anamnesis

Around this time, every year, I rethink objectives. Cyclic rituals, like New Year's resolutions, may seem silly in this post-agrarian age, but I find they help punctuate time in the daily stream of affairs. A pause button, where we can freeze-frame the blur of the parade, pan around and take in the themes or make fun of the floats. If we've been chasing the parade all this time, we probably haven't seen anything new. That's how parades work. Of course, if we run the opposite direction, we have an analog fast forward, especially if it's a real sucky parade. But you get the picture. Each year I notice something new that helps set perspective. This year it was the insidious nature of deadlines. The name alone evokes a static sense of direction. They say the only difference between a goal and dream, is that a goal has a deadline. But then again, "they" also say a bunch of stupid stuff. I'd like to say I don't really listen to "them", but...

Dang, I've been using this strategy for years. I tell people that I have an exceptional memory, except for when I don't. I had no idea the republicans would pick it up :-)

No resolutions yet, those come about mid-month. I liked SleepyElf's post , I think we'll have some overlap. We had a great Christmas, laid-back and warm, no drama, just nice visits, hugs and immersion with family. Each year I'm reminded of what a blessing it is to share a moment of time in this slipstream ride with those who have been with us on our journey, some since our inception. Some since theirs. While nothing stands still, these moments are precious. Many thanks to our gracious and loving hosts, to our wacky siblings and alien nieces and nephews. Then we ushered the new year in with old friends on a blue moon. Goodbye 2009 and nice to meet ya 2010. Since jumping from the moving plane of employment in July, it seems like time up to now has been spent on a new island. The adjustment was easy, combing beaches, swinging in a hammock, piling up a few coconuts. At first I continued with the same projects and approaches I'd always used to manage activities outside of ...

I think I'm starting to like this guy.

Secunia Personal Software Inspector is a very handy, and free, program to run to scan for security holes in applications installed on your PC. Recommended :-)

NanoWriMo is officially over. I did not hit the grand prize of 50,000 words. I'm in the low 20k ring today, but I'm ok with that. I learned some important lessons that I wouldn't have learned otherwise and my story actually started to "click." So, in spite of all the NanoWriMo warnings, I decided to take a little more time with it. I'm still preserving the 1st draft mentality, but the 2nd draft should be easier with an additional 2 weeks to wrap up in a more orderly fashion. A friend with a good eye for detail offered to edit the 2nd draft for me and I'm going through all the steps up to and including submitting to a publisher so I can check this one off.

Got back from a party at an affluent acquaintance's penthouse downtown. The affluent part plays a factor in the story. Had a great time and was very impressed with a particular bottle of wine. One of about 4 or 5 I think we went through. They were all good, but this particular one had a nice smokey, rich flavor that was just outstanding. Probably the best red wine I've ever tasted. It was a Barbaresco from Northern Italy. So on the way back home we stopped by the liquor store and I wended my way through the isles of spanish, portugese, chilean imports until I got to the large italian section, and sure enough, spotted the very label we had that evening. I started to grab one or two when I noticed the price tag ---holy crap, $65! I put it back reluctantly. Time to get busy on some projects and maybe something I can look forward to in the future. In the meantime, I grabbed a porter from a local micro-brewery. It'll have to do :-)