It's the same question every year... until what day in January is it ok to greet someone with "Happy New Year" when you meet this person for the first time in this new year :-)? As it is my first (of hopefully many posts) I'd say it is ok to use it as a title.

2010 started just like 2009 ended: severly sleep-deprived *yawn*. I should have put getting enough sleep on my list of resolutions :-) I still haven't figured out how to blog more or how to write more meaningful posts, but I have another 361 days to figure it out, right? When I have caught up with all the sleep I've missed so far. I really shouldn't have started to watch the World Jr hockey game last night, but I wanted to see how the Swiss were doing against Canada, after they - the Swiss - had beaten Russia, which was quite the surprise. I still went to bed after the 2nd period though, when Canada lead 3:1 and of course they managed to score some more in the 3rd.

I'm next on the snow shovel duty sheet (or whatever you want to call the arrangement we have in our apartement building), so I got up really early (early in my eyes at least) this morning just to see that no snow fell during the night. Which means I have to get up really early for the next couple of days until I've fulfilled my shovelling duty one day. Next snowfall is supposed to happen on the weekend... of course, why should I be able to sleep in on the weekend? On the other hand... I won't be able to sleep in too long anway, because I'm a volunteer at the huge opening event of the European Capital of Culture on Saturday and Sunday. I really have no clear idea what to expect there, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.

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Ok I totally just made this up. Behind the cut 3 Pictures taken each month of 2009.

( 2009 The Year of Racecars, the start of the end of school and other crap )

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

2010 brings lots of new things especially:
-Graduating college.
-Moving to LA
-And who knows what else...hopefully a job and making it to a Grand Am race are in the new year.

Hey everyone!  Thank you very much to all who left me Christmas greetings.  I hope you all had a good one.   That is, If anyone noticed my lack of posts/responses at all. lol.  I'm having computer/internet problems, again.  Talk about bad omen for the new year's, right?  Pfft. 

And so while my net by some miracle is working, I'll take this chance to say HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!  Thank you for the wonderful friendship and here's to another year! Cheers! 

This won't be a "looking back on 2009" post. Well, it kind of will be, but not really. I'm too tired and too lazy to thoroughly think about the past year :-) It hasn't been a bad year. It wasn't great either, it was ok-ish, I guess. It went by much too fast, that's for sure. I was insanely busy for the most part with all kind of Greens stuff, because three election campaigns within 6 months just take their toll. I didn't work as much as I wanted for grad school. In fact I should have spend some more time during this christmas vacation to work on the presentation I have to give in February. But at least I sat down and made lots of lists what I have to do in various aspects of my life (work, local politics, grad school). I will get on with doing all this stuff starting January 4th, after I've returned from a short trip to Hamburg for New Year's Eve and the weekend.

This is one of my New Year's resolutions anyway: To be better organized and to not get side-tracked so often and so easily. I don't know how I will manage to keep that resolution, but I'm determined to do so. It's the thought that counts, right? And even though I didn't do anything for school or work or the local Greens during the last few days, I at least sorted some of the stuff in my apartement. Like finally putting the dozens of CDs I bought in 2009 into the rack, sorted alphabetically. Like finally digitalizing the CDs I bought months ago to put the musi on my iPod to finally listen to it :-) I posted my Movie, TV and book lists of 2009, updated my calender for the next few months (and got annoyed by Google because for some reason my Palm Pre can't sync to the Google calender now, even though it could to that just a few weeks ago). I also took care of some other stuff, like cancelling magazine subscriptions, which I wanted to do for ages, but never got around to do it. Another thing I can check off my list in 2009. :-)

Another resolution is to get back to the gym, where I haven't been since September. Luckily so far I haven't gained any of the weight I lost during the Game On! Diet in September, but I really should get back to working out more regularly. I know I'd feel better, so why don't I just get my lazy ass off my couch? So, yeah, definitely a resolution for 2010. And of course there is the resolution to post here more regularly. I'm not sure how that's going to work out. But I'm very determined to do that.

In case I won't post anything else this year (which I most probably won't): Have fun on New Year's Eve and a wonderful start in 2010!

I could kick my own ass for keeping "The Eyre Affair" on my SUB (Shelf of Unread Books) for over 2.5 years. I missed out on so much fun. It's probably as much fun to read now as it would have been back then, but still... I really don't know why I didn't give it a try earlier. It obviously seemed interesting enough to me to buy it. Anyway, I started reading a few days before Christmas and I just finished it and eagerly wait for the delivery of the second and third book of the "Thursday Next" novel series. According to the DHL shipment tracking these are on their way to the outbound hub and hopefully will be delivered tomorrow.

Why did I have so much fun during my first visit to the "Thursday Next" universe? It's really difficult to explain, because all the funny details that put the broad grin on my face, might sound rather silly if I retell them. Details like the translating carbon paper that Thursday's uncle had invented. I just realize that you need to know what carbon paper is and how it worked in the first place. To all those born after 1980... did you ever wonder what the CC in your mail header stands for *g*? Google it.... But that's not the point here anyway.

Some of the appraisal on the book sleeve sum it up pretty accurately: "A wonderful mixture of the literary and the very silly" - "a silly book for smart people" - "This year's grown-up J.K. Rowling". All the fantasy stuff and the difference between our real world and the one portrayed in the story reminded me of Harry Potter in the beginning, but Fforde's story definitely is much funnier and it isn't situated in a highschool :-). The story is a fascinating mix of thriller, comedy, romance (almost a bit soap-opera-ish sometimes) and then of course there is the whole fantasy element to it all.

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After a few very laid back and lazy Christmas days I should get (back) to being a bit more productive. There are so many things I had planned to do during this vacation and now the first week is already over and almost none of it done *sigh* I really shouldn't have started to read the "Thursday Next" novel series before Christmas. And I definitely shouldn't have ordered the next books of the series right away. They weren't delivered yet, but they will be sometime next week. No self-control. Sad, really.... ;-)

Anyway, here are my latest project365 photos...



2009-12-19: Snow... finally

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So yesterday I prove that I can get to work on time if other people followed the speed limit and stuff.  Today, I overslept and was almost an hour late for work.

FML.

I don't have room for Christmas icon so everyone is going to have to make due with Warehouse 13.  :)

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, all that jazz.   Happy Happy.

I've been a little MIA on my own journal, been I've kept active in most of the communities I'm involved in, so that's something.

Also, I proved this morning that it isn't my fault that I'm a few minutes late to work almost everyday.  I followed the speed limit the whole way in.  I left the same time I do every morning.  There wasn't anyone else on the road this morning.  I even had time to get gas and a cup of coffee at the gas station.  I think of it as a Christmas present to myself. 

I'm going to start writing fanfiction again.  I'm not sure if I want to try to revive some of my old-left-for-dead Grey's Anatomy fanfiction or give Glee a try.  Or maybe Bones.  That might work.  Any suggestions?

I really need to work on my original writing, but I've been a little . . . uninspired.  I'm sure if I just sat down and work on it, I'd come up with something.  However, my home PC is currently dead, so we'll just have to see.

I don't think I'm hard to shop for.  I really don't.  However, so far this year (I haven't been home to open my presents yet, but from work and stuff) I got a lot of iTunes gift cards.  Now, normally I wouldn't be so .  . . . ungrateful.  The things is, I already have $80 in my account and I know that my brother got my a $50 gift card (a combo for Birthday and Christmas) and I just feel like no one's trying.  I know the season isn't about gifts and stuff.  I get it.  I'm happy that it isn't.  However, I feel if you're going to give someone something would be so hard to ask for a little thought?

I turned 25 this year.  Last year, for Christmas, my mom got me a lot of Beauty and the Beast stuff.  Like children's things.  Play sets and a child's dish set.  And I was like . .. um, thanks?  I really don't want to be ungrateful but it just seems like I put a whole lot more thought in the gifts I'm giving then I'm receiving.  It's a little . . .unfair?  I don't know.  I feel bad even writing it down.  I talked to my friend Lisa the other day about and she feels the same way.  She's actually a little worse because she basically picks out and wraps her own presents because the people in her life can't be bothered.  That's how I look at it, anyway.  She was totally happy with my gift, which made me feel awesome.  She got me great stuff, too.  So, yeah. 

Do you see what I'm trying to say or should I just shut my mouth and be grateful anyone got me anything?