Tag: resolutions

Wrapping up 2020

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

I normally don’t do posts like this, but given the nature of 2020, I felt that it was warranted. After all, I haven’t really posted about much beyond writing projects, Book ’em Danno, and Murderville.

So, what about 2020?

Well, first of all it should be noted that I achieved all but one of my half-assed resolutions (which I won’t be making for 2021; if 2020 taught me anything, not getting dead and having a good time is enough of a challenge). Not getting dead and having a good time is difficult during a pandemic, but I managed. I also did a better job of reading consistently by using a habit tracker and I did better with the whole self-care thing. I did not clean out my sewing drawer. Honestly, I don’t even want to think about it.

There’s a lot of things I don’t want to think about. 2020 was exhausting and I’m grateful for the things I was able to accomplish.

I managed to cross off two items from my Big To Do List. The Big To Do List is a short list of things that are in some fashion daunting for me to do, either they’re cost prohibitive (because I am usually money-less) or time consuming/labor intensive or in some cases, virtually impossible. But even before this year went weird, I’d decided that I was going to buy new glasses (my other pair is only 13 years old) and get the tattoo cover-up I’ve been thinking about for years. The pandemic added another degree of difficulty, but I can’t deny that I feel pretty proud of myself getting them done.

I also finally went to the doctor about my persistent knee pain. Turns out I have severe tendonitis in both knees and ended up doing physical therapy for six weeks. It’s better, but I’m still not back to normal yet.

This doctor’s visit also informed me that I’d lost the battle with my blood pressure and needed to be put on meds for it. Looks like I can’t handle the stress of a pandemic too well. Who knew?

In other disappointing news, my writing really suffered this year. It took four months for me to revise The Support Group Meets on Wednesday and two months to write the novella Early Snow. Along with two entries for a 100 word contest and NaNo, that’s all she wrote. Literally. It’s a very good thing that I had Murderville done a couple of years ago. This soul sucking year just exacerbated the writing malaise that’s been plaguing me the last couple of years.

On the other hand, I kept up with Book ’em, Danno. When I first started it, I wasn’t sure I’d make it through the first season. Now I’m half-way through the second. The last couple of months have been a bit of a struggle, but I’ve been getting it done and it’s been getting a decent number of plays. That’s always encouraging.

So, yeah. 2020 has been a thing on all sorts of levels. Personally, I managed a few victories to prevent it from being a total loss.

And as foolhardy as it sounds, I’m going to try to build on that for 2021.

2020 Half-Assed Resolutions

~ Kiki Writes ~ 2 Comments

My 2019 resolutions were mostly done successfully. As you can see, still not dead, and 2019 was a better time than 2018, so we’re calling that a win. Book ’em, Danno is happening. I cleaned out my craft drawer, but I have no memory of doing it. It was either me or clutter elves, but either way, it got done. As for my art…I hung up one piece. Okay, I didn’t do something with all of the pieces I created in 2018, but I did do something with one of them and since these are half-assed resolutions, that totally counts.

2020 is a big year for half-assed resolutions. New decade and I’ll be 40. Gotta make these good.

1. Don’t get dead.

2. Have a good time.

3. Clean out my sewing drawer. I have to come to accept that I’m not sewing very much right now and that I don’t need all of the fabric and scraps that I’ve accumulated. Other people could put that stuff to better use and in the now, not in the metaphorical future.

4. Read consistently. I do read, but I’m a sporadic reader. Meaning, I can go all week without reading and then read half a book on a Sunday. As nice as spending a Sunday that way is, I’d like to read more throughout the week as well. I’m going to aim for at least 5 days a week. And since this is half-assed, the bar of how much to read on those nights is set on the floor.

5. Self-care. I am crap at self-care. I tend to wait until I’m about to fall off the ledge before I take the step back and go, “Hey, self. We should probably take a breather.” I’d like to make it more of a regular thing. Even if I could just take one day a month to assess and ask myself the necessary questions that gauge my well-being that would be great. I can work on addressing the answers for my 2021 half-assed resolutions.

Okay. Let’s get this new decade started.

2019 Half-Assed Resolutions

~ Kiki Writes ~ 4 Comments

Only one of my 2018 half-assed resolutions was a total fail and that was working on my blanket-in-progress. Having a good time wasn’t executed as well as I would have liked. This year was kind of garbage in many ways. But! I did successfully art every month and I wrote a Rerun Junkie post nearly every month. Oh, and I didn’t get dead.

So, here are my half-assed resolutions for 2019.

1. Have a good time.

2. Don’t get dead.

3. Clean out my craft drawer, which has become more like a junk drawer and it’s getting unruly. There’s crafting stuff I can get rid of and crafting stuff that I’m not using in the foreseeable future which can be put away upstairs. I need to do that.

4. Do something with my art. I spent 2018 making art once a month. There’s only a couple of pieces that didn’t really turn out the way I wanted. I should really do something with the pieces that I think turned out reasonably well.

5. Podcast. Yes, I’ve been working on the research and whatnot for Book ’em Danno, and it’s been in my brain for months and I said I’m going to do it, but I am remarkable at talking myself out of doing things like this because I won’t do it well enough or I won’t do it right. Maybe if I make it a half-assed resolution, it will help my resolve.

Bring it on, 2019.

2018 Half-Assed Resolutions

~ Kiki Writes ~ 1 Comment

My 2017 half-assed resolutions were executed better than half-assed even though I forgot about them for most of the year. Go team me!

Obviously, I did not get dead. I also had a better time than anticipated, at least in certain areas of my life. I’m glad that I’m continuing to do well on those two resolutions.

I went through my books and even managed to get rid of a few. I can’t say that I did more belly dance for the joy of it. I did at least do more actual dancing rather than just drills, working dance routines into my exercise regime, so I’m counting that. And even though I didn’t do one big good thing this past year, I did do several small things and you know what? They add up.

So, here’s the 2018 half-ass resolutions that are going to carry me through the year.

1. Don’t get dead.

2. Have a good time.

3. Art once a month. I have art stuff. Hell, I have an art drawer (which I just cleaned out because holy disorganized pack rat, Batman). I should use these things. I like to art. I think it’s good for my creativity. But I don’t do it with any regularity. Setting aside a little time once a month to do art would be good, I think.

4. Make progress on my blanket. The reason this isn’t “finish my blanket” is because these are half-assed resolutions and finishing the blanket would take my whole ass. But the truth is that I started it more than a few years ago and it could stand some significant progress being made. Like finishing the front of it.

5. More rerun junkie posts. If I’m on a podcast (Eventually Supertrain! Everyone go listen!) talking about Green Hornet, then I need to maintain my rerun junkie street cred. Especially if I’m actually going to go through with the idea of writing a book about ’70s cop shows.

Let’s get wild, 2018.

2017 Half-Assed Resolutions

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

resolutionsMy 2016 half-assed resolutions really were executed half-assed. Though I managed to not get dead (which seemed to be a real challenge for way too many people in 2016) and had a good time on occasion (again, an unanticipated challenge), my other three resolutions were only sort of achieved.

I did clean out my sewing drawer, but I didn’t get rid of nearly as much stuff as I thought I would. I got closer to mastering mermaid pose, but didn’t make it. The only resolution I managed with any real success was watching more Netflix. I watched nearly 50 new-to-me movies and documentaries on Netflix this past year. This is actually a real achievement for me. Especially when Netflix got Bob Ross and that became my go to.

But 2016 is behind us (thankfully) and 2017 is just getting started, so once again, I make my half-assed resolutions for the new year.

  1. Don’t get dead.
  2. Have a good time.
  3. Go through my books. My house looks like a disorganized second-hand book store. Every bookshelf is crammed full. There are books stacked in closets and on the floor. I feel like some of these books could probably do with a new home, particularly the ones I bought while in the throes of an obsession of a particular topic that I now have no interest in revisiting.
  4. Belly dance more. I do drills six days a week and I even shimmy while I do my mouthwash, but I rarely just bust loose and dance. I really need to do that more often. Just for the joy of it.
  5. Do something good. I feel like I’m too broke/selfish/lazy/shy/incapable of contributing something good or doing something good. So I really need to put the effort into doing at least one good thing this year.

Let’s do this, 2017.

2016 Half-Assed Resolutions

~ Kiki Writes ~ 1 Comment

resolutionsI did a great job getting my 2015 half-assed resolutions accomplished. I made Peace. I incorporated a dance party into my evening de-stress routine, so I’ve been having a lot more of them. And I got rid of stuff. Not as much stuff as I wanted to, but I still got rid of many things.

Oh, I also had a good time and didn’t get dead, as usual.

So, now it’s time for me to make my half-assed resolutions for 2016.

 

  1. Don’t get dead.
  2. Have a good time.
  3. Watch more Netflix. I put stuff on my list that I mean to watch and then I never get around to watching it and I really need to be better about that. I have to stop being so behind on my documentaries and I have to be more willing to watch something new and risk not liking it. I can turn it off. That’s allowed.
  4. Clean out my sewing drawer. It’s…it’s…it’s in dire need of cleaning out. That’s all I can say.
  5. Master mermaid pose. This is a yoga pose that I’ve been slowly, very slowly, working on and I think that this is the year I’ll be able to arrange my fat in such away that I don’t tear anything while I do it.

Go team 2016!

peace

2015 Resolutions

~ Kiki Writes ~ 1 Comment

resolutionsYes, I am once again making my half-serious resolutions just to see what happens. The first two are gimmes as I always make them and I always keep them (well, so far, anyway). The last three are within the realm of possibility, if I remember that I’ve made them.

Last year I actually did a fantastic job of achieving my resolutions even though I forgot I made two of them. I did take an actual vacation and I did drink more. I didn’t choreograph a full belly dance (again), but I did more freestyle belly dancing to songs, so I’m going to count it.

Okay, my 2015 Resolutions. A drum roll if you please…

1. Don’t get dead.

2. Have a good time.

3. Have more dance parties. Sometimes I just feel compelled to put on some music and dance around my room for a while. It’s stress relief and it’s exercise and it’s fun and it’s silly and I need to do it more.

4. Get rid of stuff. Like most folks, I have stuff. I have more stuff than I need, want, and use. I need to get rid of some of it. Even if I only get rid of one thing, I’m counting this one good.

5. Make Peace. No, this isn’t a deep, life-changing things. Remember, this is a half-serious list. What I’m talking about is a picture. When I was a senior in high school, I did two mosaic oil pastel drawings. One was Love and the other one is Hope. I never got around to doing Peace. I need to do that. For my hippie gods.

2014 Resolutions

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

English: New Year's Resolutions postcard

It’s that time of year again when I make my not-exactly-serious New Year resolutions and see if I end up taking them seriously and actually doing them.

I’ll have you know that I kept most of the ones I made last year with the exception of choreographing an entire belly dance. Instead I ended up finding songs that were great to do belly dancing drills to, so close enough.

Anyway, here are my resolutions for 2014, including my two permanent resolutions because screw you, this is my list.

1. Don’t get dead.

2. Have a good time.

3. Go on vacation. Even if it’s staying in a hotel a couple of towns away, I’d like to take a proper rest somewhere else.  It’s a money dependent resolution, but if I can swing it, I need to be swinging it.

4. Drink more. I actually don’t drink very often (and when I drink, I don’t drink much). Perhaps my life could be improved if I imbibed just a touch more frequently.

5. Maybe this will be the year I choreograph a full belly dance.

Resolutions for 2013

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

It’s time to make my resolutions for 2013. Some I will ignore. Some I will keep. Some I will forget until I look at the list at the end of the year and am surprised that I made and kept them.

So here are five resolutions for 2013:

English: New Year's Resolutions postcard

1. Don’t get dead.

2. Have a good time.

(My two go-to’s that I have usually have no trouble keeping.)

3. Choreograph an entire belly dance routine to a song. I tend to start doing it and then get bored and quit. I really need to get some follow-through here.

4. Sleep more. I feel that only good can come from keeping this resolution.

5. Sing louder while making dinner. I prefer the kitchen to myself while I cook. Maybe louder renditions of “I Touch Myself” will persuade the people in my house to vacate the room while I cook.

It’s just a thought.

2012 Resolutions

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

I’m happy to say that I kept my resolutions from last year for the most part (that not losing too much weight resolution counts since I may have gained a little weight). It’s now time to turn my attention to 2012.

Here are my five resolutions for the new year.

1. Not get dead. My guaranteed-to-keep resolution.

2. Dance. I feel 2011 was lacking in dancing. I’d like to do more of that.

3. Take pictures. I forget to capture life’s moments. I need to make a goal of that this year.

4. Give. I’d like to do something for one of my favorite charities, even if it’s just spreading the word.

5. Have a good time. This is my other guaranteed resolution. I will always find a way to have a good time.