2011: Year in Review
Family
My cousin James and his wife Jen gave birth to their baby Kaiya. His brother Dave and wife are also expecting their first child this upcoming March. And although not related by blood (and not sure if it's the same family tree - probably more of a neighboring tree) a cousin of theirs: Thomas and his wife are expecting a child sometime next year as well.
On my father's side a cousin on mine is expecting another child next year as well.
Work
Nothing really changes on this end, I should spark a change on my own at some point. A co-worker of mine, Paulette, left for greener pastures (she had previously transferred to a different portion of group and then this year decided to leave the company altogether).
A bit of a sidenote, I did get a tantalizing bit of info that there is an answer to the noodle incident from a few years back - a manager I didn't really work with but who I knew of who was canned in a rather spectacular fashion for unknown reasons (not sure if I made a post about it on lj or just twitter) but... unfortunately I have not gotten a chance to snag that manager alone and have him tell me the whole story he'd heard (he found out from a retiring employee who told him he'd only reveal what happened if he was canned himself or retired... and supposedly that level of paranoia is lived up to in whatever the incident really is). I must have this question answered before leaving this company at the very least... I thought it would haunt me forever unanswered but now that an answer seems possible it taunts me even more.
Conventions
For the first time I was able to attend the gaming convention PAX East - had a blast! Won a couple nifty items, was introduced to some awesome upcoming games (partly the reason why I finally moved forward with getting on X-Box Live). Unfortunately the date for next year looks to fall right on top of my busytime and making it infeasible for attending again... which really sucks. I attended the comic dealer showcase MoCCA Festival, ran into some folks I haven't seen since probably the last one and also of course picked up some nifty comics. The last convention I attended for the year was the horror convention Rock and Shock. This convention fell on the same weekend as FurFright (seen below) and was fairly nearby - between that and having a friend in the area who wanted to attend R&S it made the decision to be in the area much easier. Unfortunately that weekend also had NY Comic Con - so for the first time in quite awhile I had to miss this convention for the price of attending two others... not a bad deal but still one I wish I didn't have to make.
Furry con-wise I attended Anthrocon again - enjoyed the previous year enough that it had to be repeated. This time I did not risk airline shenanigans and just drove to Pittsburgh with a couple friends. Once again attended FA: United - which I think marks the only furrycon I've managed to attend every year. Small con which is the closest to where I live, good for relaxing and catching up with folks in the area I don't see too often. Also for the first time this year I traveled up to Montreal for What the Fur - interesting experience and nifty to see folks in that area (unfortunately did not catch a couple furs from that area I was hoping to see), might have to weigh the amount of travel before considering it again. Been awhile but I managed to also attend FurFright, the last time I attended they were in their old hotel.
Trips
Traveled to my college again, it'd be my eleven year reunion so didn't see too many people I knew. Did manage to meet a few new people though and I met up with my second cousin and her family.
Traveled with my immediate family to Barcelona where we caught a Mediterranean Cruise through a number of countries, bought three serigraphs of Marc Davis' 8 Rules of Golf Suite while on said cruise.
Entertainment
For a few years now I've been keeping a list of movies and books I've read for the first time in that year. So of course it then became logical to list my favorites of these two piles. For 2011 my Book of the Year happens to be Perdido Street Station by China Miéville - an interesting fantasy/steampunk book. Took a little bit to get into the story (which btw, a little hard to pin down with the many twists; don't let the short inner monologues from the Garuda character frustrate you - they happen to be about once a chapter and unfortunately the book starts with one but I tell you the remainder of the book more than makes up for those sections) but I'm glad I did so. Two more books in that series which I intend to eventually read though know right now I would love if more were written. As for Movie of the Year: X-Men: First Class, I totally geeked with this movie because it made me enjoy X-Men again. The previous X-Men movies had their positives but at a minimum I found much to nitpick about... this 'reboot' version was just pure entertainment and for me it worked with story, dialogue, characters, etc.
There were other honorable mentions, bookwise I mean I am loving the Destroyermen series so far, I should be through all the written books in that series by sometime next year I'm sure. Fingerprints of the Gods was creepy and scary, and I guess we'll see how accurate by the end of this upcoming year ;) I am pretty sure that I mentioned some lines from Squirrel seeks Chipmunk were just... golden (especially the last line of the final story).
Moviewise honorable mentions would include some of the last movies I saw during the year: Muppets, Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows, and Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol are all very much worth seeing.
Television-wise Young Justice finally really kicked off after that super-teaser last year. The show has been non-stop gold, I hope it continues this level of serious bad-assery. Archer finished season two (hard to believe but better than season one) and showed a three-part teaser for third season - still excellent. Started watching Breaking Bad - reminds me a lot of the quality and writing of The Shield (which is a good thing btw). Silly but with a fairly serious undertone that can be easily missed - Adventure Time has not failed to impress this year. Lastly, a show which I really want to see more of and which is making me wish I was a faster reader - Game of Thrones. I cannot stress how much I've enjoyed watching this show.
Comicbook-wise Halcyon five issue story-arc came to an end with a very satisfying issue. Possibly too satisfying... I want to read more!
Health & Fitness
In October I went in for surgery to correct my deviated septum. First time I've been under general anesthesia - that is an odd experience! The results were mixed, I wish it would have improved my breathing more but... I guess it did help a bit.
I joined the NYRR Association in March, I had finally decided it was time to attempt the marathon (something I'd had in the back of my head for quite awhile), and since you ultimately get a discount on the registration fee if you're a member... However my number was not picked for the limited entry so the actual race will have to wait for another year. Working towards my weight loss I did manage to complete twelve races organized by that group this year - really unfortunate I did not join them in January, I could have qualified for guaranteed entry into the 2012 marathon. I'll take a chance at the luck of the draw for the upcoming marathon but if I miss that chance again at least I'll be working towards guaranteed entry for the following year.
Speaking of weight loss, I was doing great in the beginning of the year - hitting 220 (the lowest I've been in years) but around mid-year I lost focus and the weight started creeping up. But as stated in my resolutions post, I am starting to get a handle on it again.
Pictures of the Year
Something new I'll add to this little recap of the year - one picture I took and one picture taken of me:
EDIT:
Year Philosophy
I did this the previous two years and was gonna skip it this time around but this comic fits too well to go to waste...
My cousin James and his wife Jen gave birth to their baby Kaiya. His brother Dave and wife are also expecting their first child this upcoming March. And although not related by blood (and not sure if it's the same family tree - probably more of a neighboring tree) a cousin of theirs: Thomas and his wife are expecting a child sometime next year as well.
On my father's side a cousin on mine is expecting another child next year as well.
Work
Nothing really changes on this end, I should spark a change on my own at some point. A co-worker of mine, Paulette, left for greener pastures (she had previously transferred to a different portion of group and then this year decided to leave the company altogether).
A bit of a sidenote, I did get a tantalizing bit of info that there is an answer to the noodle incident from a few years back - a manager I didn't really work with but who I knew of who was canned in a rather spectacular fashion for unknown reasons (not sure if I made a post about it on lj or just twitter) but... unfortunately I have not gotten a chance to snag that manager alone and have him tell me the whole story he'd heard (he found out from a retiring employee who told him he'd only reveal what happened if he was canned himself or retired... and supposedly that level of paranoia is lived up to in whatever the incident really is). I must have this question answered before leaving this company at the very least... I thought it would haunt me forever unanswered but now that an answer seems possible it taunts me even more.
Conventions
For the first time I was able to attend the gaming convention PAX East - had a blast! Won a couple nifty items, was introduced to some awesome upcoming games (partly the reason why I finally moved forward with getting on X-Box Live). Unfortunately the date for next year looks to fall right on top of my busytime and making it infeasible for attending again... which really sucks. I attended the comic dealer showcase MoCCA Festival, ran into some folks I haven't seen since probably the last one and also of course picked up some nifty comics. The last convention I attended for the year was the horror convention Rock and Shock. This convention fell on the same weekend as FurFright (seen below) and was fairly nearby - between that and having a friend in the area who wanted to attend R&S it made the decision to be in the area much easier. Unfortunately that weekend also had NY Comic Con - so for the first time in quite awhile I had to miss this convention for the price of attending two others... not a bad deal but still one I wish I didn't have to make.
Furry con-wise I attended Anthrocon again - enjoyed the previous year enough that it had to be repeated. This time I did not risk airline shenanigans and just drove to Pittsburgh with a couple friends. Once again attended FA: United - which I think marks the only furrycon I've managed to attend every year. Small con which is the closest to where I live, good for relaxing and catching up with folks in the area I don't see too often. Also for the first time this year I traveled up to Montreal for What the Fur - interesting experience and nifty to see folks in that area (unfortunately did not catch a couple furs from that area I was hoping to see), might have to weigh the amount of travel before considering it again. Been awhile but I managed to also attend FurFright, the last time I attended they were in their old hotel.
Trips
Traveled to my college again, it'd be my eleven year reunion so didn't see too many people I knew. Did manage to meet a few new people though and I met up with my second cousin and her family.
Traveled with my immediate family to Barcelona where we caught a Mediterranean Cruise through a number of countries, bought three serigraphs of Marc Davis' 8 Rules of Golf Suite while on said cruise.
Entertainment
For a few years now I've been keeping a list of movies and books I've read for the first time in that year. So of course it then became logical to list my favorites of these two piles. For 2011 my Book of the Year happens to be Perdido Street Station by China Miéville - an interesting fantasy/steampunk book. Took a little bit to get into the story (which btw, a little hard to pin down with the many twists; don't let the short inner monologues from the Garuda character frustrate you - they happen to be about once a chapter and unfortunately the book starts with one but I tell you the remainder of the book more than makes up for those sections) but I'm glad I did so. Two more books in that series which I intend to eventually read though know right now I would love if more were written. As for Movie of the Year: X-Men: First Class, I totally geeked with this movie because it made me enjoy X-Men again. The previous X-Men movies had their positives but at a minimum I found much to nitpick about... this 'reboot' version was just pure entertainment and for me it worked with story, dialogue, characters, etc.
There were other honorable mentions, bookwise I mean I am loving the Destroyermen series so far, I should be through all the written books in that series by sometime next year I'm sure. Fingerprints of the Gods was creepy and scary, and I guess we'll see how accurate by the end of this upcoming year ;) I am pretty sure that I mentioned some lines from Squirrel seeks Chipmunk were just... golden (especially the last line of the final story).
Moviewise honorable mentions would include some of the last movies I saw during the year: Muppets, Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows, and Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol are all very much worth seeing.
Television-wise Young Justice finally really kicked off after that super-teaser last year. The show has been non-stop gold, I hope it continues this level of serious bad-assery. Archer finished season two (hard to believe but better than season one) and showed a three-part teaser for third season - still excellent. Started watching Breaking Bad - reminds me a lot of the quality and writing of The Shield (which is a good thing btw). Silly but with a fairly serious undertone that can be easily missed - Adventure Time has not failed to impress this year. Lastly, a show which I really want to see more of and which is making me wish I was a faster reader - Game of Thrones. I cannot stress how much I've enjoyed watching this show.
Comicbook-wise Halcyon five issue story-arc came to an end with a very satisfying issue. Possibly too satisfying... I want to read more!
Health & Fitness
In October I went in for surgery to correct my deviated septum. First time I've been under general anesthesia - that is an odd experience! The results were mixed, I wish it would have improved my breathing more but... I guess it did help a bit.
I joined the NYRR Association in March, I had finally decided it was time to attempt the marathon (something I'd had in the back of my head for quite awhile), and since you ultimately get a discount on the registration fee if you're a member... However my number was not picked for the limited entry so the actual race will have to wait for another year. Working towards my weight loss I did manage to complete twelve races organized by that group this year - really unfortunate I did not join them in January, I could have qualified for guaranteed entry into the 2012 marathon. I'll take a chance at the luck of the draw for the upcoming marathon but if I miss that chance again at least I'll be working towards guaranteed entry for the following year.
Speaking of weight loss, I was doing great in the beginning of the year - hitting 220 (the lowest I've been in years) but around mid-year I lost focus and the weight started creeping up. But as stated in my resolutions post, I am starting to get a handle on it again.
Pictures of the Year
Something new I'll add to this little recap of the year - one picture I took and one picture taken of me:
EDIT:
Year Philosophy
I did this the previous two years and was gonna skip it this time around but this comic fits too well to go to waste...