2011 year in review, 2012 new year goals, and 2011 book lot

Happy New Year everyone! I’m going to review my last year, set my 2012 goals, and give you my 2011 reading log, all in this one entry. I am also going to make an effort to write in shorter paragraphs and say what I need to say with fewer words.

Winter was cold. My skating was solid up until January and then it was sporadic practically until April. My memory is kind of hazy of January through March 2011, but I guess nothing traumatic happened.

In late April I took a solo trip to Las Vegas. To say it was a spiritual journey would be a stretch. But it was important for me to travel by myself. I made my itinerary and did what I wanted. When you travel with people there is always a compromise, but by myself I was able to do things I wanted. I skated every day, saw nature sites, and had nights out. I’d like to travel more, but not in 2012, I need to get to where I can pay for my trips, and not charge them. Now I want to travel, whereas before my Vegas trip I thought I didn’t have an interest in going places. Here is my ridiculously long blog entry after the trip.  {Vegas blog entry }

In spring I skated quite a bit, but a lot of my focus was in my library work with advocacy against the budget cuts.  Aside from the yearly budget threat and a low materials budget work is going well. I’ve been at the same location, and have been able to concentrate on improving services. I get a lot out of work and feel that librarianship is the career for me. Here is an advocacy blog I wrote about this year’s read in. {24 hour read in }

In June I was suppose to go to Toledo for a full week of vacation. I planned to skate, read, write, and hang out. My parents changed that when they say they needed help cleaning out the farm in Virginia. So I flew into Detroit, and we drove down to Virginia. It’s beautiful down there, and I’m glad I went. Here’s my entry with a lot of good pictures. {Farm entry }

Over the summer it was beastly hot and affected my skating big time. I remember on some days only being out for an hour or less, being winded, and sweating profusely. I did not skate as much this summer as I planned too. In August I vacationed down in Florida with my whole immediate family, it was a great time. I try to read a lot on my vacation, and here is the blog entry I wrote about my Florida vacation. {Florida reading }

September, October, November, and December had lovely weather.  I think after a lull I’ve finally started to progress some at skating and I’m having fun. I’ve made a routine of skating Flushing Meadows, and I’ve blogged several entries on how I like my weekend skating routing.

This fall I also took a writing class that was beneficial. I think discussing writing for 3 hours on Sundays motivates me, and I think I want to seriously pursue writing. My goal is a short story a month. And after I have some bulk I’ll revise hopefully with more detachment.

During thanksgiving I went home and it was a nice visit with family. And I did get to skate a couple new parks in the Northwest Ohio area.

Overall 2011 was a good year for me, and I documented it well on my blog. I think that is one thing that I’ve been consistent at is writing of a blog every week or so.

2012 GOALS

1. I need to get back to the gym pronto. It’s amazing how easy it is to stop working out, and how difficult in can be to get back into the routine. I haven’t been to the gym since well before Thanksgiving. So I’ll be just as bad as all the other resolution people.
2. Live healthier. That means being moderate on nights out or abstaining altogether.  I need to at least check out a book on general nutrition, and make an effort to not eat junk food. I seem to have a sugar tooth, and like fried things, and grease. I’ll start small like stopping drinking soda, but I need to have a good all around diet and lifestyle.
3. Try to progress at skating, and other pursuits in my life.
4. Meet more people, listen better to others, and not focus on myself all the time.

READING HABITS

Lastly for this entry, here is my 2011 reading log. I read less than 2010, but maybe more variety. I learned I really like a good autobiography on rock n’ rollers. I enjoyed both the Keith Richards and Patti Smith memoirs greatly. I spent a great deal of time reading ‘Buddenbrooks’ by Thomas Mann and did not finish it. Since I didn’t finish it, I can’t put it on the list! Also with better selections for my work book club, I’m getting a lot of good reading from that too and really enjoy that part of my work.

2011 Book Log

1. The Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende. January
2. Giavonni’s Room by James Baldwin, January
3. Schizophrenia, a very short introduction by Christopher Firth. February
4. Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris. February
5. Angels of the Universe by Eina Margudmussen. March
6. The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent. March
7. Down and out in Paris and London. George Orwell. March
8. Shattered by Karen Robards. April
9. City of Thieves by David Bernioff. April
10.  Life by Keith Richards. April/May
11.  The Zookeepers Wife by Diane Ackerman. May
12.  Someone Knows my Name by Laurence Hill. June
13. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson. June
14.  Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. July
15. You Believers by Jane Bradley. July/August
16. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Neale Zora Hurston.  August.
17. Goodbye, Columbus by Phillip Roth. August
18.  Herzog by Saul Bellow. August
19.  Witches by Rould Dahl. August
20.  Every Last One. By Anne Quindlen. September
21. Light in August by William Faulkner. September/October
22.  Just Kids by Patti Smith. October
23.  Indfidel by Ayan Hirshi Ali. November
24.  Fatal Convictions by Randy Singer. November/December
25.  The assistant by Bernard Malamud. December
26. The marriage Plot by Jeffrey Euginides. December (almost finished)