Yes, I waited a year or so in between blog posts. And this despite that I had resolved to blog more. Silly me.
It turns out blogging is pretty much dead, at least in the sense that many people maintain personal blogs about themselves or whatever they feel like talking about. Even Twitter now has more niche services aimed specifically at teens or other groups fighting for its supremacy.
But I do still want to post here and much more often. And I don’t even care who’s reading.
2013 was a good year for me. The most important event was buying a house. This has been a dream for Christina and me for years. We saved and saved, even more than we needed, and ended up with a fantastic little house. We’re in a great location and it’s perfect for entertaining or just having a quiet night at home.
The main thing I really made no progress on this year was losing weight. According to my records, I lost .4 pounds, so no change at all, but at least I didn’t get bigger.
I also recorded every game, TV show, anime, movie, and book I read. This is fun for me. Yes, really. I actually didn’t finish any new video games this year, which is strange. I have a habit of leaving games unfinished but this year was particularly bad. I blame League of Legends as it took a lot of my gaming time.
I finished 13 books, mostly setting/rules books for my Pathfinder games. The most important book I read was The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. This book and the lecture that preceded it went viral several years ago, but it’s never too late to take the core messages away from Randy’s words. Have fun, follow your dreams, and make the most of life. Sappy? Sure. But still correct.
I watched quite a few movies this year, though I wanted to make more trips to the theaters. Call me old-fashioned but I enjoy seeing movies with the public. I can’t pick just one movie to comment about to here are a few:
- Star Trek: Into Darkness. I enjoyed this, as a popcorn movie and as a Star Trek movie. The original Star Trek series and some of its movies get put on a pedestal that no new movie could ever reach. I think the original series was corny as hell. I enjoy the original and reboot for different reasons.
- Thor: The Dark World. Christina is a major Loki fangirl. But beyond that, I liked this movie, especially as an action comic book movie. Film critics and average movie-goers alike commonly forget that comic books are typically about people punching other people. Almost every plot in Marvel/DC comics are an excuse to have people punch other people. In that sense, this movie delivered. And the plot behind the punching was good enough for me.
- Evil Dead. This reboot was great. Highly recommended for fans of classic horror with a bit of a gruesome twist.
- Someone’s Gaze (Dareka no Manazashi). An animated short that I found super touching.
To wrap up my 2013 resolutions, I didn’t go hiking or do as much cooking as I wanted, though Christina has cooked quite a bit since we moved into the house. 2014 is looking bright. With the house out of the way, we can focus on saving money for whatever surprises await us.