a look back...

as is often the case when i write here, i've been meaning to get this post out for a few days now. due to a busy travel schedule, work, and feeling ill for the third time in like 7 weeks i'm writing now.

the obvious thing to do here is list a bunch of resolutions for the New Year. i'll get to that but i plan on starting with a look back at the year that was: 2007. highlights of the year include (in no particular order)...

• spending time at home for the holidays with family and great friends
• all the trips to the Bay
• finally getting a job
• moving into a one-bedroom apartment
• monday nite dinners with Jeremy
• meeting new ppl, making some new friends, and developing new connections with ppl
• being forced to stake my own place in this world again, reevaluating my place and my goals

i'm sure there is a ton of other stuff i could list here...but the point is that the year was full of great times and overall a great year. it was a year full of change, some big and some smaller, but i feel these years in our lives (whether you're going thru them, went thru them, or have yet to do so) are ones of transition and growth and figuring it all out.

this stage in life is a massively transitory one, where relationships change (beginning, ending, growing) and our goals and ideals meet the reality of the world. sometimes there's a big conflict in these things and other times a harmony. i'm betting for the most part it's a mix of both and it has been for me.

change can be difficult and scary and hard. but u grow and adapt and u make the changes ur own. then u look back with a certain awe at what transpired (sometimes wondering how u could have been so foolish and done some of the silly things u did) and see the growth and see how u've reached a better place or are on ur way towards one.

anyway, enough getting all philosophical on it.

other quick highlights i'd like to include are the following...

highlights from the Holidays at home:

• time with my family
  
• the enormous X-mas tree and all mom's awesome decorations
• getting to sleep in til noon
• hearing Nick sing, even if only a handful of carols
• TK Wu
• SF homies back in the Deuce
• the awesome spread of food for X-mas dinner
• 1971 Chateau D'Yquem
• getting my dance on with the old skool homies on my last nite in town

highlights from the brief New Year's Eve trip to the Bay:

• great food!
• spending time with ppl i really enjoy
• Rock Band
• Sam's bottle of Patron
• prom pics and all the other pics [check the flickr!!!]
• getting to see Meeeeeeeeeeeeechigan handle Florida
• relaxing on New Year's day and getting to check out a neat local movie theatre

__________________________

speaking of Meeeeeeeeeeeechigan...

i loved watching the game and seeing Meeeeechigan's tough style of play defeat Florida's spread offense. seeing the team play so well was a little bittersweet: it showed what truly could have been this season but it was also so satisfying beating Florida and also seeing the team play so well for Lloyd Carr and also see the seniors on the team finally get a victory in a bowl game.

something i found particularly interesting was how Lloyd Carr and what was largely an old skool style of Michigan football (with some aggressiveness and creativity thrown in) defeat what amounts to the incoming style of play of Coach Rich Rodriguez. and that is a subject i've had mixed feelings over...it's exciting but it's also change (see above). not only that, there are certain aspects of the spread offense that i'm not a huge fan of and not sold on. i just hope the new coach, while bringing in change also brings the consistency Michigan has maintained as well maintains certain aspects of the program and style of play. in dealing with change, adaptation is crucial and in this case i think that's as true for Rodriguez as it is for the players, fans, and so on.
_________________________

the New Year.

i thought a fair amount about resolutions recently. should they be few or many? specific and detailed or open-ended and broad? easy or difficult? as with everything, i think balance is key and everything in moderation. with that in mind, here are some things i plan on working on this year:

• eat healthier, workout more, and generally take better care of myself - i'm not getting any younger and it'd be nice to just generally feel healthier and fitter and more active
  
• develop more at work, work harder, learn more, and better prepare myself for whatever is next - lately i feel i'm not progressing as i should at work and that i don't know as much as i should at this point in time; maybe it's just me but i'd like to feel more knowledgeable and have a better sense of what's going on and how it all works
• be more creative, artistic, what have u - in '07 i got back into taking fotos a bit and it was a ton of fun and really rewarding; i want to take it a step further and spent more time with the arts and hopefully incorporate it into my career
• write more - both here and in my journal
• spend as much time as i can with the ppl i care most about and enjoy that time as much as possible - i get to spend less and less time with my family and that is difficult, at the same time i saw more of some really good friends than i did when i lived nearer to them
• not make the same mistakes i made before - or more importantly, learn from my past experiences and further develop who i feel i should be in life
• be more responsible and on top of things

i dunno, these are the things that came to mind right now. it's not as well formulated as i would like but these are all things i hope to improve on and intend to spend time on.

anywho, i hope everyone had a Happy Holiday season and a Happy New Year!!!