Okay, so 2011 is over.
In 2011 my grandmother passed away. So did my grandfather's best friend. Several important friends got married. Others got engaged. There were new babies. It was a year for lifecycle events.
I was made fulltime at work. I saw some of my designs fail spectacularly, I fell catastrophically behind on projects, but I kept at them and I recovered. We shipped one of the systems that failed catastrophically during testing in November, after fixing the problems. We shipped another system I designed in December. We also shipped another system that wasn't my project primarily but featured several of my designs in November.
I continued to develop the roleplaying adventures of Kelin Rolffson, Dwarven Bard and Sanderz Marc'ma, Coruscant Port Authority customs agent. I GMed a game for the first time since high school, and it went well. I introduced friends to Thurn und Taxis and Bohnanza.
I participated in PurimGifts, In the Beginning, Kaleidoscope, and Yuletide fanfic exchanges and wrote some very solid stories. I wrote less than last year outside of exchanges, but "Factor, Factor, Factor", at least, is a story that I consider one of my calling cards in fandom. I'm not sure that I deepened my character development or plotting skills significantly, but I did a lot of experimentation with form and function. I think I became a technically better story designer.
I attended PhilCon, my first all-weekend Con, and successfully negotiated Shabbos at a con. I bought a membership to WorldCon for the first time and will attend Chicon next year.
I became involved with Immodest Proposals and attended a number of their salons, where I met many interesting people and survived tests to my belief system. It was great to have a venue for political and cultural argument back in my life, really for the first time since college.
I saw a number of operas, including Nico Muhly's "Dark Sisters", Stephen Schwartz's "Seance on a Wet Afternoon", and the City Opera's "Monodramas". I saw John Zorn play with various configurations of musicians on two occasions. I saw Kristin Chenoweth and Raul Esparza sing the music of Stephen Schwartz. I think I went to at least one rock show, but I can't recall what it was.
I finished Midnight's Children. I finished On Beauty and Howards End. I discovered K.M. Ruiz and finally found a way to squeeze some enjoyment out of David Weber (which achievement I celebrated by making a treecat joke at the New Year's party). I read Three Men in a Boat. I reread Frankenstein. There were many other books, but those stand out. Oh, also I hit 50 on
50books_poc!
Um... it's been a long year, an exhausting year, but much of it has been for the good. I have had my health, baruch hashem. The worst I've faced is the cold I've struggled through for the past week. So farewell, 2011. Hello 2012. I hope everyone who was there for me in 2011 will continue to share in the joys and struggle through the sadnesses of 2012. Thank you all for being part of my life.
In 2011 my grandmother passed away. So did my grandfather's best friend. Several important friends got married. Others got engaged. There were new babies. It was a year for lifecycle events.
I was made fulltime at work. I saw some of my designs fail spectacularly, I fell catastrophically behind on projects, but I kept at them and I recovered. We shipped one of the systems that failed catastrophically during testing in November, after fixing the problems. We shipped another system I designed in December. We also shipped another system that wasn't my project primarily but featured several of my designs in November.
I continued to develop the roleplaying adventures of Kelin Rolffson, Dwarven Bard and Sanderz Marc'ma, Coruscant Port Authority customs agent. I GMed a game for the first time since high school, and it went well. I introduced friends to Thurn und Taxis and Bohnanza.
I participated in PurimGifts, In the Beginning, Kaleidoscope, and Yuletide fanfic exchanges and wrote some very solid stories. I wrote less than last year outside of exchanges, but "Factor, Factor, Factor", at least, is a story that I consider one of my calling cards in fandom. I'm not sure that I deepened my character development or plotting skills significantly, but I did a lot of experimentation with form and function. I think I became a technically better story designer.
I attended PhilCon, my first all-weekend Con, and successfully negotiated Shabbos at a con. I bought a membership to WorldCon for the first time and will attend Chicon next year.
I became involved with Immodest Proposals and attended a number of their salons, where I met many interesting people and survived tests to my belief system. It was great to have a venue for political and cultural argument back in my life, really for the first time since college.
I saw a number of operas, including Nico Muhly's "Dark Sisters", Stephen Schwartz's "Seance on a Wet Afternoon", and the City Opera's "Monodramas". I saw John Zorn play with various configurations of musicians on two occasions. I saw Kristin Chenoweth and Raul Esparza sing the music of Stephen Schwartz. I think I went to at least one rock show, but I can't recall what it was.
I finished Midnight's Children. I finished On Beauty and Howards End. I discovered K.M. Ruiz and finally found a way to squeeze some enjoyment out of David Weber (which achievement I celebrated by making a treecat joke at the New Year's party). I read Three Men in a Boat. I reread Frankenstein. There were many other books, but those stand out. Oh, also I hit 50 on
Um... it's been a long year, an exhausting year, but much of it has been for the good. I have had my health, baruch hashem. The worst I've faced is the cold I've struggled through for the past week. So farewell, 2011. Hello 2012. I hope everyone who was there for me in 2011 will continue to share in the joys and struggle through the sadnesses of 2012. Thank you all for being part of my life.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-02 07:32 pm (UTC)I'm trying to organize all this stuff and it's proving difficult sigh. I really want to try to get an on-site hotel for chicon but it's... expensive, and hard, and FIVE DAYS jegus!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-02 07:49 pm (UTC)And yes, I guess you still owe me money for Philcon. Um... let me figure out if I take Paypal and get back to you.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-02 07:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-03 08:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-03 04:01 pm (UTC)