(Norman Rockwell~seemed appropriate on New Year’s Eve, when many will be dressing up in their fancy duds and going out to celebrate)

Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already. Of the things you have, select the best: and then reflect how eagerly they would have been sought if you did not have them. ~Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor

The unexamined life is not worth living. ~Socrates

Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know my self, to know it completely, to know its minutiae, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms. ~Kahlil Gibran

It is almost year’s end, a time when even the least introspective of us pauses to reflect on the past year. Fear not, I have no intention of getting too deep with this but in the interest in spurring you on to self-reflection I list here 2,005 reflections on 2005…give or take a few thousand.

1. On January 28th I did the unthinkable. I started a blog. Thanks to the inspiration of Mosker and the enthusiasm of Jimmy I stuck with something that I would have normally just let fall by the wayside.

2. Thanks to the blogging community I have met some wonderful people that I’ve enjoyed conversing with over the past year. I hope you know who you are…if you’re reading this, its you!

3. I finally got to meet the infamous Rob that I had heard so much about. It was an enjoyable experience.

4. Though I’m not conscious of exactly how it occured my comic book guy Jeff and I took our relationship “to the next level” and we started hanging out. This lead to the introduction and friendship of our families. I also was able to get the Smiths and Dibbens together thus expanding our circle of friends.

5. I got to meet Boba Fett, both he and his wife were extremely generous with their time with the fans. I was impressed.

6. I was able to take a wonderful trip to Chicago, meet my favorite author, go to a Cubs game and introduce Jeff and Keri to Scott…again connecting friendships.

7. Reading garnered new interests as I “discovered” the John Carter series by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Conan books of Robert E. Howard as well as the wonderful artist Frank Frazetta whose work will rate a good sized post in the coming year.

8. I was privileged to celebrate my first 4th of July since 1998 (due to working in the fireworks stand every year) and Jimmy threw the biggest most amazing and hands down best 4th of July celebration that I have ever been to and I was thrilled to be able to be a part of the show. Thanks again Jimmy, I get giddy just thinking about it.

9. I was introduced to the joy that is Firefly culminating in what is one of my favorite movies of the year, Serenity.

10. I finally joined all my friends who had paved the way, entered the 21st century and signed up for Netflix. Good stuff.

11. Got to see Les Miserables again and it was incredible.

12. Mary and I were able to take a vacation by ourselves this year, a little bed and breakfast in Missouri’s wine country as well as several days off work at home watching movies and relaxing. Wonderful.

13. Wrote and submitted a 100 words story. It won’t get accepted but it was a fun and “out of my comfort zone” exercise.

14. Discovered the joy that is Gene Wolfe…adding to the list another author that I read on the recommendation of Neil Gaiman.

15. Had some amazing, wonderful, meaningful meals and conversations with friends over the year.

16. I grew up some…not alot, fear not…but a little. Some of the things I have heard over the years is starting to sink in and it is at times scary and at times wonderful. Change is in the wind…good change. The Uberlist is part of this change.

Goodbye 2005. It was a year that saw some very good things as well as a year that saw hardships and difficulties for us, family, and friends. Tomorrow I’ll post a New Year’s wish for everyone. Today I am going to enjoy the last day of 2005.

It is that time of year again. The time when we feel compelled by forces beyond our control to make resolutions that we inevitably don’t keep. What is it about the dates on a calendar that make this time of year actually feel like something is coming to a close and something new is beginning? I have always found it odd how much a new year actually feels new.

I have not been sold on resolutions in the past because there is often no accountability to them. They are generally random half-hearted commitments to change. Last year, however, while reading Kelly Sue DeConnick’s blog I came across her post about Uberlists (its the one entitled “Its Here”). The idea is instead of making new year’s resolutions you make a new year’s to-do list. The items on the list can be big or small, touch any area of your life, and can be simple or hard to accomplish. The idea is to put some thought into it and put these to-do items down on a list. It doesn’t have to be organized, just start writing. There is actually now an Uberlist Community that you can join for some measure of accountability. Last year I made a list and tracked it occasionally throughout the year. I only accomplished about 12% of my list last year so obviously I want to do better this year. I put things on my list that I would like to change, etc…things which are “new year’s resolutionish” but I also put home improvement projects, vacation plans, etc. Things I know I want to get done. The list is also fluid and can be added to or changed as the year goes on. My list at this point has 77 items on it. Some examples are:

-Read at least 50 books this year (100 pages plus count towards goal)
-Build new gate for backyard fence
-Finish cleaning/reorganizing basement by February 1st, 2006
-Goal for $1000 of sales on ebay, put all money into savings
-Hike at least 5 trails in Mary’s Hiking Kansas City book
-Put up ceiling fan in Tori’s room by March
-Take an overnight trip to St. Louis with family this spring
-Finish all of the LOTR trilogy
-Go camping in cabin for a weekend in the fall
-Finish sanding/restaining porch swing by May 1st
-Repair garage door
-Have monthly in-house date night

There are more personal things that I cannot share and fun things as well. I have 3 or 4 computer games that I have had forever that I want to finish playing. I have a list of people I want to write to at least once per quarter and a list of people I want to call at least once per month. This year I actually made subcategories under each of my items and put a date for accomplishment, made a tracking area for the letter writing, phone calls, etc. I decided to go back to using a journal and writing down books read, page count and dates…something I did for 2 years in a row and did not do last year thinking I would utilize the blog for this. I am also using the same journal to keep a list of gifts I have given for birthdays, Christmas, etc. as I am starting to forget what I give people and then panic the next time I go to buy something not remembering if I have already got them this same item. I also have to-do’s that have to do with weight, my spiritual life, my relationships, etc. It is a really fun idea. Throughout last year I would check mine periodically. I typed it out in Word and saved it and as I would accomplish things I would change the font color on those items so I could still see them but would have an indication that they were done.

I am in no way pushing anyone to do this, I just wanted to share because I found it to be such a great idea last year. I shared my list with Mary this year as there are several things that we can accomplish together that would be more difficult for me to accomplish on my own. This is a much more organized way to utilize the start of a new year to plan on getting the most out of it.

I am curious about any New Year’s traditions you have. Do you do resolutions? Do you keep them? Also let me know what you think of this idea and feel free to ask questions if I didn’t explain it well enough.

As the year winds down my thoughts always turn to books…how much reading I have done in the last year, how big the pile of to-be-read books is…

In the interest of trying to initiate some form of self-control, Jeff and I decided that we were going to gather together all the unread books in one location in our respective homes and treat it as a sort of library…the hope was that the sheer mass of unread books would shock us out of our complusive book buying and help us to reduce our to-read piles. I know…wishful thinking.

Not counting a stack of used Edgar Rice Burroughs paperbacks I purchased early in the year because they had Frank Frazetta covers (and I’m only not counting those because I haven’t cleaned them up and brought them to the pile) I have 47 books to read. Christmas of course added to the pile with wonderful gifts like: Human Acomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C to 1950, Angels and Visitations, The Complete Peanuts Vol. 4, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, The Conquering Sword of Conan, and The Complete Calvin and Hobbs.

Oi Vey!
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This is of course the time of year when people release their best of lists and while I don’t feel compelled to read something just because some unknown group or individual feels it deserves recognition it does remind me how genre specific my reading often is and how little reading I get done in a year. Book Info Net’s Best of 2005 includes only one book that I have read this year, Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys. Their site links to several other best of lists. The ALA’s best books for young adults in 2005 is a nice list from which to get good reading ideas.
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I hope to read more in the coming year. Looking back over the year I have not read as much as I planned. My goal was 50 books (each had to be 100 pages or greater). As far as my memory serves this year I read, in no particular order (linked ones point to book reviews I did):

1. Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
2. Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
3. Orvis by H.M. Hoover
4. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
5. The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard
6. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
7. The Knight by Gene Wolfe
8. The Wizard by Gene Wolfe
9. Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories
10. The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
11. Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody
12. Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
13. Tithe by Holly Black
14. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
15. Stardust by Neil Gaiman (re-read)
16. Clockwork by Phillip Pullman
17. Winter of Enchantment by Victoria Walker
18. The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison (re-read-you’re surprised?)
19. Planet of the Damned by Harry Harrison
20. Tolkien: A Biography by Michael White
21. The Complete Peanuts Volume 1 (1950-52) by Charles Schulz

There may be others but this is what I can remember…far short of my goal. If I counted graphic novels, comics, magazine articles, books I have started and are waiting on the pile to be finished, etc I have no doubt read enough pages to equal my goal but it is not the same thing. The one thing I would have to say though is that there were no duds in the group, I would highly recommend all of the above list.

So what about you? How much reading did you get done this year? Any reading goals for next year? Want to join Jeff and I in our effort to at least consolidate our book piles in one location so we can monitor the damage? What are your thoughts on any of the best of lists? What was your best of in your own personal reading this past year?

Looking over my pile there is some really great stuff I’m looking forward to reading and I’ll do my best to post the occasional review if I think it might be something you would enjoy. Don’t let books go out of style folks, keep reading!

We celebrated our own little Norman Rockwell-ish Christmas yesterday. I volunteered to take the family to IHOP for a late breakfast (I’ve ranted about my dislike for truck-stop-like breakfast places here before, no need to rehash other than to say this was obviously a Christmas miracle), we came home and made cookies and white chocolate dipped pretzel sticks with sprinkles and I worked some on my gifts for the client I have for Secret Santa.

This year he wanted Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton posters among other things. Simpson was easy (as I re-read this I realize how terrible that statement reads, but oh well) but do you know I looked EVERYWHERE and couldn’t find a Paris Hilton poster. In the end I downloaded some pix from the internet and printed them on nice photo paper and framed them for him. Last year it was Anna Nicole Smith and I had to do this as well, so I was familiar with the process and it was a snap. He’s always fun to shop and make gifts for.

We watched White Christmas, easily one of my absolute favorite Christmas movies. The music, dancing and sets are wonderful and the story is very heartwarming in that Norman Rockwell kind of way. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemarie Clooney, and Vera-Ellen are fantastic.

Mary made a marvelous dinner of turkey legs, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn and rolls. Terrific, terrific meal…my darling is a wonderful cook among her other many talents. I’m a lucky man!!! Yay for me!!!

After dinner we read the Christmas story out of the book of Luke, another family tradition and one that moves me every year. The magnitude of God’s love for us and the gift of his Son always hits me more at Christmas than at Easter for some reason. Maybe because I am naturally more open to my feelings about everything this time of year.

And then of course we opened presents. It is very enjoyable now that Tori is older as we really take our time and enjoy all our gifts. I was so excited as we had gotten her some really funky bar stools for her room and I had put one together and hid it in the garage. I went to such elaborate plans to hide the one I put together and had the other wrapped in its box under the tree. As we were getting ready to open presents I excused myself and put the assembled one in the computer room. Unfortunately I then forgot about it and when Tori took Razz out to go to the bathroom midway through gift giving she saw it. To her credit she kept quiet until after she opened the other one. Now Mary and Tori have something to make fun of me over as they are usually the ones who end up telling surprises. Poor me…I tried.

After all the presents were done we realized Santa had left us a gift under the tree….a Playstation 2!!! Tori was more excited than Mary but she came around when we loaded We Love Katamari! and started playing it. If you haven’t played this game or its prequel Katamari Damacy, you’ve missed out. It is goofy chaos courtesy of our Japanese game creating brethren. Your sole goal is to roll a ball (the katamari) around various areas collecting anything in your path until it gets bigger and bigger. Its way too hard to explain but you need to see it (go to the link). The rest of the night was spent playing that and enjoying each other’s company.

I again hope you all have a wonderful, Merry Christmas and that the magic and wonder of Christmas touches your heart and surrounds you this weekend. You all are wonderful!

(Yes its Barbie!…the Dibben girls will appreciate it!)

We travel back home to Nebraska every Christmas holiday so Dec. 24th and 25th are spent with family celebrating Christmas together. Because of this we traditionally celebrate our own little family Christmas the day before we leave…hence last night was our Christmas Eve!

After church we went to Quick Trip for hot chocolate…something I highly recommend if you have QT in your area. 89 cents for a 16 oz hot chocolate and they have a ton of flavors. Mary and I like to mix caramel, vanilla, and traditional hot chocolate together and it is delicious. We then drove out to Longview Lake to drive through Christmas in the Park, a first for us. (You can see a little video of it here, second one down.) After that we returned home and opened our stockings.

While Tori went off to bed to visions of sugarplums dancing in her head, ma and I settled down and watched Serenity on DVD.

Great on DVD…not quite as great as on the big screen, but maybe some year Santa will bring a big screen! I can dream, can’t I??? Too tired afterwards to watch the extras but I’m looking forward to doing so. While on the subject of Serenity I need to point you to this post of Fence’s. Read and then click on the picture, its great!

So glad all the Christmas shopping is done! Did a considerable amount of it over the internet which cut down the trips to the mall, Walmart, Target, etc quite a bit! I love the internet, especially Amazon.com. With free shipping and insane discounts they saved me a ton of the green stuff this year.

To close I want to say “hello” to Rob and his sister Melissa who are back here in their stomping grounds visiting family and friends for Christmas.

Merry 3 days before Christmas everyone!