The Cold Gray Dawn of a New Year

The morning of a new year never seems cheerful or hopeful or optimistic.  Not for me, anyway.

It's cold, the sky is gray and overcast.  How will I spend the first day of 2021?

I will work on graphics.  I want to create my second clip art creation.  What shall it be?  Happy New year?  Nah, overdone.  Blogging?  Maybe.   

Update:  Okay, here's an ankh.  It is an ancient Egyptian symbol associated with King Tut.  It is the symbol of life.  It looks a bit like a Christian cross, but it is not.  In the 1960s hippies wore them around their necks.  It wasn't difficult to make it in Illustrator.  Decided to start off with something easy.

UPDATE:  I flared the arms and foot a bit to look more like an actual ankh.

  

New Year's Resolutions

My goals for 2014:

1.  To make significant progress in the following areas of primary importance:

• Photoshop - Using and creating brushes, patterns and textures, mastering the various types of layers
• Playing Bass - 

1. Increase my repertoire by learning at least one new song each week 
2. Learn to play more jazz and jazz swing
3. Increase my use of the standup acoustic bass, 
4. Sing more with a band; sing while playing bass
5. Increase frequency of solo practice -- one hour each day, minimum.

2.  Blogging -  

• Blog more frequently, try for daily postings
• Stop trying to be friends with certain bloggers who just don't seem to like me; provide support and links to others who do; find new friends and allies in the blogosphere 
• Improve my blog content so that it appeals to more readers
• Back up my blog monthly, to avoid losing content should enemies try to shut me down

3.  Other Goals -

• To extricate myself from accounting and taxes so I can focus on more interesting pursuits
• To refurbish and restore my 1966 Volkswagen Bug
• To exercise more by taking a daily walk of two miles, slowly increasing the distance
• To lose another ten pounds (twenty if possible)
• To continue my studies of the French and Spanish languages, by reading more blogs, articles and even books in these languages.

New Year's Day 2011

New Year's Day always seems cold, bleak and depressing.  It's the day after the night before, i.e. the day of hangovers and stomach aches and reckoning.  All the Christmas lights and tinsel, which seemed so cheery just a week ago, now seem gaudy reminders of too much food and drink.  Suddenly, Scrooge's holiday opinions no longer seem so harsh, just honest.

It's a cold, blustery and rainy day here in Hollister.  Missy, my young cat, sits on the edge of my desk, staring at the raindrops that roll down the window pane, entranced by the howling wind.

January 1st:  a good day for bundling up, staying warm, drinking hot coffee or tea, and finding something good to watch on television.  This is not a day for any serious work.  We'll begin all that rot again on Monday.

Happy New Year from Saber Point!

2008 was bad.
2009 was a flaming disaster.
2010 totally sucked -- well, except for the midterm elections, which turned a lot of Democrats out of office.

2011?  It's one year closer to 2012 and the end of an error.  Have hope.

Happy New Year!

2010: The Sun Rises on a Brand New Year

2010:  I like the sound of that.  Two thousand ten.  It's a nice, round number.

A new year seems to stir the human soul with fresh possibilities.  It feels like opening all of the windows and letting a fresh breeze blow away the stale air.  Time to start anew.  I must not let my life continue in the same, well-worn rut.  Now is the time to think of new approaches, new strategies, new plans.  What has worked in the past, but no longer works, must be discarded and replaced.

The arenas that must be explored and changed are these:
1.  What I do for money (work and career) in this new and radically changed economy
2.  What I do for personal enrichment (e.g., music, writing, reading, Photoshop)
3.  Personal relationships:  how to improve and strengthen existing relationships with friends, allies and family.
4.  Where I live.  Do I stay where I am or should I move where there may be better opportunities?

January 1st is always a good day to take inventory of your life and plan for needed changes.