to celebrate or not to celebrate…

My power of memory has weakened a lot this year because without going back into the archives of my blog to see what I've written about things I've done, thought, felt – not all that much comes to mind… oh wait, hit the pause button for a second… i’m getting a flash of memories now, like that infamous encapsulation we are all promised to have in the moments before we die, i remember now!

you know, this was actually a pretty fantastic year for me and i don’t have anything at all to complain about it. all those tweets and statuses you read about “glad this one’s over”, “hope next year’s better”… patooey! I only hope that next year is HALF as great as this one was!

I got to travel three times this year! twice to Los Angeles when i got to spend a week each time visiting two of my oldest and best friends on this planet; Alan and Vicki. i got to take my life’s work to Los Angeles and  Chicago (Chicago was the third place i travelled to this year) which produced stupendous results. I got to meet in person one of the people that has most strongly influenced my desire and ability to write, Francesca Lia Block. And I published two books and even wrote a new one! I’ve made new friends with people in far away places and barely a day goes by in which I don’t have communication with someone, somewhere. oh, and another great thing was getting to hang out with one of my other oldest, best friends Big Dog Mark from Australia when he came to America to ride a motorcycle from coast to coast w/his teenage daughter. i mean, who can dream up these things??

the things that i desired to have happen i was pretty much able to make happen by doing them. sure, there were some low moments where instant gratification was not achieved and i was able to let those urgent desires fade away. on the mental health stage, this was a pretty stable year for me. no big depressions or manic crashes. physical health improved; the threat of type two diabetes pretty much vanished but i am still overweight and have back pain. some things you just get used to.

here is the cool thing about this story though. the things that happened this year? if you asked me, this night, New Years Eve, a year ago if i thought all these things could have happened in the year ahead? i would have scoffed and said, “yeah, in a pig’s eye!” this is really the coolest thing. you just don’t know what is going to happen next! i can say things about what i want to do differently in the next year, sure… i can try to make plans, but why? why mess around with the unexpected?

the first book i published this year came out in April but i didn’t even come up with the determination to make that happen until about 6 weeks prior to it happening! the second book came together in just 2 weeks time (and was published in July)! the trips took a bit more planning, but that’s just how trips work. the things that happened on those trips? NEVER imagined such amazing experiences would transpire. the people i met, the new places i got to see.  oh yeah, and that i wrote an entire new book in the 30 days of November… baby, i was on fire.

on the calendar for January are some classes at the local junior college. i’m going to delve deeper into the writing arts with a poetry writing class, a class to study short stories, and a SCRIPT WRITING class (yeah, i’m just a wee bit excited about that last one). oh yeah, and i have a new book that i’m coauthoring with a friend i’ve never even met in person that will be released by the end of January. i’m tellin’ ya, this is going to be a helluva hot-damn year.

if i were to make some resolutions, simple adjustments to my already well-oiled machine it would be these:

write more

read more

walk more

eat less

smile more

be more friendly

i’m sure i’ll think of other good things to do later on.

oh, and thank you for reading and i wish many unexpected happy things to happen in your life too. 

so yeah baby, i can only hope for and expect another very super cool year to unfold before me.