So this is the new year.

So, its 2009. Another year's gone, and here comes the new one. This one promises a lot in the grand scale, whether it can live up to its hype or not is another question, but we can always hope. This year the theme seems to be shaping up to be "Change." (Thanks, Obama!) On a world level I hope that's possible, and on a personal level I hope so as well. 2008 started out shaky but ended up being a pretty good year for me all things considered, I moved forward in life, I now have a wonderful girlfriend who makes my life a lot better and easier and loves me honestly, as well as getting a pretty sweet gig with Freebirds. I'm hoping to keep the trend of good things happening to me rolling onward this year. Here are my New Years Resolutions. I fully intend on following them, and I take these very seriously.

1. Write more. Be it blog posts, be it story ideas, be it actual written pieces, I haven't written too much since roughly 2006, and I'd like to change that, I miss it.
2. Draw every day. I love to draw, and I need to refine my process, which means daily practice would definitely be a good thing. Drawing is a good way to relax, and it makes me happy, so, I should do it more often.
3. Save Money. I indulge my vices quite a bit monetarily, and that's good and all, but it'd be nice to have some "reserve money". Especially considering I intend on getting a place of my own within the coming year, which brings me to 4.
4. Get an apartment. My current living situation is good, but it doesn't afford me a sense of ownership over the area around me. No matter how you slice it, I'm a guest in this house and as such I don't have complete freedom nor complete control over what and who surrounds me. I'd like to be able to have a place of my own sometime this year. Be it with Madelaine, Bilal, Craig, Batman, or just by myself.
5. Start my tattoos. I fully intend on using tattoos to claim my body and make it a vessel I am fully comfortable travelling in. I believe there is a power in taking control of your body through marking, piercing, and stretching. And as someone who has never fully been comfortable with his appearance, having complete control over it, is empowering.
   
6. Spiritual and philosophical growth. Not in the traditional "Find Jesus" regards, but more in the realm of expanding my understanding of the world, the human mind, the human condition, good, evil, death, love, hate, passion, fear, and so forth.
   
7. Get more accomplished. Wake up earlier, go to bed earlier, have more time for the people in my life, see my friends more often, be more prolific, and just generally, do more than work.
   
8. Take a vacation. I haven't travelled in a few years, and I'd love to go somewhere just for the fun of it, and to just be able to relax and take a load off. Hopefully this year, I'll be able to make that happen, due to my increased cash flow.
9. Eat healthier. I have a tendancy to avoid "healthy" things, because in general, things that are worse for me, seem to taste better, but I'm going to attempt to eat a healthier diet. Less starchy unhealthy foods, more fruits, vegetables, and organic products. I could stand to lose some weight, and I know I'd just feel better in general.
10. Make 2009 the best possible year it can be. This sounds a little cliche, but I have a bad habit of making my world rather unpleasant. I tend to push my friends away and then feel bad that I don't have friends, I tend to not go do things with anyone for a laundry list of stupid reasons, I tend to ignore phone calls, and so forth. I just need to make sure that I allow myself to be open to the possibilities around me. That's going to make 2009 a better year I think. I also need to get my stupid foot checked out, and uhm, get a haircut. I'd also like to be less down on myself, and respect myself and my talents more. No more talking bad about myself and feeling ugly and useless. Basically, I just want 2009 to be pleasant. Which it should be, considering I have a fantastic girlfriend, wonderful friends, and a loving family. I just need to open up to all of the above, and things should stay good, and get better in the New Year.

I'd also like to find some magical portal to break into the comic book industry. But thats unlikely.

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The Man With No Arm.

Today I made a burrito for a man with no arm.

That might sound funny.

But its not.

He was such a nice man, he was really generous. He had a huge smile on his face the entire time I was making his burrito. His wife helped him with his wallet, and when they were eating, she helped him and made sure he could eat it.


I was struck with an overwhelming feeling of sadness at the fact that such a nice man was struck with something so devastating, but then I realized that though he had a disability, he also had a lot of love in his life. His wife was there for him and she loved him.

Also, he had a bitchin' burrito.


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Dreamy weather.

My body hurts.

I stay up too late, and I wake up too early. My shoes don't fit right. Work is hard.

I love rolling burritos, and the customer service interaction that goes along with it. The grill, I am not so crazy about. Scrubbing, de-greasing, scrubbing some more, de-greasing some more, then getting tasked around like crazy, not a huge fan of. But, it comes with the territory I guess, lets just hope I don't work the grill too often, at least not at night. Allow me to specify, CLOSING the grill, I do not enjoy, cooking the meat, I do. But, still. I've worked about 30 hours this week thus far. Working quite a few more tomorrow. I like work, and I like hard work. But, work is very very tiring.

I'm pretty exhausted, but I've got a good support structure, and I'm really really thankful for Maddie, someone that cares that much, pushing me and making sure I do my best.

Bleh. this blog post was more or less pointless, but tweeting at this hour is kindof inappropriate.




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Tom Waits, Burritos, and Lemonade.

3:20 am.

Its usually around this time that I decide it would be a good idea to retreat to the fortress of solitude that is my room for some sortof retro entertainment and staring at the ceiling until I fall asleep, but tonight I'm keeping myself occupied with the greatest man alive.

Tom Waits.

I was unfortunately not able to secure tickets to his tour this year, which was quite terrible because I love him so much and I was pretty infuriated when the date for Dallas came and went and I was unable to go.

But NPR did something wonderful, in the nature of so many of the bootlegged Tom Waits concerts on my computer, they broadcast the final day of the American leg, and they put it online.

So I stumbled onto that tonight and have been listening to it, and its fantastic. I'm currently listening to a very charming rendition of Chocolate Jesus. So that, and lemonade are keeping me occupied at the moment. And I'm happy with that.

But in other news, that most of you are already aware of , but I recently came into employment. After a lengthy and unpleasant period of unemployment (not so much socially unpleasant, as financially unpleasant) I came to be employed by Freebirds World Burrito. It looks to be a fantastic job, and not to mention that its Freebirds, so theres fantastic burritos to look forward to. If its as much fun as it seems to be, I'll be in heaven. BURRITO HEAVEN. I feel like drastically less of a failure now that I have some form of employment. If you read my last entry you saw how miserably depressed and melodramatic I was being about the sorry ship of sorrow I'd put myself in charge of. But, new leaf, consider yourself turned over. I have a job!

Also, there was a fantastic program on FOX tonight. Fringe. It looks to be a sortof X-Files homage, but none the less, it seems to be pretty great. I'm excited for it. This, House, and the eventual wonderfull-ness that will be Dollhouse are looking to re-establish FOX as a true powerhouse in the prime-time lineup. Now if they could just get the Simpsons back on track, eh? Meh. I'm going to stop rambling and get back to my Tom Waits.

Goodnight, Internet.




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