2017

Looking back on the past year, I can't say I've done a lot of note. I have very few big accomplishments, and the majority of what I can come up with as far as progress goes all fall under small steps for me. But here, I will try to go through some so I might try to find some positives from the past year, which for many was full of hardships.

A high point for me was watching Death Parade. That was my top anime I've watched all year. Honorable mentions to Tanya and FMA:B. I tried keeping track of all the anime I watched from start to finish during the year, but either lost track or stopped watching for a while and forgot I was doing it. Either way, I get a huge creative boost from experiencing a complete and well thought out story, and this year saw fewer than I have watched in the past, but enough that I want to keep experiencing and keep creating.

On that note, I've come quite a ways in developing my story. I still have a lot of ground to cover, but I've essentially caught up to where I wanted to be at this point when I started last year. I've picked out a lot of music, I've story boarded a bit, character development is going nicely. I've even evolved the extent of the story once or twice. Lots of things are starting to line up plot wise, and I'm almost to the point of refinement, and eventually, looking for others to help expand and conceptualize.

As far as actual work goes, I can't say much. This year saw me floundering in the same work places and spaces. Although, I did work an amazing music festival this year, which I got to meet and hang out with some great people. Also recently, I quit one of my jobs, for a lot of good reasons. The decrease in income isn't so bad, since A) I usually have to turn down work for one employer or another since the dates overlap and I will just be working for one of those more often now, and B) this is coming up on a very slow period for that job, so I wouldn't be doing much there anyways until I either find a 4th job to replace it or pick up more hours at the other places I work. I do feel like I am still respected in my field though, so I'm not disappointed in my performance this year.

Physically, I was feeling great when I was biking everywhere. I lacked a car after the flooding last year, and didn't get one again until this summer. So, I was biking to all of my work places, some 10 miles away or more. Since getting a car again though, I have felt myself slipping physically. I have gained weight and find it really difficult motivate myself to ride my bike anywhere without necessity. Part of what helps me get through things that I don't feel as being productive is multitasking it with something productive, but recently I've been at a loss for that now too. However, I'm still decently fit, I have revitalized my DDR path, placed decently in a tournament this year, and am still good enough to keep getting scores that impress myself. I'm not totally gone yet, so maybe I can still fix my health before it's gone.

Socially, I have kinda crept back into my shell this year. Part of it has been focusing on writing and story building, but also I am a loner at heart and all too willing to shut out the world. I've gotten better at it towards the end of the year, but I don't wanna mess everything up for myself or others. Since I moved down here and stopped participating in dance game community drama, I haven't found a lot of people to spend time with. So this year has seen my interaction with people outside of work go down quite a bit. A high or low point depending on how you look at it.

As for gaming, I took up Splatoon 2 for a while, but now with Pocket Camp, I'm talking to people less. I played through BotW and had lots of fun, but it is a single player game. I have quite a few games I wanna get into, but haven't yet, and even still, those probably won't bring me into any community.

And that's about all I can come up with for this past year. I wouldn't call this a good year for me. With the political situation what it is, and the poor direction this place is headed in without massive change, I think a lot of people would agree that this year hasn't been the best. However, the recent elections do give me a little hope that things will get better in time. Hopefully I will be around to see those better times play out.