2013 was great...Time to IMPROVE!

I'm sitting here in my living room - my OWN living room (the first time I can say that) - and reflecting a bit on what impact this year has had on my life.  There's lots that went on that had significant impact on my life...both for better and for worse. You figure out which is which:

• Got a killer job with a great company
• Moved back to California
• Injured my back/hip
• Fell HARD for someone - unrequited
• Developed feelings for a past someone - disappeared on me
• 3 Vegas trips...same outcome...BLAH!
• New(er) Car
• New Life
• New Bills
• New Outlook
• Old Hairline
• Photographed my heroes...and then...
• Sold my camera equipment...OY!
• Sold musical instrument stuff...and then...
• Started playing music again...OY! OY!
• Love my life
• Miss my family
• Miss my friends
• MISS MY DOGS!!
• Started an indoor garden
• Ended a long friendship
• Played the 'Dating Game'
• Looked for a better referee
• Lost in Fantasy Football
• Gained weight

So now, I look at this list.  This year was good for me in so many ways.  In many ways, this year treated me like a red-headed stepchild.  The good definitely outweighs the bad...but being who I am, I definitely feel like I need to work on things for 2014...and a lot of it is me getting motivated and getting out of my own way.

Things like my photography - I LOVED doing it.  I think I was getting pretty good at it...then I moved.  I knew that things would have been put on hold for a bit, but I never thought I wouldn't really get back to it.  So much so, that I sold most of my gear (save for some stuff given as gifts and a couple of lenses).  My co-worker that I sold it to will definitely put it to good use...he's a real talented dude, and has already been going to town with it.

However, I really, really miss shooing shows and concerts.  I did runway, red carpet, portraiture, landscape, nature, etc. If I never took a pic of anything else again, and all I did was concerts, I would be THRILLED.

So, that is on the top of my 'to do' list for 2014:  Get BACK to photography.  Pay off a couple of bills, save a couple of bucks, and go nuts!  This time, I won't make the same buying mistakes I did last time.  Instead, I'll just spend ridiculous amounts of money at the outset...sigh...  Couldn't this hobby be a little cheaper?!?!?!

Next, I am a big fat ass...  I injured myself months ago, and every time I think I am better I re-injure myself.  My chiro said NO RUNNING for most likely a year.  UGH!  Now I can ride stationary bike, run in a pool, go nowhere on an elliptical...BLAH!  I hate that shit!  I hate running as well, but I hate that other shit way more.

In any case, I gotta get back to being in shape again.  I know I am gonna get yelled at by my doc next time I see them.  Joy.  But I will deserve it.  I let myself go...and I start dieting for, like, 4 days, and then revert back...making me gain more.  Sucks.  Me and a guy at work really want to get to losing weight.  He is definitely on the right track, while I am LYING on the tracks.  He wants to get in shape, I remain A shape!  I'll do this...I wanna lost 40+ lbs...I can do a pound a week - I just can't give up.

Becoming 'solvent' is big on the list for this year.  Ditching the debt and having money for shit I want to do without burying myself would be nice.  Working harder toward my retirement is big on the list as well.  I'm 41, and the odometer doesn't go backward.  If anything, it feels a bit like it's accelerating...dammit!  So gotta get on top of that more.  It'll be easier to do once I get things paid off.  I keep thinking all things would be easier without bills, but who knows if that is true - maybe something harder comes along to deal with.  I think I am just gonna win Mega Millions and disappear for a while.  That would be fine.

Playing more music - writing and recording more...  I seem to be amassing a decent (and not so decent) collection of guitars.  I should use them...  Oh yeah, and I WORK FOR A GUITAR MANUFACTURER!!!!  I should play more...

Travel to new locales - or maybe old ones with someone new.  Who knows?  All I know is that travel is on the docket.  Has to happen...gotta go somewhere good!  Ideas are always welcomed.

I think that is all I had on my mind at this moment.  There is always more that is on my mind, and it could fill a book...or an atlas...or a set of encyclopaedias.  That no one would buy.

For the record, these are not 'new years resolutions'.  I hate resolutions - no one sticks to them unless it's something easy, like 'I resolve to breathe AIR in 2014'.  Good for you!  Sense of accomplishment achieved...  Ugh...

Ok, that is all...I'm tired.  Til next time...

 - Mike