVOLVED: YOU HAVE SOME OPTIONS!

FULLSCREEN LINK [HERE] or EMBEDDED SOLVER below the jump!

some stuff

a mere FRACTION of all the amazing photos i was sent of the zine out in the world

this may be my fifth attempt to write a post-mortem about the zine. each time i've gotten through maybe about half of what i wanted to say, read it back to myself, and realized that i was just floundering. the thing is this: i don't think i can put words to how much the response to the zine meant, means, and will continue to mean to me. to put some numbers to my speechlessness, i originally thought, "40 copies seems like a generous estimate". at the end of the day, i wound up sending more than 150. they went everywhere, from across the street, to hawaii, alaska, and even a couple to australia. i heard from high school friends, girls from my sorority, and also connected with solvers i'd never been introduced to before. so many people left warm, earnest, exceedingly kind, and moving messages, and each one of them is now permanently etched into my brain (at least temporarily overwriting my constant thought of 'what if everyone actually hates me and doesn't care if i live or die?'). i was moved to tears by the outpouring of support and love—i was so scared to share this project, in fear that it would not be well-received and, instead, the very opposite happened. i'm honestly still dazed by the whole thing.

so thank you, thank you, thank you. just like anyone, i get lonely and, oftentimes, it's not a great situation when it's just me, alone, with what's going on in my head. i can very confidently say that the warmth i am still feeling from this project has really buoyed my heart in a lasting way. i can't believe i'm tearing up AGAIN as i type this—embarrassing! thank you.

ideally, i would have capped this post off with a puzzle, but it's just not in the cards. i didn't want to force myself to make something just to say i did it when this post had a very clear intent. i may get another puzzle up before the end of the year, but i might not! i'm (for once in my life) not going to worry about it (too much). if i don't see you, have a safe and happy holiday season; wear your sunblock; tell your people that you love them. 

xoxo