Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts

January 2, 2011

New Year, New Resolutions

On New Year's Eve, when I was wondering about what 2010 has brought me, it also occured to me that I made quite a few resolutions suggestions last January. As I said back then, I am really bad with resolutions. Here is my list from last year (those crossed out, I managed to complete):
  • Write an entry in my journal every day 
  • Be more creative and productive 
  • Complete Project 365 
  • Read more, at least a book per week 
  • Write more poetry, or any kind of (creative) writing
  • Get a tattoo
  • Maintain a blog, write at least 3 entries per week
  • Swim more
  • Watch more classic films
  • Keep a list of all movies I watch 
  • Keep a list of all books I read
  • Try a new cafe/restaurant each month
  • Start oil painting
  • Get a job
  • Learn to draw, draw something every day
  • Learn to use the sewing machin
  • Learn to knit
  • Learn to crochet
  • Learn to bake
  • Learn to cook a number of new meals
  • Complete Wreck This Journal (got the Journal, I have started it, but I am not done with it yet)
As you can see, there are quite a few things on it that are uncrossed... So these items will remain on my list in 2011 too. However, I decided to make a few new resolutions as well, here they are:
  • Complete 365 day blog challenge: write a blog entry every day for a whole year. 
  • Complete 52 book challenge: read (at least) 52 books during the year, and write a feedback/review about each one
  • watch more movies, at least 300
So, I guess, 2011 will be about not much but writing - all kinds of writing: thesis, creative writing, making poetry, writing in Hungarian, keeping Kapunyitási Pánik alive, and posting my thoughts, feelings, and whatever that pops into my mind to here, Scriboholic, on a daily basis. 2011 is "Back to Basics" year, for a little while I cease dedicating so much time to photography (however, I will not forget about it completely), and start concentrating on writing again. We will see how it goes.
So what's your new year's  resolution?

January 1, 2011

Happy New Year

I'm back! ... I guess.
The writer's block is over - NOT.  But for a start, let's pretend it's over, and I am just going to write whatever comes into my mind.
First of all, Happy New Year! Here's my wish for you - in the words of Neil Gaiman:
"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."
Yesterday I could not help but start wondering about the year that was coming to an end. A moment later I could not resist getting a pen and a piece of paper in my hands, and started scribbling whatever that came into my mind regarding the year 2010. These scribblings quickly turned into lists, and in the end I put together a few lists- each differently themed. (You know how much I love writing lists, don't you? There's most definitely no better time for writing lists than at the end the year.) Since my memory works just as well as a 90 year old great grandma's, I'm  pretty sure I left a few things out. But never mind, here is a little bit of recap of last year.

In 2010:
  • I completed Project 365 as I took at least one photo per day
  • Fell in love with photography, carried my camera with me wherever I went which resulted in pushing the big button about twenty thousand times, but upon being pretty critical with myself I deleted about 2/3 of them, so now I have about 7,700 photos of 2010 that I find worthy of keeping.
  • About 8 poems of mine have been published in three issues of two university newspapers, and another one is coming out in this month in a literature-themed special issue of another university newspaper. 
  • Bought a beautiful vintage typewriter and made good use of it by making brooches and having a few free-writing sessions.
  • Went into business, as I started making brooches, then opened my little shop on Meska, and sold a few items.
  • Managed to maintain this very blog (although I still cannot write posts on a regular basis), I also started three other blogs,  Bright Light, Big City is my photoblog, The Fish Flies at Night is a collection of photos and quotes that I find on tumblr and like, and Kapunyitási Pánik is the freshest one, where I write about my experiences regarding quarter-life panic.
  • This year I learned to bake - more or less. I made quite a number of cookies, cakes, muffins, and brownies, all with success. (Sooner or later I will write about each and every recipe and pastry.)
  • I also learned cooking a number of new meals.
  • I read about 40 books (will write about them in detail later)
  • Got a part-time job at a language school, taught Hungarian to an English guy, and now I am giving English lessons to a Hungarian girl.
Downside: Although I adore taking photos, 2010 was about nothing but photography. God only knows how many hours I have spent with  taking, deleting, editing, and uploading photos, not to mention the number of hours I spent looking at other people's works. Everything else I do, or used to do before I started taking photos got pushed into the background or was forgotten completely. I cannot remember when was the last year I wrote so little than in 2010. A very few poems, very few pieces of creative writing, and not many more diary entries. I also forgot about another love of mine, films, that is. I used to go to the cinema at least twice a week (often more than that), but this year I saw only a very few movies. I don't think I have been to the cinema more than once or twice a month. There was no watching movies at home either. This must change in 2011, I must must must be more productive and write more. 

All in all,  it was a fine year, most certainly not a bad one, but I would not say that it was a great one either... 
I would give it 7/10, probably.