It is the beginning of a new year, the beginning of a new decade (as some reckon it), and a shade over five months since I posted anything here. I wasn’t going to make a New Year’s resolution (having been pretty dismal about such things over the years), but a couple of days into January, as I was working my way through the mountain of paid bills and other paper-based minutiae of life, I realized that the last time I had done such filing was the prior November.
Not November 2009, a little over a month before. November 2008, thirteen months before. And to be totally honest, it isn’t the first time such a thing has happened. Not by a long shot. Clearly, it was far past time for me to do something about this.
There are so many things that have drawn my interest and effort over the years, so many things I want to do and try. But it is far past time for me to admit to myself that right now, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to even come close to doing everything I would like to do. And there are things in life that I need to do which take time as well.
Since I don’t have a robotic duplicate I can send out into the world to do stuff for me, and since I don’t anticipate getting a TARDIS any time soon, this means I’m going to have to set priorities, make choices, and (most importantly) stick to them. And so the first part of my New Year plan is to pay more attention to the basic work of taking care of myself and my family, and make sure that we have the resources, the energy, the good health, and the time to accomplish what really matters to each of us.
(Granted, in the case of the cats, that’s largely eating, sleeping, and chattering at the birds and critters outside the window, but if they’re not healthy, they’re not going to be able to enjoy even those things. So the point stands, even if it does mean getting carted off to The Evil Doctor now and then.)
My biggest priority for this year, beyond keeping on top of the everyday work of caring for myself and my family, is supporting and promoting Ollin Productions — especially “Afterhell,” but also “Dicebag Theater” and at least one other big project which will hopefully go into production this year. Continuing support of Dreams Landing, my jewelry crafting efforts as the House of Sailbourne, and maintaining the online sim games I’m a part of are also important things for me. And I want to organize a renewal of vows and celebration of Joe’s and my 20th wedding anniversary.
I’m realizing that these things, plus the day job that allows everything else to happen, add up to a quite full plate. There are some things I’m going to have to let go of, at least for a while. The first one, which I’ve already started on, is to cut way back on my Facebook games and applications. Facebook is a great tool for connecting with friends and family, and the applications and games available on it are fun, but stack up a few of them and it becomes an almost frightening time sink. There are only a few Facebook games and applications I’ll be maintaining from now on, and as the year progresses, it may happen that I have to cut back on those. I apologize to anyone who is inconvenienced by this; I know most of the FB games depend on having as many friends as possible also playing.
Another item that is going on the shelf, for a while at least, is the It Was 20 Years Ago Today podcast. I’m not abandoning it, but the podcast will go on hiatus for a time. Exactly how long, I don’t yet know. It will be back though.
A final note. I plan to update this blog regularly this year, at least once a week. I plan to use it to keep on track with my efforts both to take care of myself and my family, and to keep on top of the many tasks that will be priorities in this coming year. I might even use it just for fun now and then — I’m sure the memes won’t go away, even if I resist the urge to play them all!