Looking back at 2011.
2011: Year in Review
I thought it might be kind of interesting to look back at 2011. A retrospective, so to speak. Uhhhh ... this is mostly for my own benefit, I guess, so feel free to pass it over ^^;
Positives:
-I was able to spend some time with yaminokaitou and aelvana in spring, which was much needed after the disappointment of our Japan trip cancellation. yaminokaitou and I played through 90 percent of Graces F XD So fun~
-I switched to a full-time job at the library in May. Wow, it's already been over half a year. ... Despite having more hours, I find this position to be far less of a strain on me than my previous position in circulation. I have regular hours, so no more getting calls at random times of day asking me to come in, and no more working Saturdays. And of course, it's still super close by and I didn't have to adjust to a new workplace. Of course, I still don't make enough to live independently (my hourly wages didn't change at all), so I can't say I want this to be my "career." But it is something better than what I had.
-I met Troy Baker at Ramencon in August~ I ... can't really list the con (my first con!) itself as a positive since half the time I was circling around the tiny merchandise room to waste time or hiding out in the bathroom (yeah, I don't want to go to a con by myself ever again ...), but meeting Troy Baker and having him sign my Yuri poster with the words "Be Brave!" and taking a picture with me is still *o* ahh~
-I finally upgraded my aging laptop Matsuka to a shiny new one (Shouma!) this November. This is something I'd been thinking of doing for years, but it was difficult because Matsuka still worked. Well, he still does work, but at six and a half years old, he operates slowly and frequently overheats and dies. (Heck, just today I was going to transfer some music off Matsuka to my external HD so I could put it on Shouma, and not 20 minutes after turning him on, BOOP, gone. Poor Matsuka ...) Anyway, Shou-chan is working out fantastically for me. So fast, so sleek! So shiny *_* (And such a pretty blue color too, haha, hence the namesake of Shouma from Penguindrum.)
Negatives:
-The earthquake and tsunami in Japan were definitely a low point of the year, partly of course because of the huge disappointment of our long-awaited trip to Japan being cancelled (still hurts, man), but also for the obvious distress of people affected by the disasters. Japan is a country very close to my heart, so even though my surrogate hometown of Hikone wasn't affected, I still feel very strongly about it.
-Even though I've changed my job, I feel like I haven't moved forward very much at all -- maybe half a step. I'm not so depressed as I was when I was in my previous position (where there were days where I would just think, "If this is all life is going to be for me, I might as well be dead"), but I don't feel like I'm where I want to be yet either (besides that important matter of not being able to support myself; I don't want to live with my parents forever). And, for that matter, I still don't even know where I want to be, or what I want to be doing. I guess this is just more post-adolescent/20-something angst x.x but it'd be really nice if I could get over it and get a life soon.
-On that note, I'm: still single, still a shut-in who barely spends time with friends, still addicted to TinierMe (online, anime-style dress-up site mostly inhabited by teenagers o_o;), still have no outside activities. I can't place the blame for this on anyone but myself; I know I'm the one who needs to change. BUT IT'S SO HARD ToT
Other stuff of note:
-I participated in NaNoWriMo in 2011, though I pretty much gave up right away. Still, I did more than I've done in a few years. (Which is to say, it's been a few years since I've participated. The year before, I signed up but didn't even write anything.)
-Though it's not a big deal either way, my dad got a pick-up this year, which meant that the Explorer went back to my mom full time, which meant that my car went back to me. It's not that I was inconvenienced by my mom driving me to work, but it is nice to be driving my own car again.
-I watched quite a bit of anime in the beginning of the year, but I'm afraid (thanks in part to not updating LJ AT ALL) I have some trouble remembering what was 2010 and what was 2011. I know in the last few months I watched Mawaru Penguindrum (what an experience *_*), La Corda D'Oro, Uta no Prince-sama, and most of Rune Soldier. I began Neo Angelique, World of Narue, Heat Guy J, and on NYE, Figure 17. Well, since that was only November and December, it seems like it was a lot XD (Already in the new year, I've watched one full anime series, Kuragehime, about an apartment of female otaku and the glorious cross-dressing boy who barges into their lives. I watched it all in one day, on Jan. 1. IT WAS AWESOME XD) Anyway, this is neither really a positive or a negative ... I mean, it could be either, depending on one's perspective XD (On the same subject, I played through 95 percent or so of an otome game in Japanese. Good listening practice, but it was more than a little bit sketchy ...)
-I ventured out a few times to the nearest Half Price Books, which I didn't realize was so close until this past year. Again, positive or negative -- the positive is that I have a new bookstore at my disposal (good since I lost Bargain Books and Borders) and the negative is that I have another place to pour money into. I picked up five volumes of Please Save My Earth (in English) last time I was there though, so that's definitely on the positive side~
-I've had the chance to talk to lots of different people online, and I think that has perhaps made me a little bit more open-minded/thoughtful of others' perspectives.
-I got addicted to Reddit too ... though I've learned to visit it in moderation, because the denizens of that site annoy me at times.
Things I'm looking forward to in 2012:
-Uncertainly looking forward to my friend's wedding at the end of this month (on my birthday, actually). "Uncertainly" because I still have NO CLUE how I'm going to get myself downtown, which is where the wedding takes place. I'm afraid to drive myself, but also afraid of taking the train back alone late at night ... hopefully I won't die before being 25 for even a day ... D: (My two friends are in the wedding party, so I won't be able to ride with them, but another friend is going, so maybe?!)
-Yeah, I'm going to be 25. I know most/all of you reading this are older, but ... ahh, it's still a little bit weird to think I've lived a quarter-century.
-I am nerdishly looking forward to the release of some awesome video games. Tales of Graces! Xenoblade! Hakuouki! I talked about this before.
-I am SUPER looking forward to my dear friends returning from abroad. I MISS YOU GUYS! ♥
-And of course, there's the simple, fresh hope of a new year, full of promise.
Anyway, I'm back to work tomorrow after a few days off. Boooo. Last day to be a lazy bum ...
I thought it might be kind of interesting to look back at 2011. A retrospective, so to speak. Uhhhh ... this is mostly for my own benefit, I guess, so feel free to pass it over ^^;
Positives:
-I was able to spend some time with yaminokaitou and aelvana in spring, which was much needed after the disappointment of our Japan trip cancellation. yaminokaitou and I played through 90 percent of Graces F XD So fun~
-I switched to a full-time job at the library in May. Wow, it's already been over half a year. ... Despite having more hours, I find this position to be far less of a strain on me than my previous position in circulation. I have regular hours, so no more getting calls at random times of day asking me to come in, and no more working Saturdays. And of course, it's still super close by and I didn't have to adjust to a new workplace. Of course, I still don't make enough to live independently (my hourly wages didn't change at all), so I can't say I want this to be my "career." But it is something better than what I had.
-I met Troy Baker at Ramencon in August~ I ... can't really list the con (my first con!) itself as a positive since half the time I was circling around the tiny merchandise room to waste time or hiding out in the bathroom (yeah, I don't want to go to a con by myself ever again ...), but meeting Troy Baker and having him sign my Yuri poster with the words "Be Brave!" and taking a picture with me is still *o* ahh~
-I finally upgraded my aging laptop Matsuka to a shiny new one (Shouma!) this November. This is something I'd been thinking of doing for years, but it was difficult because Matsuka still worked. Well, he still does work, but at six and a half years old, he operates slowly and frequently overheats and dies. (Heck, just today I was going to transfer some music off Matsuka to my external HD so I could put it on Shouma, and not 20 minutes after turning him on, BOOP, gone. Poor Matsuka ...) Anyway, Shou-chan is working out fantastically for me. So fast, so sleek! So shiny *_* (And such a pretty blue color too, haha, hence the namesake of Shouma from Penguindrum.)
Negatives:
-The earthquake and tsunami in Japan were definitely a low point of the year, partly of course because of the huge disappointment of our long-awaited trip to Japan being cancelled (still hurts, man), but also for the obvious distress of people affected by the disasters. Japan is a country very close to my heart, so even though my surrogate hometown of Hikone wasn't affected, I still feel very strongly about it.
-Even though I've changed my job, I feel like I haven't moved forward very much at all -- maybe half a step. I'm not so depressed as I was when I was in my previous position (where there were days where I would just think, "If this is all life is going to be for me, I might as well be dead"), but I don't feel like I'm where I want to be yet either (besides that important matter of not being able to support myself; I don't want to live with my parents forever). And, for that matter, I still don't even know where I want to be, or what I want to be doing. I guess this is just more post-adolescent/20-something angst x.x but it'd be really nice if I could get over it and get a life soon.
-On that note, I'm: still single, still a shut-in who barely spends time with friends, still addicted to TinierMe (online, anime-style dress-up site mostly inhabited by teenagers o_o;), still have no outside activities. I can't place the blame for this on anyone but myself; I know I'm the one who needs to change. BUT IT'S SO HARD ToT
Other stuff of note:
-I participated in NaNoWriMo in 2011, though I pretty much gave up right away. Still, I did more than I've done in a few years. (Which is to say, it's been a few years since I've participated. The year before, I signed up but didn't even write anything.)
-Though it's not a big deal either way, my dad got a pick-up this year, which meant that the Explorer went back to my mom full time, which meant that my car went back to me. It's not that I was inconvenienced by my mom driving me to work, but it is nice to be driving my own car again.
-I watched quite a bit of anime in the beginning of the year, but I'm afraid (thanks in part to not updating LJ AT ALL) I have some trouble remembering what was 2010 and what was 2011. I know in the last few months I watched Mawaru Penguindrum (what an experience *_*), La Corda D'Oro, Uta no Prince-sama, and most of Rune Soldier. I began Neo Angelique, World of Narue, Heat Guy J, and on NYE, Figure 17. Well, since that was only November and December, it seems like it was a lot XD (Already in the new year, I've watched one full anime series, Kuragehime, about an apartment of female otaku and the glorious cross-dressing boy who barges into their lives. I watched it all in one day, on Jan. 1. IT WAS AWESOME XD) Anyway, this is neither really a positive or a negative ... I mean, it could be either, depending on one's perspective XD (On the same subject, I played through 95 percent or so of an otome game in Japanese. Good listening practice, but it was more than a little bit sketchy ...)
-I ventured out a few times to the nearest Half Price Books, which I didn't realize was so close until this past year. Again, positive or negative -- the positive is that I have a new bookstore at my disposal (good since I lost Bargain Books and Borders) and the negative is that I have another place to pour money into. I picked up five volumes of Please Save My Earth (in English) last time I was there though, so that's definitely on the positive side~
-I've had the chance to talk to lots of different people online, and I think that has perhaps made me a little bit more open-minded/thoughtful of others' perspectives.
-I got addicted to Reddit too ... though I've learned to visit it in moderation, because the denizens of that site annoy me at times.
Things I'm looking forward to in 2012:
-Uncertainly looking forward to my friend's wedding at the end of this month (on my birthday, actually). "Uncertainly" because I still have NO CLUE how I'm going to get myself downtown, which is where the wedding takes place. I'm afraid to drive myself, but also afraid of taking the train back alone late at night ... hopefully I won't die before being 25 for even a day ... D: (My two friends are in the wedding party, so I won't be able to ride with them, but another friend is going, so maybe?!)
-Yeah, I'm going to be 25. I know most/all of you reading this are older, but ... ahh, it's still a little bit weird to think I've lived a quarter-century.
-I am nerdishly looking forward to the release of some awesome video games. Tales of Graces! Xenoblade! Hakuouki! I talked about this before.
-I am SUPER looking forward to my dear friends returning from abroad. I MISS YOU GUYS! ♥
-And of course, there's the simple, fresh hope of a new year, full of promise.
Anyway, I'm back to work tomorrow after a few days off. Boooo. Last day to be a lazy bum ...