I idolized Rick Astley. Well, not really, but I did actually enjoy his tunes, especially when they would pop up on MTV.
If I had to have an idol, which I can’t say I really did, it would probably have been the King of Pop himself, Micheal Jackson.
The 80s and 90s were some of the years it was good to be a fan of MJ, from Beat It, to Thriller, to the Moonwalker anthology, life was good if you loved pop.
Who did you idolize as a teenager? Did you go crazy for the Beatles? Ga-ga over Duran Duran? In love with Justin Bieber? Did you think Elvis was the livin’ end?
It's a Saturday, so there's no work for me today. This Saturday does, however, require some travel away from my warm bed, in order to celebrate my brother's birthday.
Worst case for the day would be a combination of factors, such as a car breakdown on the way home plus inability to pay for a tow. Basically, it's tough for today to go too badly. A car breakdown would mostly be a big inconvenience and mostly due to the cold after dark (desert areas get really cold winter nights!)
Best case would be that the food at the restaurant chosen is really good and that the nieces and nephew are relatively calm (love them, but they can get really excited sometimes.)
Funds permitting, the one luxury item I'd love to purchase is a car. It's not just any car, however. It's an electric car, but, even that's not so extraordinary. I'd prefer to buy a Tesla Model S.
It's a car that starts at $75,000. That's nearly 5 times the cost of my current car, which I've had for about 13 years.
It's still pretty much a dream car at this point, mostly due to performance and fueling costs, and also because the car itself is fairly high-tech in its amenities. The main stumbling blocks right now are not only the high purchase cost, but some of the lifestyle changes needed, such as an outlet needing to be installed at home, which I don't have the authority to undertake. That's the major one, as I'm lucky enough to live in the western state of California, so charging away from home, to the places I would drive to, isn't a problem.
Home-charging would cover the range of local destinations.
Having a car that not many have yet would be kind of neat, but mostly I really want to reduce use of gasoline (and have that extra money that such a reduction entails).
I also have read that it's got quite a bit of get-up-and-go too, which is a nice bonus as well.
That’s my word for 2016. I just realized it within the past couple weeks. The only way some long term goals, like fitness and learning a new language (Japanese, in my case) are going to stick, is if they become integrated in my everyday routine.
they certainly have lots of practice!
I’m lucky to have pretty good resources to motivate myself, make myself accountable(but, I’ll enlist friends and family as we’ll), and to track progress, so I’m optimistic, and realistic. Continue reading →
Sometime during the past year, I tried to quit caffeine. I did pretty well for a few months, and, as a result, felt pretty good, and even slept better.
I slowly, however let it back in. That’s a bummer, for sure.
Falling of that wagon has been a bit rough, but I’m working on it again. Luckily, I’ve got plenty of decaf tea, although I’d really like there to be more decaf coffee at work – I dig the flavor of coffee. Luckily, I don’t have an allergy to citrus, so quite a few alternative beverages are still open to me, when plain water won’t do.
Back when I was a teenager, I had no chance keeping up with the latest fashions of my peers. There was no financial means to. It was far less expensive to wear clothes that looked like they were decades old instead of new, and not in the “what’s-old-is-new” cyclical style of the times.
Until I could really afford to get closer in sync by choosing, and paying for, many pieces of my own clothes, did I finally shake that feeling of not doing the best to be presentable. Some of that stuff, I truly don’t think even came around again to being a thing again, like corduroys, except in very careful combinations.
The combinations never appealed to me, so why should I expect it to attract positive attention from those I wished to attract. The funny thing is, it wasn’t so much that they were particularly loud. There was no clashing colors or flooding pants, or out-of-place loafers. It was the blandness of it all. I felt like I wore an invisibility suit during high school. Only those who shared my geeky interests, those similarly cloaked, my small group of fellow geeks, ever noticed me or were friendly. I suppose I was luckier than I felt at the time.
I’m not ungrateful, despite the above. I still struggle a bit with that feeling of never being quite sure about my look each day, but I am able to mitigate it a bit by, partly, leaving the recommendation decisions in the hands of somebody with a bit more creativity in that area than myself. Only in wild dreams did I think a stylist would be something I’d use, but there has been results, better than my own failed attempts. Yeah, a balanced wardrobe isn’t 99% t-shirts. I was so disappointed, until I got compliments instead of silence.
Fashion’s still a puzzle to me, but I’m more hopeful now that I don’t feel so invisible these days. I can also be a bit more focused on making intellectual connections, with a bit of the ice broken. I’m far less worried about it all now, decades later.
Was this a bit of a ramble? I’m sure it’s a bit shallow.
Photo credit: NASA – https://unsplash.com/photos/NuE8Nu3otjo
I am under the warm comforter of my bed. My amazingly thin laptop accepts the words coming out of my mind. I think about the day so far, where the first Zeldathon of the ends with over $250 thousand going to charity. I look forward to spending tomorrow with some fellow Star Wars and Disney fans, watching The Force Awakens for the sixth time and my first Disneyland visit of 2016.
There’s clean laundry to hang and fold.
I’m definitely a fan of the Magicians now and I can’t wait to see what a live action TV interpretation will bring.
I was, as of 12am Pacific Time, sitting downstairs at home, scrolling through Facebook posts of friends and family, liking and commenting on ones that my attention (i.e. ones the FB algorithm deemed worthy. After having been to various events over the years on New Years, from camping at the Rose Parade route, to midnight at Disneyland, I feel like I was at the place of my own choosing this time.
I might do something different at the end of this year, but that depends a bit on if there’s anyone I know doing something I can join in on (and am welcome to do.
Where were you last night at midnight? Would you have wanted to be somewhere else?
Tomorrow’s 2016. 2015 certainly has been interesting. Despite the link below’s prompting, I know, realistically, that I’ll be the same person tomorrow, but, unlike earlier years, I think that’s OK. This won’t be a terribly detailed retrospective, but I do hope it’s a peek into what I’m thinking about and will be thinking about in 2016.
This year has had its ups and a few downs, but, thankfully, the ups were way up, and I think I’ve grown as a result of the downs. Late in the year I decided to be more mindful of all I’ve got to be grateful for, besides the obvious things like family and health.
It may sound strange, but sometimes I feel like good things have slowly started to increase in frequency around me. That might not be right. Maybe I’m just better able to notice what’s going on.
That’s not to say that the world has been all good things and happiness. I’ve just decided that my reaction to events, if any, and even direct actions taken continue as I’m able to sometimes step out of my comfort zone to help. I may not be loud, but I am aware of many things.
I’m thinking that, in the coming year, that I’ll share a bit more of the people and events that I see doing good, in ways I like. Next up is an event I’ve been following and supporting for the past couple years, Awesome Games Done Quick, which is a charity marathon, raising funds for Doctors Without Borders via their Summer event. Doctors Without Borders is a very important organization, especially in these days of conflict in various countries. How the money gets raised is what drew my attention. They play games. Not only that, but they play them as quickly as possible; they’re speedrunners. This takes place at hotel ballroom and is broadcast live, around the clock, online.
There are donation incentives, such as entertainment and even physical goods, given away during the event, and cool things, like commentary during runs,sometimes involving the very developers of the games being run in some cases (as their games break due to the skill of the runners…)
Some of the runners and commentators are as entertaining as, or even more than the games they run. It begins this Sunday, January 3, which is why I’m mentioning it now. I’ll be watching as much of it as I’m able while it’s live during this coming week, and I’m already following a similar marathon that’s focused on a single universe of games, the Zeldathon Hope, which ends its current event this Saturday.
In case it isn’t clear, I do like to watch gaming streams, whether it’s speed running or not, and if it’s for a good cause, that’s definitely of interest to me. I’ll try to bring attention to the marathons I follow as they approach during the year. That these event can raise pretty hefty funds for their chosen causes is very important to keep in mind. Passionate fans can do good things, and even if a person can’t give, just spreading the word can help.
I do hope to see more of the above types of events, even as I work on my own fan-supported activities; there was a new Star Wars movie unleashed on movie theaters, and already, things are in the planning stages for a fan group I’m in, Saber Guild, that are related to it. We’ll see how that works out once our own active seasons approach, and there’s an upcoming convention in London this summer that I’m sure will be pretty exciting as well.
Last, but certainly not least, let me wrap this up by saying that I’ve met, and spent much time with friends, old and new. Sometimes, it feels like not enough, but every time, I felt lucky to share the company of others, even being an introvert and all. If you’re ever wondering why I’m sometimes quiet, it’s just my time to recharge as best I can. This year, I attended my first Foo Fighters concert (certainly hope it’s not the last), but I was not alone; some excellent luck allowed me to move to a spot near some good friends. Of all the concerts I’ve been to, this one sets a high bar for energy.
This year, I’ll be attending a few more cons, and some which cover more of my interests, such as anime and gaming. Star Wars Celebration, WonderCon, and even San Diego Comic-Con were all fun, but a bit more relaxed for me this year.
Here’s to a good 2015, and to what will surely be a fun 2016 as well!
