Next year I'd like to be better than I am this year.
That's a rotten thing to say. "You think you're better than me, Steve 2010?"
"No, Steve 2009. But, I have done some things that you haven't, and that you'd like to do. It's all a process. Remember how you were in 2008?"
"That's a good point." In fact, it's the only point; the only place from which to start. What happened in 2008? What has Steve 09 added to the History of Steve?
In 2008, I:
Quit eating meat. And yes, I still go for seafood sometimes-- on a controlled and usually invertibrate level. (There are, however, 2 filets of tilapia in my freezer--tilapia, a species whose numbers, as I understand it, are not at a critical level.)
Traveled. This is a no-brainer, but it's big. I never used to travel. Now there are the obvious ones: I moved to Oregon, then spent that week in LA, then have randomly jaunted about the state. I know Portland and Eugene and the Coast pretty well; have seen Crater Lake and the Devil's Churn and other cool stuff. Then there were the two big trips: South, through S. Oregon and California; and North, through Washington. Another thing that makes these ones a big deal is that they required saving money and budgeting, and--
Learned to Drive. It's not that I want to be part of the car culture. But. Okay, driving a stick shift car is fun. And I couldn't do it before-- It's one thing to not partake because you CAN'T. It's another when it's a choice.
Learned about Grants. I cannot stand grantwriting. But the fact of being able to write a grant application is probably a useful thing.
Learned about Office Work. It's not a bad thing to learn about what you hate and are bad at.
Read a lot more science fiction and communist history. And also Paradise Lost, that was cool.
***...So there you have it. Steve 2009's major upgrades. Join us next time, when we'll be discussing major changes in store for 2010!
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