We are on the cusp of a new beginning and as I
reflect back upon this past year my first thought is “Where did all that time
go?” To me it seems as if the days, weeks and months have passed by faster than
the Millennium Falcon smuggling spice off of the planet Kessel. It’s strange,
to me that is, I have fond memories of the events and occurrences I've lived
through and yet they all seem so fleeting.
Hold
on a second, I need to load up some Miles Davis for this blog. I like Miles for
a lot of reasons but one of the main reasons is that no matter what sort of
mood I’m in, he has endless hours of music to go with any emotion I may be
experiencing. So, in case you’re wondering, I've got Miles and Quincy live at Montreux filling my mind with amazing tones, harmonies, rhythms and beats. It’s
a good place to be, my porch, a decent cigar, cool breeze and tepid temperatures.
You should join me.
Over
the past year, I've managed to grow closer to some people, farther away from
others, meet new people, alienate them or in some cases, draw them closer to
me. I've laughed and I've cried. I've spanned the emotional spectrum of sheer,
boundless joy and happiness all the way down to the desolate loneliness that
comes with depression. My anger almost got the best of me a few times, but I
managed to hold it in check and I can’t tell you how many verbal rants I
spouted in an attempt to alleviate the anger I felt. My rants actually work
like a pressure release valve on a boiler that is getting ready to explode and
kill or maim the innocent and guilty alike. So I’m glad I have people in my
life that allow me to blow off my proverbial steam every now and again.
I
did manage to keep a few of my new year’s resolutions and if you’ll permit me,
I’d like to share what exactly I resolved to do over the course of the last 365
days.
1. My
main goal this year was to write at least one blog a week. I succeeded in that
aspect as most of you, my dear readers, can attest to. It has not always been
easy nor has it always been fun. Sometimes the thoughts in my head seem to
fight with each other like a family with six kids. Where each kid believes that
what they want to say is more important than the others. But, in the end, I
managed to sort out my thoughts and hopefully get them written down in a
sensible manner and have them conveyed to you.
2. Step
out of my box. I believe I succeeded in this resolution as well. After all, I
acted in two separate plays and if I believe what I’m told, I have a small
talent for doing that sort of thing.
3. Get
published again. I failed at this one again, but I have more than a half a
dozen rejection letters proving I at least tried. I know my fiction writing is
not great and I need to spend more time working on it so I don’t blame anyone
else but myself for that. Also, truth be told, I’m at a bit of a loss as to
where to submit stories to. I do the google search and scour various forums but
I usually end up with stories that don’t fit into any one particular
genre. So, I suppose what I need to do
is focus more on what genre I want to be published in and then format the
stories to fit. Although, truth be told, when I do write fiction, the stories
themselves, as well as the characters seem to take on a life of their own and
then they absolutely refuse to listen to what I want them to do. It’s a bit
nutty to tell you the truth.
4. Be
more pleasant. This one I can’t say whether I succeeded or failed at so I am
going to say that it was a push. There were times when I was gruff and callous
and then there were times where I was concerned and caring. So no real change
there.
In the end, I think I've had an okay year. Yes there are still things I need to work on but isn’t that
what we are all supposed to do in life? Work at being better people than what
we perceive ourselves to be?
Now,
I’d like to spend some time thanking a few people personally for making my days
and nights pass so quickly. First off, I’d like to thank you my dear readers,
you have taken countless hours and shared the comings and goings of my life on
a weekly basis and I truly appreciate that. Second, my family for allowing me
my porch time and encouraging my habit of trying to formulate and decipher what
is going on in my life. Third, to Craig and the Garage Crew, for giving me a
cool place in the summer to smoke my cigars and a warm place in the winter to
fill the air with my acrid exhalations. Fourth, to my team of Techs at work who
put up with my shenanigans and always seem relatively happy to see me on a
daily basis. Fifth, to the kind yet obstinate people of Pinecrest Babtist for
forcing me out of my box and into a several month long quest of internal
understanding, I don’t think I've been challenged like that for a long time.
And lastly, my buddy Barry, even though he doesn't read this and we don’t get
to hang out much, he has always been there when I need someone to rant to or
even just watch a mindless movie with.
That’s
about it folks. You have all been wonderful this year and the few of you that
have left comments, whether on the blog page or on my facebook page have really
inspired me to continue down this path of my life.
One
last little postscript, last week I mentioned a number I was trying to achieve,
and this does fall under the resolution category. At the beginning of the year
I had almost fourteen thousand views on my little blog. I challenged myself to
get that number up to twenty thousand, I succeeded. As of this writing I have
had over 20,100 views. Now, whether that means people actually read my musings
or they were just surfing through I don’t know but to me, I feel my blog has
been a success. I couldn't have done that without all of your help.
Have
a great week and a very Happy New Year.
Skip.
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