And The Dreams That You Dare To Dream Really Do Come True
I actually started writing this at work yesterday, but then my internet crapped out. Luckily LJ saved it, but I'm going to have to edit it a bit for today.
Happy Birthday, loki555!
Talk about a GREAT start to the new year--I got a call on Saturday night saying that my wallet had been found! Someone turned it into the cab company. Mom couldn't figure out why it took almost a month to turn up, but I figure, if you're a cab driver, how often do you even look in the back seat? And even a passenger isn't necessarily going to see it--it's a dark colored wallet--unless they accidentally kick it or something. I'm just grateful it was found at all. Never mind the credit cards and all that, that was a pain but manageable, it's the stuff in the photos section that's really irreplaceable. Like this:
At least now I have a scan of it.
All right, new year, let's see how I did on my resolutions for the last one.
Last Year's
1) Get down to my college weight! If anyone else gets sick in my family this year, I will beat them with a stick. I want some time to achieve my goals, god damn it. :)
::laughs:: Actually, I did! Through absolutely no fault of my own. It was the silver lining to my terrible, terrible summer. And it's staying off, praise the lord and pass the challah bread.
2) Keep up with updating my websites, but especially Crimson Sky Creations. There's a Quizzes page there for a reason; I can update with content even if I haven't been drawing. Make use of that. You fixed the page so that it loads in Dreamweaver now without crashing it, you have no excuse.
Er...not so much. I did update every month, at least. But I had 25 updates in 2007 and 9 new drawings (not counting the rescans I did, and one collab with angelcarnivore, and I only had 22 updates in 2008 with 8 new drawings, and two collabs with angelcarnivore. Blood, Sweat, and Glitter I can't stress about too much, as there's only so much cosplaying one person can do. But I should do more work on Ohtori Avatars. But Sailor Moon Avatars was really my triumph of the year.
3) On that note, draw more. It doesn't matter if you think you suck. How do you think you're going to get any better? And this is much easier to make time to do because a sketchbook is easier to tote around then a dance pad. Try to get the Crew back into Creative Night, draw while sitting with Mommy on the couch. Find some time, you had potential once, and it's slipping away.
See above. Not so much. Granted I only did one drawing less than I did in 2007, and most of them were from scratch (some of the ones in 3007, I remember now, were ones I had started way earlier and abandoned in my sketchbook that, again, angelcarnivore encouraged me to go back to and finish). But I really do need to start carrying that sketchbook around again and do more. The trouble now is actually the prismacolor markers--I have many more now, which is good for my drawings, but bad for the carrying, they're getting really heavy and unmanageable! I wish I could find a carrying case for them without having to buy them as a set.
4) Similarly, work on getting your voice back. You're beginning to suck, and that scares me. Playing Rock Band will help with this, so aren't you lucky? :)
Meh. On the plus side, I definitely learned more songs, so that I don't have to hide in a corner when we go to a kareoke bar and wish there were more Broadway showtunes. And I learned how to sing more like a rocker and less like a, well, failed Broadway actress. So that's good. But I definitely slacked off on this as well. Luckily Rock Band 2 is out... :)
5) Cut down on the birthdays. This year, I'm only making birthday graphics for new people, and people who thanked me/acknowledged their birthday graphic this past year. I don't think that's unreasonable. (Somehow, I don't think this will cut down my list much--although I trim two out of January so far.)
Absolutely did this, and am glad I did. It felt weird not making birthday graphics for some people I wanted to wish happy birthday to, but I did feel like I had more time to write about stuff I wanted to share and remember.
6) Open a savings account! OWAIT, I did that already. ::laughs:: Yep, this year instead of spending my bonus (I didn't even buy a laptop, although I desperately want one so I can update my websites during my incalcuable amount of hours spent traveling), I threw the whole thing in an ING Direct Savings account. The best part is, there's no minimum balance and no monthly fee, and I can take EVERYTHING out at once and move it straight into my checking account. AND it earns interest. AND I signed up for the automatic savings plan so it'll automatically throw $50 every payday in there (which I shouldn't really notice, since I got a raise again), so it'll definitely grow throughout the year. This means that unless something REALLY big happens, I will DEFINITELY be able to afford Katsucon, and Otakon, and Usagi Seion's and Phalanx's wedding, I won't accidentally come up short through paying bills the week before or anything. This can only be good. :)
::grins:: Well, I had already done so, and I'm pleased to say I kept up with it. Unfortunately I depleted it a bit in the spring to make a loan that I haven't gotten back, and in the winter to help fund Christmas. I'd like to build it back up again, but I think I'll focus on paying off my credit cards and just stick to the $50 every payday for a while--it's still a help.
7) Wishful Thinking 1: Meet some of my LJ friends in person, especially Especially ESPECIALLY some of the Colorado (and soon to be Colorado) people--you know who you are. I'd really, really like to do this. I don't know if it's feasible, but...well, that's why it's a "wish".
Yes and no. I know I met some people for the first time in 2008, and I really thought I was ahead of the game, but when I did that LJ meme for my website I "had met once" the same amount of people as last year! I guess that means I deleted some people from last year off of my Friends List? But still, did it really even out? I guess it did. (Or I forgot who all I've met. That's not impossible.) Still want to voyage out to Colorado like woah. :)
8) Wishful Thinking 2: Do more photoshoots. Oh, they cheer me up so much. So so much. I know I don't have the time. I know the things I'm doing instead (visiting family) are much more important. But I really do love doing them. Well, we'll see.
::cries:: No. I only did three photoshoots last year, and that SUCKS. Please to be helping me rectify this this year?
All right, moving on to...
This Year's Resolutions
1) Tone up. It's nice that the numbers on the scale make me happy, but I'm the only one who sees them, and there are still certain parts of my body that I don't like the way they look. (Seriously, does anyone know what you have to do to get a sexy back?) This is kind of a two-part resolution in that I *want* to play Wii Fit more. I finally get what people like about yoga; it literally makes you feel good. Instantly. Maybe it's psychosomatic, but whatever--take happiness where it comes. If it feels good, do it.
2) Keep up with the websites! SMA is technically easier to update now with the new redesign, but would you believe it's a little harder to write about what has been updated? Never mind, that's neither here nor there--I've worked out a schedule for myself when it comes to the websites and it's working for me so all I need to do is stick to it!
3) Get a driver's license. HEY! Done! Next I need to do other things like figure out what I'm going to do about a car and insurance and whatnot--for myself, I wouldn't be in a rush, but my having a license affects Dad's insurance, so I need to take care of that. I'm allowed to have a few days just to bask, though.
4) Move out. I'm always hesitant to even think of this as a resolution because it's not something I can make happen all by myself, so many outside factors affect whether or not you can even find a suitable place to live, much less afford it. But I need to be involved to make it happen, so at least I can focus on what I can do.
5) Cut back on the birthdays even more. Sorry guys, but again, it's getting to the point where I'm putting off stuff I want and need to do just to make the birthday graphics. This year, I'm going to reciprocate 100% evenly--if you made (or make) me a birthday graphic, I'll make you one. If you did a text shoutout, I'll do a text shoutout. If you messaged me on Facebook, I'll message you on Facebook. And scooby dooby do. New people to my list will probably get a graphic because it's not their "fault" they didn't make me one last year, but...well, we'll see about next year. Who knows, maybe in 2010 I'll go back to making graphics for everybody. LOL. I don't want to even pretend I can predict that far ahead.
6) I'm going to move it up from a wishful thinking because maybe I'll take it more seriously this way. I'd really like to do more photoshoots. They make me feel wonderful, and a lot of other people appreciate the pictures--especially my mom. Even if it's just Marvel shooting me in the bedroom, if I get one or two photos out of it that I really like, what the heck, right?
7) Dress up for work more. If I dress like a schlub, I feel like a schlub. Obviously if it's 18 degrees out, I'll cut myself some slack, but in the summer? There's no reason I shouldn't dress to make myself feel good. There's no point in being happy I lost weight if I'm then going to hide it under oversized sweaters.
8) Do more things with Marvel. When we first started dating, we used to have a date night. Now, granted, especially if we move out, we shouldn't be spending that kind of money. But we can do more things together even staying in. We have the entire series of MST3K to watch together. I want him to try out Wii Fit. We haven't watched anime together in ages, and that used to be a "Monday night" thing even before we were dating. Go to different restaurants instead of the same old places. Make eating in into an indoor picnic. Burn some of the ten million candles I own. I could probably come up with more, but I should probably ask him for suggestions, too, so I'm sure they're things he also wants to do, and not just things *I* want to do.
I think that's everything.
I might as well mention that I finished the 2009 design for Crimson Sky Creations...not quite on January 1st, but close enough for government use, I suppose. I like it, I really do, but it has issues that I probably could stand to try to tweak all year. In the meantime, click on the link and...
Poll Crimson Sky Creations 09
Last night, Marvel and I went out to this tiny but really incredible restaurant down in the Village called Dieci to celebrate me passing my road test. I'm not really a foodie but this place is incredible--really fancy food for only semi-fancy prices, and it's super small so it feels ultra exclusive. It's a really great place to escape from the world for a little while. :)
Happy Birthday, loki555!
Talk about a GREAT start to the new year--I got a call on Saturday night saying that my wallet had been found! Someone turned it into the cab company. Mom couldn't figure out why it took almost a month to turn up, but I figure, if you're a cab driver, how often do you even look in the back seat? And even a passenger isn't necessarily going to see it--it's a dark colored wallet--unless they accidentally kick it or something. I'm just grateful it was found at all. Never mind the credit cards and all that, that was a pain but manageable, it's the stuff in the photos section that's really irreplaceable. Like this:
At least now I have a scan of it.
All right, new year, let's see how I did on my resolutions for the last one.
Last Year's
1) Get down to my college weight! If anyone else gets sick in my family this year, I will beat them with a stick. I want some time to achieve my goals, god damn it. :)
::laughs:: Actually, I did! Through absolutely no fault of my own. It was the silver lining to my terrible, terrible summer. And it's staying off, praise the lord and pass the challah bread.
2) Keep up with updating my websites, but especially Crimson Sky Creations. There's a Quizzes page there for a reason; I can update with content even if I haven't been drawing. Make use of that. You fixed the page so that it loads in Dreamweaver now without crashing it, you have no excuse.
Er...not so much. I did update every month, at least. But I had 25 updates in 2007 and 9 new drawings (not counting the rescans I did, and one collab with angelcarnivore, and I only had 22 updates in 2008 with 8 new drawings, and two collabs with angelcarnivore. Blood, Sweat, and Glitter I can't stress about too much, as there's only so much cosplaying one person can do. But I should do more work on Ohtori Avatars. But Sailor Moon Avatars was really my triumph of the year.
3) On that note, draw more. It doesn't matter if you think you suck. How do you think you're going to get any better? And this is much easier to make time to do because a sketchbook is easier to tote around then a dance pad. Try to get the Crew back into Creative Night, draw while sitting with Mommy on the couch. Find some time, you had potential once, and it's slipping away.
See above. Not so much. Granted I only did one drawing less than I did in 2007, and most of them were from scratch (some of the ones in 3007, I remember now, were ones I had started way earlier and abandoned in my sketchbook that, again, angelcarnivore encouraged me to go back to and finish). But I really do need to start carrying that sketchbook around again and do more. The trouble now is actually the prismacolor markers--I have many more now, which is good for my drawings, but bad for the carrying, they're getting really heavy and unmanageable! I wish I could find a carrying case for them without having to buy them as a set.
4) Similarly, work on getting your voice back. You're beginning to suck, and that scares me. Playing Rock Band will help with this, so aren't you lucky? :)
Meh. On the plus side, I definitely learned more songs, so that I don't have to hide in a corner when we go to a kareoke bar and wish there were more Broadway showtunes. And I learned how to sing more like a rocker and less like a, well, failed Broadway actress. So that's good. But I definitely slacked off on this as well. Luckily Rock Band 2 is out... :)
5) Cut down on the birthdays. This year, I'm only making birthday graphics for new people, and people who thanked me/acknowledged their birthday graphic this past year. I don't think that's unreasonable. (Somehow, I don't think this will cut down my list much--although I trim two out of January so far.)
Absolutely did this, and am glad I did. It felt weird not making birthday graphics for some people I wanted to wish happy birthday to, but I did feel like I had more time to write about stuff I wanted to share and remember.
6) Open a savings account! OWAIT, I did that already. ::laughs:: Yep, this year instead of spending my bonus (I didn't even buy a laptop, although I desperately want one so I can update my websites during my incalcuable amount of hours spent traveling), I threw the whole thing in an ING Direct Savings account. The best part is, there's no minimum balance and no monthly fee, and I can take EVERYTHING out at once and move it straight into my checking account. AND it earns interest. AND I signed up for the automatic savings plan so it'll automatically throw $50 every payday in there (which I shouldn't really notice, since I got a raise again), so it'll definitely grow throughout the year. This means that unless something REALLY big happens, I will DEFINITELY be able to afford Katsucon, and Otakon, and Usagi Seion's and Phalanx's wedding, I won't accidentally come up short through paying bills the week before or anything. This can only be good. :)
::grins:: Well, I had already done so, and I'm pleased to say I kept up with it. Unfortunately I depleted it a bit in the spring to make a loan that I haven't gotten back, and in the winter to help fund Christmas. I'd like to build it back up again, but I think I'll focus on paying off my credit cards and just stick to the $50 every payday for a while--it's still a help.
7) Wishful Thinking 1: Meet some of my LJ friends in person, especially Especially ESPECIALLY some of the Colorado (and soon to be Colorado) people--you know who you are. I'd really, really like to do this. I don't know if it's feasible, but...well, that's why it's a "wish".
Yes and no. I know I met some people for the first time in 2008, and I really thought I was ahead of the game, but when I did that LJ meme for my website I "had met once" the same amount of people as last year! I guess that means I deleted some people from last year off of my Friends List? But still, did it really even out? I guess it did. (Or I forgot who all I've met. That's not impossible.) Still want to voyage out to Colorado like woah. :)
8) Wishful Thinking 2: Do more photoshoots. Oh, they cheer me up so much. So so much. I know I don't have the time. I know the things I'm doing instead (visiting family) are much more important. But I really do love doing them. Well, we'll see.
::cries:: No. I only did three photoshoots last year, and that SUCKS. Please to be helping me rectify this this year?
All right, moving on to...
This Year's Resolutions
1) Tone up. It's nice that the numbers on the scale make me happy, but I'm the only one who sees them, and there are still certain parts of my body that I don't like the way they look. (Seriously, does anyone know what you have to do to get a sexy back?) This is kind of a two-part resolution in that I *want* to play Wii Fit more. I finally get what people like about yoga; it literally makes you feel good. Instantly. Maybe it's psychosomatic, but whatever--take happiness where it comes. If it feels good, do it.
2) Keep up with the websites! SMA is technically easier to update now with the new redesign, but would you believe it's a little harder to write about what has been updated? Never mind, that's neither here nor there--I've worked out a schedule for myself when it comes to the websites and it's working for me so all I need to do is stick to it!
3) Get a driver's license. HEY! Done! Next I need to do other things like figure out what I'm going to do about a car and insurance and whatnot--for myself, I wouldn't be in a rush, but my having a license affects Dad's insurance, so I need to take care of that. I'm allowed to have a few days just to bask, though.
4) Move out. I'm always hesitant to even think of this as a resolution because it's not something I can make happen all by myself, so many outside factors affect whether or not you can even find a suitable place to live, much less afford it. But I need to be involved to make it happen, so at least I can focus on what I can do.
5) Cut back on the birthdays even more. Sorry guys, but again, it's getting to the point where I'm putting off stuff I want and need to do just to make the birthday graphics. This year, I'm going to reciprocate 100% evenly--if you made (or make) me a birthday graphic, I'll make you one. If you did a text shoutout, I'll do a text shoutout. If you messaged me on Facebook, I'll message you on Facebook. And scooby dooby do. New people to my list will probably get a graphic because it's not their "fault" they didn't make me one last year, but...well, we'll see about next year. Who knows, maybe in 2010 I'll go back to making graphics for everybody. LOL. I don't want to even pretend I can predict that far ahead.
6) I'm going to move it up from a wishful thinking because maybe I'll take it more seriously this way. I'd really like to do more photoshoots. They make me feel wonderful, and a lot of other people appreciate the pictures--especially my mom. Even if it's just Marvel shooting me in the bedroom, if I get one or two photos out of it that I really like, what the heck, right?
7) Dress up for work more. If I dress like a schlub, I feel like a schlub. Obviously if it's 18 degrees out, I'll cut myself some slack, but in the summer? There's no reason I shouldn't dress to make myself feel good. There's no point in being happy I lost weight if I'm then going to hide it under oversized sweaters.
8) Do more things with Marvel. When we first started dating, we used to have a date night. Now, granted, especially if we move out, we shouldn't be spending that kind of money. But we can do more things together even staying in. We have the entire series of MST3K to watch together. I want him to try out Wii Fit. We haven't watched anime together in ages, and that used to be a "Monday night" thing even before we were dating. Go to different restaurants instead of the same old places. Make eating in into an indoor picnic. Burn some of the ten million candles I own. I could probably come up with more, but I should probably ask him for suggestions, too, so I'm sure they're things he also wants to do, and not just things *I* want to do.
I think that's everything.
I might as well mention that I finished the 2009 design for Crimson Sky Creations...not quite on January 1st, but close enough for government use, I suppose. I like it, I really do, but it has issues that I probably could stand to try to tweak all year. In the meantime, click on the link and...
Poll Crimson Sky Creations 09
Last night, Marvel and I went out to this tiny but really incredible restaurant down in the Village called Dieci to celebrate me passing my road test. I'm not really a foodie but this place is incredible--really fancy food for only semi-fancy prices, and it's super small so it feels ultra exclusive. It's a really great place to escape from the world for a little while. :)