The Erstwhile Resolutions: Goals for 2013

I'll be honest: 2012 was a little bit up and down for me. It was probably the most eventful year of my life, and alternately filled with joy and downright depression. I'm glad for the experience, and there are moments which will resonate long into the years to come.

With that being said, there are a few things that I would like to have happen this year:

(This may sound slightly (OK, very) callow, shallow, and downright disrespectful, but believe me when I say that this first request comes from a very deep and personal place: could everybody in my life please not die this year? I've been to a lot of funerals in the past two years, and could really stand to keep all of you around for the foreseeable future, so let's stick to that, deal? Deal.)

(Sidenote #1: These are not so much resolutions as goals for the year. Resolutions are made to be broken. Goals are things that I can look back on and say that I achieved or didn't achieve. Think of it as a checklist for success.)

• Write Book Two of the Atlantean Chronicles. (I started it today! 30 pages in! And judging by the outline, this is the book where shit gets real. Not that it didn't get real in the last book, but shit gets hella real in this book. Get excited.)
• Get more stories written.
• Get one (1) story published. (Sent out several, and received several rejection letters. The name of the game is persistence.)
• Acquire an agent/get a book contract for Book One of the Atlantean Chronicles. (I mean, I've got a book just sitting around, and it doesn't suck, so let's see if anybody wants it, you know?)
• Direct a show. (This is going to happen, so the sub-goal is "Direct a show that does not suck." This seems highly attainable.)
• Get cast in a show somehow/somewhere. (I guess I really should audition more, as this fell by the wayside for one reason or another. Maybe it's because I've found that I enjoy directing/writing/music more than constantly being rejected for one reason or another.)
• Write a full length play. (Also attainable.)
• Write ten new songs. (I wrote one in an hour and a half last year, and have the ideas for at least eight, so this could be done by February. More on this in weeks to come.)
• Play 5 new open mics. (One down, five to go!)
• Explore new employment opportunities. (Not that I'm not satisfied with McCormick's, but I'd like to continue to try and find new means for gainful employment. Let's see how this goes.)
• Read 200 Books (New/Never read before. Honestly, we're already one down: Satch, Dizzy, & Rapid Robert by Timothy M. Gay. Good read!)
• Get into grad school.
• SUB GOAL: Get fully funded for said graduate schooling experience. 

 In order to accomplish these goals, I have determined some personal goals that go beyond mere accomplishments, although as far as I'm concerned, they're all accomplishments of their own. They are as follows:

• Avoid surgery. (Seriously, no more surgery. My (phantom) wisdom teeth still ache.)
• Start a savings account. (Mine got blown through between moving to Chicago and my travails out west. Time to start over again.)
• Continue to keep my credit in check. (Of all the goals, this one is actually the easiest. I'm just paranoid like that.)
• Lose weight. (A perennial goal, although I'm doing well so far.)
• Set a sleeping schedule. (Not having windows in my room has NOT been good for this, although I've worked over the holiday break to get back to getting up at a reasonable hour. Hopefully, this one will continue.)

And that's my plan for 2013. I don't need to accomplish all of the goals listed above. (Doing that would be somewhat impossible/might kill me.) However, if I can get even 2/3 of that list completed, I'll be happy as a clam by this time next year.

Happy New Year, everybody!