Obligatory New Years Post

So, looking back on 2009, a lot of things changed. I started a MA degree in eLearning at the University of Colorado, I published a book, I sold a house and bought a new house, and then I assisted in having a baby (meaning, I was there when the baby started and change diapers after it arrived).



How could I possibly top that in 2010?

I don't know if I can. But here are my personal goals for 2010. (The professional goals continue to be 1) Make money, and 2) Make my employer money.)

1. Be a better dad.

This should be easy. I was only a dad for 10 days in 2009, so the baseline is not that great. I still have to introduce her to country music (that is, the good kind of country music), get her to say "Bah bah," and maybe take a few steps. If she is able to go, "Awwww, snap!" by 2012, I have done my job.

2. Fulfill my 2009 obligations.

There are a lot of side projects I verbally committed to in 2009 and then had to set aside because of all the work, school, and baby commitments. I haven't been blogging as much as I would like. I haven't participated in discussion boards as much as I would like. And, most importantly, I haven't responded to Cyber D, who sent me a draft of his novel and asked for feedback. I have read large chunks of it, but sadly, have not given him the feedback he asked for. This is wrong and should be changed.

3. Pimp my book.

So I wrote a book. It is a good book that serves a vital niche that no other book fulfills. Sales have been good, but no where near enough to buy that island in the Bahamas I've had my eye on. The Mrs. (who is in marketing) reminds me that it is not enough to write the book. I have to promote it as well. So that is what I plan to do while I work on the sequel.

4. Continue my education.

In my quest to be the smartest smarty pants know-it-all in the room, it wouldn't hurt to have a stack of advanced degrees. I am just sayin'.

5. Make a short film.

This one might get pushed off until 2011 or 2012, because of my #1 Goal. I want to make a short film just to say I've done it. I have many scripts to choose from, but I want to do the financing, set design, auditioning actors, directing, and submitting-to-a-film-festival-only-to-get-rejected piece that is essential to being a pretentious artist. Because there is nothing like spending weeks and months on a project that will be over and done with in less than five minutes.

I think it is going to be a good year.

Welcome to 2009!

So here we are at the first post of the new year. I don't normally make resolutions, but rather set goals for the year.

This year there are some pretty big things items on the agenda.

The first third of the year involves me finishing, publishing, and publicizing my book. I don't want to talk about it too much now, because everyone is going to be sick of hearing about it once the book is out. I wanted to have this out by Thanksgiving, but couldn't maintain a level of work/life balance to keep on schedule.

The second third of the year contains the possibility that I will be involved with founding and chairing a film festival. Details are sketchy at this time, and it may not happen, but still, it is an exciting opportunity.

The third chunk of this year will focus on more personal development. I intend to go back to school and begin a higer-level degree that should directly impact the big pile of awesomeness that is my career.

This year also marks the tenth year of dating my then girlfriend/now wife. Not quite sure how we will celebrate that milestone, but it should be special.

Of course, I state all of these plans knowing full well they could not happen or fail spectacularly. That is the frightening and wonderful thing about the future, who knows what will happen?

And, of course, I plan to lose 20 pounds, read more, and post more things to this blog. But I know that probably won't happen.