Well, it’s that time of year again – the time to set goals and pretend like we are going to stick to them. Some of us will manage it, others won’t. Most of us will fall in the space between where we accomplish some, but not others.
I always kind of enjoy reading New Years resolutions that pop up on other review blogs because it gives me quite an insight as to who the blogger is and that’s really entertaining to me. I get to interact with many of you on a (near) daily basis, but it’s the internet, and that makes it hard to really learn about who all of you are. These brief windows into what is important to you are really nice in that respect.
Blog related goals
Do more interviews. I don’t know why, but interviewing authors intimidates the hell out of me. I’d like to get over this, because there are a few of you out there who I have some serious questions I need to ask. Once I get over myself, I’ll be able to ask them not only for my benefit, but for the benefit of my readers as well.
Work on my love affair with commas (and run-on sentences). Yes, I love commas. I love them here. I love them there. I love them everywhere. If I don’t know what punctuation mark to use, I’ll throw in a comma because it looks cool.
Continue working on my “Tell me what to read” list. I love that list. It’s long as my arm and will take me forever to get through, but I think I can probably knock it out in 2011 if I work hard enough.
Figure out some form of a reading schedule. I would love to get to the point where I read an equal number of review books sent to me balanced with an equal number of my own personal book choices.
Find a happy posting medium. My overall goal here is to post reviews three times a week and balance it out with news or…something on the other two days (meaning I won’t post on weekends because those are MY days, damn it.)
Pay more attention to comments left on my posts. Recently it has come to my attention that people have been commenting on my posts and I’ve missed their comments because I haven’t had a filter going or something. Well, now I do – so now you no longer have to feel ignored if you leave me a comment.
Go to a Con. I don’t care what con. I don’t care where. I just want to go to one so I can bask in the nerdiness along with all my fellow nerds. Yes, this thought thrills me.
Personal goals
No more surgeries! That, if you can’t tell, is my primary goal for 2011. Ever since I blew out my right shoulder in 2008 I’ve been in surgery on an average of every six months with a few longer spans here and there. Do I really need to discuss how sick of this crap I am? I don’t really care about scars, but I’d prefer not to have more, either. I think my last count was 13 surgery scars on my right shoulder and a big one at the base of my neck that makes it look like my throat was slit. I’m the great patchwork woman and I’m damn sick of it.
Kiss cancer goodbye. And no more surprise diagnoses, please.
Find the job I want. My goal, since I’ve been about as tall as your knee, has basically been to spend a year (if not more) living somewhere in Europe. While I’ve managed to visit that lovely continent quite a few times, I still haven’t managed to live there. A dear friend of mine (a few of them, actually), have managed to do it by getting their bachelors degrees (which I got this year) and teaching English in some country for a year or more. So, hopefully with some help and guidance from my friends I can find a similar job for myself and accomplish that portion of my aspirations. I have some direction, but honestly have no idea where to start so if any of my readers have any tips, tricks or clues, don’t be shy about sharing them.
Read some books in German. German is “almost” my second language. I’ve been studying it, attempting to speak it and the such since I was about 12. I’m twenty-seven now and I haven’t ever really stopped. I’m not quiet fluent but I think with a little bit more of a push I could be. So, this year I’d like to continue my own education by reading some books in German.
Photography. I’ve already entered, won and been published for my photography. I don’t get why I’m so shy about my work. I have turned down several offers of having my stuff displayed at places because I’m afraid of strangers looking at it… I think I need therapy to help me get over myself.
With that, I’m taking the weekend off. I’ll be finishing up some books today and over the weekend so next week I’ll have some reviews to post – then I start my drama with the whole radioactive iodine treatment and hopefully I’ll be back to normal in February. Thanks to all of you who are being patient during this time. I’ve really been struggling with some stuff recently (hence the posts like this rather than book reviews) so it really is cool to see that people aren’t unsubscribing to this blog despite my posts that have next to nothing to do with books.
10 Responses
Good luck with your goals next year, especially the ones for no more surgery and no more cancer!
I like your blog goals, too. I'm also trying to do more interviews but I understand the intimidation. I also want to try to do better about balancing review copies and books I bought myself, too. For a while I was alternating between the two by reading one review copy then one of my personal books, but later in the year I didn't do that as much.
I want to go to a con too, but I don't know what one. Comic con has always appealed to me, but the problem will be getting my husband to go with me. I will admit to being a complete geek, but I don't want to be a geek all by myself.
I think you'll find that a good variety on your blog keeps people coming back. People want to know the blogger too so I'm glad you are publishing posts like this. It's always good to know that someone else has a love affair with commas (oh, I put them EVERYWHERE too).
I hope 2011 will be a year of great health for you and I hope that you will get to teach in Europe. It sounds like a really good goal to have and a huge adventure!
They are awesome goals Sarah! My best wishes to 2011 for you 🙂
Fully support the German goal. I need to make that mine as well. Mine's deteriorating at frightening speeds.
Great goals Sarah! Happy 2011 😀
Happy New Year! I think a lot of your resolutions are similar to mine, which is cool 🙂 I want to do more interviews and get into a decent posting schedule. Good luck on the German learning front too; I've wanted to do something similar but it's a tossup between German, French and Welsh. I want to do all three, it's just a question of priorities, hehe.
Happy New Year, Sarah! I hope you reach all your goals this year!
Cool blog :S
I just came across it.
Nice resolutions
Nice resolutions, and nice blog. I just found this blog linked from another blog (http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com).
If you need any suggestions for German (Fantasy) books just say so. 🙂