I never make resolutions. Except this year. It’s time.

In 2017, I vow to wean myself off extraneous U’s. It’s a ridiculous affection I picked up in my teens, enforced by weirdly-integrated British colonial spellings that linger in Hawaii, and my own thwarted plans to move to Canada. Somewhere between “this is cute/will be useful when I move to Ottawa” at 17 and my early 20’s. it became a habit I didn’t even notice anymore.

Now, it means I have to go back through every book I write and strip extra vowels before I can submit a manuscript anywhere.

Goodbye, Friend U. I will miss you. You were the closest I ever got to moving to Canada.