(no subject)
I greeted the new year in the usual way, with a fairly large hangover. New Year's Eve was spent at home with Cláudia and Filipe. We had sushi and sake because we forgot all the stores would close early, but thanks to my mum there was a bit of champagne, and also beer, thanks to the good people at the gas station. We stayed in listening to music for a while and only got out at around 3am. By the time we got to Cais do Sodré there was one person passed out on the ground per street corner. Then there was getting into Transmission, some metal, vodka red bull and beer, Cláudia chatting with the dj, some goth kid telling me the toiled used to be a hole in the ground and I don't remember much else before telling Cláudia to put on some Laurie Anderson and getting into bed.
I have no resolutions, though I do have things I want to do in the near future. As for the old year, part of me is glad it's over while the other knows it's not - circumstances don't change with the names we give things. But symbols affect us whether we want them to or not, so like everyone else I am tempted to consider the last year as a whole, a self-contained unit. And as a whole, it's been my saddest year so far.
And still, the last day of the old year brought cautiously optimistic news. There's that to be thankful for, and other things. Some six months ago, mid-summer, something happened which was hard to deal with, but in hindsight, I think it may have prepared me for what came later.
I started this entry last night, half-watching Angels and Demons on tv. Figured, I'm never going to read the books so I might as well watch the movie. It wasn't as annoying as I expected, but then I went in with very low expectations. After that, I did a tarot reading for coming year and tried to go to sleep, but that didn't work out, for various reasons. I'm sleeping less than ever. Sometimes it gets frustrating, but overall I'm finding I can do without the extra hours and function just as well.
Some of the things I want to do this year are a little less private than others. I can share those, they're fairly fun:
* I want to expand my drawing to characters I've never done before. I want to break free from the temptation of making everyone pretty. I want to be able to draw characters like Rhino and Big Bertha and the Juggernault. I want to learn how to use black properly, stop being lazy about drawing backgrounds, and train my perspective, textures and shadows.
* Write at least ten thousand words of original fiction. I know this is laughable for all you big-bangers out there. For me, it would be a terrific achievement. I have characters that I would like to see on paper, and fear is a poor excuse, laziness even less of one.
* Take that goddamn black belt exam already. The last two times I didn't try weren't all my fault, particularly the last one, what with Honda sensei getting terminally ill before flying here (a thought for him, wherever he is - he will be missed).
* Learn more chords on the guitar.
* Write more fanfiction. Finish the Daken/Bullseye thing I have going and tackle this new idea I had for an SPN story based on Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, set in the cage, with Sam's soul as Hans Castorp, Lucifer as the humanist and Michael as the jesuit. Actually, I wish someone would tackle this one for me, because I suspect it would be more trouble than it's worth.
* Find joy in studying again.
* Talk to people.
These are the things I have control over. The others are either too private, or are more wishes than anything else.
Still wanted to post some music and other things I enjoyed in 2010 but it's technically tomorrow already so this is a 3 day old post as it is. Get to it later.
I have no resolutions, though I do have things I want to do in the near future. As for the old year, part of me is glad it's over while the other knows it's not - circumstances don't change with the names we give things. But symbols affect us whether we want them to or not, so like everyone else I am tempted to consider the last year as a whole, a self-contained unit. And as a whole, it's been my saddest year so far.
And still, the last day of the old year brought cautiously optimistic news. There's that to be thankful for, and other things. Some six months ago, mid-summer, something happened which was hard to deal with, but in hindsight, I think it may have prepared me for what came later.
I started this entry last night, half-watching Angels and Demons on tv. Figured, I'm never going to read the books so I might as well watch the movie. It wasn't as annoying as I expected, but then I went in with very low expectations. After that, I did a tarot reading for coming year and tried to go to sleep, but that didn't work out, for various reasons. I'm sleeping less than ever. Sometimes it gets frustrating, but overall I'm finding I can do without the extra hours and function just as well.
Some of the things I want to do this year are a little less private than others. I can share those, they're fairly fun:
* I want to expand my drawing to characters I've never done before. I want to break free from the temptation of making everyone pretty. I want to be able to draw characters like Rhino and Big Bertha and the Juggernault. I want to learn how to use black properly, stop being lazy about drawing backgrounds, and train my perspective, textures and shadows.
* Write at least ten thousand words of original fiction. I know this is laughable for all you big-bangers out there. For me, it would be a terrific achievement. I have characters that I would like to see on paper, and fear is a poor excuse, laziness even less of one.
* Take that goddamn black belt exam already. The last two times I didn't try weren't all my fault, particularly the last one, what with Honda sensei getting terminally ill before flying here (a thought for him, wherever he is - he will be missed).
* Learn more chords on the guitar.
* Write more fanfiction. Finish the Daken/Bullseye thing I have going and tackle this new idea I had for an SPN story based on Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, set in the cage, with Sam's soul as Hans Castorp, Lucifer as the humanist and Michael as the jesuit. Actually, I wish someone would tackle this one for me, because I suspect it would be more trouble than it's worth.
* Find joy in studying again.
* Talk to people.
These are the things I have control over. The others are either too private, or are more wishes than anything else.
Still wanted to post some music and other things I enjoyed in 2010 but it's technically tomorrow already so this is a 3 day old post as it is. Get to it later.