So Long, 2008...

Don't let the door hit you on the way out...

Well, at last it's over. Despite the occasional high point (two vacations, a historic election that restored my faith in humanity in general and my country in particular, if temporarily), I can't say it was a great year - cut my foot, fought with my car, and came closer to losing my father than I care to admit, among other issues - and I'd be lying if I said I was sorry to see the back of it.

As for how I did on my 2008 Resolutions... let's not go there, shall we? If I were rating myself with exceptional generosity, I hit nearly two out of 12 goals. That's a failing grade no matter how you slice it. The most irritating part, naturally, is that, for all the difficulties of the year, I can't ignore the fact that the primary reason for my own failure is something very much in my control: me.

So, given my failure rate, what should I resolve for 2009? I could resolve not to do any more resolutions. Not only is that a cop-out, it's the most overused and least clever cop-out in the book. I could resolve not to be such a miserably hopeless loser, but I have so little experience (read: no experience whatsoever) being anything else that I'd be doomed to failure on that front, too. Maybe I should just resolve to find new ways in which to fail, since at least then I'd be moving into fresh territory; my failures over the past years tend to be the same ones, repeated with depressing frequency.

Or maybe I should just buck up and post another lame Resolution list. Who knows? A year from now, the future me could use a nice little chuckle.

2009 Resolutions

1: Develop more income sources. (Bonus: Obtain business license.)
I deliberately left this open to some leeway - including, but not limited to selling things online or finally getting some investments going. I hope to keep my existing job, of course, but if I could get by without getting a major second job I'd be happier. I also have a theory that most downsized people will be snapping up the full-time jobs and larger part-time jobs, so I'm better off hunting for one/two-day-a-week deals or other minor supplemental income bits anyways.

2: Spend at least one hour total daily creating. (Bonus: Start and maintain an online sketchbook.)
Once again, I try to commit to furthering my artistic and literary interests. It's tough to manage when, any time I'm approaching "the zone," a relative is liable to blunder by and break my concentration by asking what I'm doing or demanding help with this or that computer program or the seemingly eternal hunt for "the thing - you know, that one."

3: Follow through on at least creative instruction book, course, or website. (Bonus: Work on 2d, 3D, and/or animation computer skills.)
Because I didn't pull it off last year. Again.

4: Finish at least one marketworthy story. (Bonus: Actually submit said story(-ies) for publication.)
Yep, terrible timing, as usual, but I'm approaching it with the philosophy that I can't exactly fail worse than I already have, so I might as well give it a shot. And who knows? Even if the publishers are cutting back and struggling, maybe e-books or Print-On-Demand publishing will take off as hungry readers search for new fixes.

5: Overhaul web presence, including (but not limited to) my existing websites. (Bonus: Relearn and update "basic" web skills - XML, CSS, etc.)
Poor, poor websites... Skyhaven's buried under internet dust and cobwebs, and Brightdreamer Books has been essentially the same, give or take some content, for most of its existence. And if I am going to add online sales via eBay or Etsy as part of Resolution 1, I ought to make myself a web presence worth linking to.

6: Organize, clean, and weed out my stuff and my spaces. (Bonus: Rearrange shelving/storage in my room and/or at my workbench.)
Because it needs doing more desperately than I care to admit...

7: Walk/exercise at least 3x weekly. (Bonus: Walk even on work days.)
Because 5 hours of slinging books tends to make one a bit lazy, though I should be able to manage even half an hour of walking afterwards. And because nearly every book on the matter directly links exercise to mental acuity and creativity.

Yep, only seven this year. If I only pull off almost two again, it'll look much better...