2009

2008 was bittersweet.

On the day job front it couldn’t have been better. I slipped more into a management/marketing/subject matter expert roll. A program I’m heading won an award for “Outstanding Research” at a major conference (and I was listed as an author for seven papers presented at the conference, as well), I gave three big talks, and had a letter of recognition sent to my boss from a Brigadier General. If that’s all french to you all you need to know is that any one of those things would be outstanding for a thirty-year-old kid. I’m starting 2009 with a lot of stock and there are already some very interesting things cooking.

I can’t complain about the relationship side of things, either. Robin and I have been getting better with age; we're like a 2000 Rhone from the Châteauneuf-du-Pape region. You can drink us now but give it another decade or so and we'll be available on the wine market for hundreds of dollars per bottle. I’m looking forward to the wedding in June and everything that comes with married life. My family stayed healthy this past year. My sister’s starting to turn into a little adult, I have a new niece and she’s adorable, and my nephew/godson is nothing short of perfect in my eyes.

But the writing…oh, the writing. I was lazy and unlucky this year. I let too many opportunities slip away and the ones I pursued ended up being dead-ends. I kept waiting for Postcards’ sales to kick up and that never happened. Drove out to San Diego to try to sell some non-comic work and that kind of flopped (although my diary was published at DCist). It was a very frustrating year and, to be honest, I feel like I’m starting all over again in ’09 despite the fantastic year I had in ’07. I mean, seriously…two books I edited were put out by Random House, the largest publisher IN AMERICA, and ’08 was a holding pattern. Not to mention the fact I was nominated for an Eisner and two Harveys for my ’07 work. How does that even happen?

So, with all that said, I’ve come up with some resolutions for the New Year. I know most people come up with one resolution but I figure if I have a whole bunch I can at least accomplish one.

1) Write everyday. This should seem like an easy resolution especially since I love to write and my old Moose in the Closet shit is proof-positive that I can do it everyday. But there are several minor resolutions that I’ll need to stick to in order to achieve something like The Moose this year…
a. Don’t drink so much
b. Don’t mope so much
c. Don’t watch so much porno (is there anything in this universe more distracting than porno? No. No, there’s not)
2) Lose some fucking weight already. I’m getting married in six months and I’m 30 pounds overweight. I actually like working out and I like cooking and eating good foods but it’s the moping thing that’s fucking me up. I come home tired and all cranky and I just have some pizza and some beer and call it a night.
3) Answer emails. Oy, did my tendency to ignore emails bite me in the ass in 2008.
4) Keep my desk clean. Half the times I don’t write at night is because my desk is filthy and not worth cleaning.
5) Don’t have any faith in the Jets or the Mets, no matter who they get in the off-season.
6) Don’t fart as much. This is more Robin’s request than my resolution but I’ll try my best.
7) Don’t watch Heroes. What a way to waste an hour a week.
8) Learn how to use my camera. I have an expensive-ass camera and I use full auto 95% of the time.
9) Watch more indie movies. Listen to more indie bands. Catch more live shows.
10) Go to bed before 1AM most weeknights. These 3/4AM nights just aren’t working anymore. I’m getting old.
11) Keep a wine journal.
12) Write letters to the editors of newspapers and websites.
13) Volunteer. Donate more to charity.
14) Solve a Rubik’s Cube.
15) Finish the friggin’ YA book already…even if it means starting over.
16) Learn how to make my own sushi even if it sucks.
17) See Gogol Bordello whenever they’re playing within 60 miles of me.
18) Read more Chandler.
19) Get off the fence with organized religion already.
20) Listen to every Otis Redding track ever recorded.
21) Watch more Westerns.
22) Go into the Watchmen movie with an open mind.
23) Don’t tell my friends, “I told you so,” after they express their disappointment in the Watchmen movie.
24) Bike more.
25) Drown out the noise.

Labels: rambling

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