Baker's Dozen: Favorite Vocal.media Reads - January 2022

To kick off 2022, there are several things I want to do more frequently. Among them, I want to read more - including more works by others on Vocal.media. I think it could be fun to present a Baker's Dozen each month highlighting my 13 favorite reads from my feed! Maybe even an extra come December with my top 13 of the year! We'll see. At any rate, a monthly list of this nature could very well spur me into reading from my feed more often. I try to poke through every couple of weeks, but I can do better!

As of the 1st of January, 2022, I have subscribed to around 130 people and liked around 230 stories, though there are thousands in my feed from the past! As such, there's pretty much always something new, and oodles of older content! I wonder how many more subscriptions I'll wind up adding this year? Below is my list of 13 posts that were new to me in January and that stood out to me. I hope you enjoy!

1: "Rudolph the Red Nosed Horror" by Josephine Mason

A dark retelling of a children's classic, this story actually reminded me of a parody song that a former boyfriend made for me for the holidays years back titled, "Carcass the Zombie Reindeer". I'm all for twisted and dark fables, so naturally this piece makes this month's list! I was very invested in where exactly this tale would go!

2: "How To Plant a Lasagna Garden" by JUHI KANOJIA

Here, Juhi breaks down how and when to layer compost layers into a lasagna garden! As someone who struggles to get a garden going because I'm either gone helping relatives or, even more often, struggling with what my partner and I assume is depression or something similar, I am all for trying this, especially with all the leaves and clippings and pine needles we wind up with naturally!

3: "Unfrozen Memories" by Cathy Holmes

This piece was actually brought to my attention via one of the threads in the Vocal Social Society Facebook Group. While not from my Vocal feed, I did wind up subscribing to Cathy and will count it. Mentioned under "Something Blue", where the thread was for less-read stories, I looked for a comment that didn't have any reacts or responses yet. I have a fondness for looking for the least-noticed, admittedly. And this little treasure didn't have anything on it yet!

I later commented that it was "bittersweet, but lovely" - and it is most certainly both of those things! It's a charming fiction piece featuring ice skating, dashed hopes, and the bitter taste of what used to be. Really enjoyed the piece.

4: "Going Vegan Doesn't Mean Saying No To Alcohol" by Mark Campbell

I'm a fan of friendlier alternatives to using animals, so this piece caught my eye. That said, I'm not a vegan or vegetarian and still enjoy animal products. But I'm eager to swap out some of my animal products for alternatives in many cases.

I didn't know that animal byproducts can be used in alcohol filtration. Honestly, I can't say using the animal byproducts this way bothers me much at this time; no matter how many people cut back on eating meat or turn to plant products solely, there will always be those that consume meat and animal products and the byproducts of that consumption may as well be utilized if and when it can. Animal lives are taken, after all, so the least we can do is waste as little as possible of them.

Still, it's nice to hear that there are alternatives that those who wish to remove all animal products from their own lives can have, and I was happy to learn about it!

5: "Letting it all Hang Out Over a Schoolyard Fence" by Arpad Nagy

This piece tugged at me. It isn't easy to be vulnerable to others, particularly those we don't know well. Struggling to begin therapy until January 2022, I really shared in that hesitance to share personal upsets.

A few sessions into therapy, and this story also rings true of what my psychologist has been saying so far and mirrors what was said in this TED Talk she recommended, especially concerning relationships with other humans. During such times of duress and stress, it is important to listen to those struggling.

I thought this piece was a lovely testament to that notion and I hope it sees some much-needed affection.

6: "Holding Flippers with a Sea Turtle" by Lena Folkert

Here, Lena speaks of her interaction with a wise sea turtle as a child and the lessons and impacts that came with it. A day where a lazing sea turtle laid its flippers over the hands of a child laying with it patiently on the beach. A day of acceptance and even body positivity!

This is crafted wonderfully, and it teleported me to the warmth I imagine must have also graced the Hawaiian beach that day thanks to this descriptive short! I believe this was also a piece initially picked up from the Vocal Social Society Facebook Group, though Lena is now also on my feed!

7: "The Icelandic Phallogical Museum" by Jennifer Christiansen

Don't go off half-cocked and let the filthy community tag scare you off - this museum is certainly worth a double-take! If the title hasn't given it away yet, buckle up!

Jennifer introduces readers to an Icelandic museum featuring one of the most sensationalized of anatomy parts; the penis. And the museum is exactly what you'd expect considering the content: scientific specimens, vintage advertisements for "improvements", and some truly oddball - heh - things. It was a fun ride wandering into this post, and it's earned itself a few strokes of confidence for good humor and a ballsy choice of touring!

As the subtitle reads, "It's not a place for pussies". Check it out!

8: "Marvelous Mister Mark" by Keila Aartila

Growing up, I loved horses! Yeah - I was a typical girl that way. So of course I was drawn to this lovely piece!

In it, readers are again reminded of the wisdom other creatures bring to us if we choose to look; here, Keila writes about how grooming her horse, Mark, reminds her how to take the reins in her own life. And that is a beautiful sentiment to accompany the magnificent stallion pictured throughout this post!

Thank you for a wonderful moment of grounding oneself, Keila! Mark deserves an extra ear-scratch for that good wisdom!

9: "What if the Death Note was Real?" by Jade M.

In a previous "Baker's Dozen", I mentioned that Yu Yu Hakusho is the only Anime I have watched in its entirety, simply due to the fact that settling down to watch anything of length can be a real chore for me. I grew up only catching snippets of things here and there, so it's a fairly foreign idea to me to sit and watch new things. That said, I am pretty familiar with Death Note. Still working through it, slowly, but I know enough that this article makes sense. I tend to watch sporadic episodes and story arc breakdowns, so I know how it shakes out in the end already.

And as any good fan would do, Jade asks a big question about the Anime; "What if the Death Note was real?".

In the Anime, a Death Note is basically a notebook used by the gods of death. When one falls into the human/living realm, it is picked up by a teenager named Light. When he reads the description in the Death Note detailing how to use it, he actually opts to try it. Jade points out that many would never take the description so seriously and actually try it - resulting in someone's death.

Fandoms love their own quirky questions about the "rules" in the fandom, and Death Note is no exception. I really enjoyed the exploration of the idea!

10: "Ebony Eyes" by Jason Basaraba

First off, the cover image was created by the author's son, which makes it that much more awesome to me!

This piece reminds me of a combination of two of my own here on Vocal.media, "Jaguar Eyes" and "Unwise Gossip" - both of which are horror fiction pieces.

This dark and chewy morsel visits the story - and then the truth - of the death of the main character's brother. In true horror fashion, the glimpses in the dark can be difficult to discern, but once the truth is illuminated, there's no doubt of what really happened. I thought this to be a good story, and I absolutely love the cover image!

11: "Nowhere" - by Caroline Jane

This piece resonates with me - and I imagine it will with many readers. In it is captured all the anger and sullen futility of what it means to be stuck. As a writer. As a well-intentioned human being. I even recognize it in my day-to-day struggles, all too familiar.

And Caroline writes it beautifully.

The entirety of the story reflects that forlorn discontent, and the title "Nowhere" is perfect. Not only does the main character seem to be still and stagnating in the story, but the story itself reflects the theme - in all the best ways.

12: "The Camping Trip" by Trevor Wells

There's nothing I enjoy better than seeing someone get what's coming to them - in fact, I've written a few such things on Vocal in the last year - and this one serves payback in a satisfactory manner!

Set in the woods on a camping trip, it soon becomes clear that not all is as it seems. What should have been a trip to make up for horrible deeds turns dark quick. There's something extra dark about the repeated offenses that really wrapped the story up nicely. Honestly, most of these January reads could have passed for Halloween!

13: "A Picture-Perfect Postcard: County Kerry, Ireland" by Jennifer Christiansen

I admit; I didn't mean for someone to get two stories featured in this list. However, Jennifer has well and truly earned both spots!

Her journey to the Phallogical Museum in Iceland was a break away from the norm. But her trip to Ireland...

...oh, I love Ireland.

Growing up, I always had an affinity - a longing - to visit the emerald isle. And after I met my current partner, he surprised me with a two week trip to Ireland! Maybe one day I'll get around to writing about our journey out there. My partner and I loved it so - to the point we jokingly spoke of moving there. I couldn't leave my brother like that though, so we may just have to settle for another trip out there in the future.

Any case, of course Jennifer's post on Ireland caught my eye! I didn't waste a moment before checking it out, eager to refresh my memory of the endless greens and charming atmosphere that I haven't seen in about 5 years. That said, I do believe my partner and I had checked out another part of the country, as none of the areas mentioned in this post seemed to sound familiar. To me, that made it even better; I was now reading and seeing parts that we hadn't been to yet - and they are magical.

I hope you've enjoyed my selection of 13 stories for January 2022! I hope to continue making such lists each month in order to help me read more of others on the site, but time will tell if I can fit in these monthly lists! Please consider checking out these authors - and their works! I'm sure they - like me - would love to see your support!

If you enjoyed this list and would like to see others by me, please consider checking out my profile for other Baker's Dozen lists, more personal pieces dealing with therapy and internal conflict, and short pieces of fiction! You can subscribe to me to see my posts in your own feed, and support in any fashion is most welcome and appreciated!