Holes In Thoughts

Sunday, December 23, 2007

2007 Recap

I don't read many horoscopes. Actually, I don't read any, except for Free Will Astrology, mostly because it's next to the funnies in the Tucson Weekly. I like it because it's often irreverent, and doesn't 'rate' my days. One day, I'd love to see one of those astrology columns give 8% of the planet - those with a particular sign - a one-star day: "Your life is abysmal right now and you should probably look into buying some Cure records. There is no fix for this. You are screwed."

Anyway, despite all that, my reading was fairly prescient, or at least relevant, this week:

You worked your ass off in 2007. Am I right, my fellow Cancerian? In fact, you threw yourself into your hard labors with so much dutiful fervor that you sometimes lost sight of the fact that they were mostly just preparation for bigger and better assignments. Luckily for you, I'm here to snap you out of your amnesia. Please begin immediately to formulate a vision of how you will make the transition to those bigger and better assignments.

Now, I did work my ass off this year. For about half of it I was averaging 60 hours of work per week, and peaked at points at 90. In the first half I was a teacher, which qualifies for overwork bitching by itself.

Despite the work I put in, I have to say: 2007 kicked ass. 2007 was the best year of my life. Let's view the highlight reel, shall we?

January: Still working as a part-time teacher and part-time designer.
January: Tucson had a snow day, so I didn't have to go to school.
February: Rekindled my interest in new music via blogs.
February: Found out how awesome burlesque shows are.
April: Saw two Phoenix Suns games (versus L.A. and Dallas), and they won both, plus a scrimmage in October.
May: Registered ImpulseMedia.com and registered the name with the State.
Got out of debt.
June: Decided on four names for our kids (Méria Jael and Artemis Ella; Aaron Isaac and Michael David).
June: Went hiking for the first time in almost a decade.
June: Bought my first good camera.
June: Got a $1,925.24 bonus.
June: Had full medical benefits for the first time since being a dependent.
July: Began keeping a proper inventory of our things.
July: Bought my first really nice phone/mp3 player.
August: Celebrated 5th anniversary of my first date with Rachel.
August: Began really coming to terms with being Catholic.
August: Moved into a place that is actually pretty nice.
September: Threw my first great party.
September: Made more freelance design money in 6 months than I'd made in 6 years.
September: Bought my first new car.
October: Had my taxes done by a professional for the first time.
October: Began real work on Leelu.
October: Began finding that I really like non-fiction, after not reading for a long time, and completed my three-month examination of my own political beliefs.
October: Bought my first real gigging-quality music gear.
November: Began working full-time from home in my dream job.
November: Bought my first new computer.
November: Began climbing to get into shape.
December: Published my 200th blog post (104 in this year alone).

Of course, there were some things I had wanted to do, but didn't:

Didn't get into proper shape, really.
Haven't been eating very well.
Developed insomnia.
Didn't finish Ignition.
Didn't finish home inventory.
Didn't get all my auto records into the computer.
Gave up on the truck and gave it to Jordan.

But despite all the cool stuff I finally got to buy, the job, the fact that I'm now more or less middle class - all of that needs to be put into perspective in just the way that horoscope did. I need to keep everything working well - in particular, keep doing a good job at work. Now that I no longer have to worry about how I'll be paying for groceries, I need to start learning how to eat and live well, how to keep my friends, make myself better, etc., etc.

Labels: 2007, memory

posted by Steve @ 12:39 AM 0 comments

Saturday, December 22, 2007

End-of-the-year To-Do List

So, 2007 has about 10 days remaining. I've drawn up my list of things to do during the winter break. This is becoming a tradition. This year I don't have quite as many days of as I'd like, because the time between the 24th and 1st fit pretty nicely into a work week, and I think of winter vacation being two weeks, not one.

Anyway, the list:

~~Ship out RMA's of processor fans that didn't work~~
~~Buy Caliente a new collar (he's getting pretty good at ditching them).~~
~~Clean the patio~~
~~Affix the basketball hoop net more effectively.~~
~~Replace Leelu's battery (under warranty, thankfully)~~
~~Replace stove catch pans.~~
~~Check Yoshimi's tire pressure.~~
~~Move printer to Rachel's computer (it's so old that Vista won't work with it).~~
~~Clean trash around our place.~~
~~Put incense in the bathroom.~~
~~Get the new Water Pik working.~~
Clean off Rachel's rolling cart, which is covered in computer parts.
Simultaneously have all of our laundry clean and put a way, and have all of the dishes clean and put away.
Trim bushes
Sell old dryer
Make at least 6 driving mix CDs
Figure out how to make MP3 CDs that will work in the car
Replace kitchen countertop
~~Install bathroom shelf~~
Do 2005 tax return (apparently it was misfiled somehow)
Affix lattice
Give the bathroom its hardcore biannual cleaning.
Make mix CDs for John illustrating influences for Ignition
Jam with John
Cook something awesome with Rachel
Tag, rate, date and organize a good amount of my photo archive
Copy a fair amount of old archive CDs
Visit relatives for Christmas
Clean up Rachel's new/my old computer for her use
Finish (could it be?!) organizing the MP3 collection
Clean house thoroughly
Get totally caught up on mail filing
Possibly throw a New Years party

Labels: 2007, To-Do

posted by Steve @ 2:18 AM 0 comments

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Name: Steve
Home: Tucson, Arizona, United States
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