Okay, it's a good fifteen days before the end of the year, but I figured I'd follow
queenoftheskies' lead and do one of those looking-back sort of things, and split it up between writing, work, life and (of course) music. I'll most likely do a more writing-centric post over at
die_joncswerk later on today, but for now...
[Life]:Well, 2007 was a bit of a so-so year. Nothing bad happened, but nothing life-alteringly exciting happened either. Well, except a few neat trips, but that's different. ;) I spent most of this year pretty much doing what I normally do...working, writing, music, etc...rinse, lather, repeat. Not that I'm complaining, though. I spent this year making money for us to save and really thinking about what I should be doing creatively (more on that in a future
die_joncswerk post).
I will say I DEFINITELY enjoyed the trips
emmalyon and I took this year. The Hearst Castle/Monterey/Carmel trip was definitely a big winner for me, as was the Hawaii trip. The day trips were fun as well (CA State Fair up in Sacramento, Taylor's in St Helena, and so on), but I have to say that the Hearst Castle and Hawaii ones were both special in that we were able to spend some quality time together...
and both trips inspired me creatively, which is of course a bonus! ;)
[Writing]:Okay, so I didn't become the freelance writer I'd planned on being. That kind of fell by the wayside, but I'm not going to whine about it...that won't help any. So, like my frustrations with work, I'm not going to whine about it anymore, until I have a valid reason.
I'm also kind of annoyed that I got so little done, writing-wise this year. Not that my well of ideas was dried up, but that I didn't get nearly as far with the
LLB rewrite as I thought I would. There are twenty chapters in this book and I'm only starting on Chapter Five.
On the plus side...I do plan on having a much more productive year in 2008.
LLB will be finished and hopefully on its way to a publisher or agent. I also plan on revisiting the trilogy in earnest, getting some serious rewriting/editing done, and quite possibly an ending as well. I also plan on starting a few other projects as well. My overall plan is to make sure I'm working on
something every day, just as I did in the past.
[Work]:I'm convinced that my now-ended job as a phone rep at the bank did have something to do with my lack of creativity--not to mention stress and sleeping problems. I've heard from many people that this was a job that is not worth staying at for a number of years (although I did have some coworkers that have been there for at least a decade...), and I can safely say I agree with them. Even at a job as mindless as this was, there was a lot--let me emphasize that:
A LOT of frustration. As the Refreshments sang, 'Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people.' Normally I give people the benefit of the doubt, but I certainly had my share of winners when I was there...*shakes head* This is both customers
and banking center reps, people. Added to the fact that though this job was just as repetitious as any of my previous jobs, this one never seemed to improve with age--it was a very stagnant atmosphere. Then there was the soap opera near the end of my stay in which I'm still not entirely sure why a coworker I got along fine with decided to stop talking to me, but whatever. What's done is FINALLY done.
My new job starts tomorrow, and while I feel it's going to be a step up in a way, I have a feeling it's going to be a much less stressful job, one with a lot less frustration, and I'm already happy with the new people I've met so far--who, I should add, have already gone out of their way to welcome me in, and I really appreciate that.
[Music]:...and so continues the trend in which I don't pay as much attention to new music as much as I did a few years back. Emm and I actually spent more time watching VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown than we did listening to our local alt.rock station, Live 105. I could have spent a little more time checking out new bands by listening to LaunchCast, Pandora, or even sampling some of the music blogs out there, but for one reason or another I didn't do it. The one plus was signing up for eMusic (damn you,
head58!!!), which has definitely added to my mp3 collection with both new and old music.
At this point? I have no idea whether or not I'll be listening online to new stuff, or even caring at this point. I'm not going to actively shun it, but I'm not going to obsess over it like I did in the past. I'm keeping an open mind and open ears about it, though. Any suggestions for stuff are always welcome. :)
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Aaaaaand that's pretty much 2007 for me in a nutshell. Not exactly mediocre, but not exactly life-altering either. But at least it was interesting!
When it gets closer to New Years Eve, I'll post my resolutions/plans/predictions/music lists/etc. Stay tuned!