First post of 2016

I decided I didn't want the first post to be too negative.  (I am preparing a fairly negative book review that will go up tonight or tomorrow.)  So I will talk a bit about the day and my plans for the new year.

I actually did take it fairly easy, sleeping in a bit, reading and picking up just a bit.  The main event was taking down the tree and all the ornaments.  Often we leave it up for one more week, but the layout of our living room/dining area is such that the tree really is in the way, so my wife was eager to take it down.

I suppose a fair number of museums were open, but I just didn't feel like going to any of them, though as I noted, I would have gone to the Aga Khan Museum if they had honored the museum pass.  Well, I will probably swing by the library tomorrow after taking my daughter to her first skating lesson, and then Sunday, most likely we'll hit the AGO.  I can pace myself a bit, getting a bit of reading in, some work, maybe some creative writing (not blog related) and not be totally exhausted by Monday.

That is certainly my biggest problem -- refusing to prioritize enough and just taking on too much.  Even the sewing feels like I have made it a chore and not something that is fun.  Well, I have decided that if I do get to making that quilt top, I will take it to one of those companies that finish it for you with the batting and everything.

I don't really do resolutions, but I will see if I can scale back here and there.  That might be difficult at work, and we'll see what kind of changes I can actually make there.  But I don't have to push myself so hard all the time.  All it means is that I have too many on-going projects that I then abandon when I get bored with them, or I don't find instant success.  For instance, I only tried with one publisher to get my anthology published.  I could try again.  Or better yet, I could outsource that, and keep focused on other things.

While I do think I will finish my Toronto-based play at some point this year, that probably means not editing the other two (both are at the first draft stage).  I mean I could work on those, but then something else would suffer.  I do think I'll have to cut back on the blogging in 2016.  I'll still write the occasional review and put up some lists of interesting plays/art exhibits, but I am finding that it just isn't as rewarding as I thought to put out these long-form posts and never get any feedback.  Anyway, I am always fighting the tendency to publish personal things about my family, which I would regret later, or highly charged political posts, which I would also regret.

If I can reclaim some time, I probably ought to try to watch one classic movie a month or something, since I feel so ridiculous stashing them away and never getting to them.  (Probably the only way I would actually do it, is if I made a list and crossed them off...)  I suppose I simply feel that live theatre needs my support in a way that movies do not.  Also, I can get around to the movies at a later time, which is not the case with theatre.  Of course, there are limits.  Even now I probably won't have time to watch everything in my collection unless I take early retirement!  I probably also ought to listen a bit more to my jazz and classical CDs, since I have retreated to pop lately (something I sometimes do when under stress), though this is not nearly as difficult to attempt (than the film watching) since I can listen to music and do other things.

(It is a positive thing for me that I can write-off television programs and sports and not devote any meaningful to thinking about them.  One of the only shows I followed was The Simpsons, and I guess I stopped bothering two seasons ago.  About the only program I would actually follow is Futurama if that ever gets brought back again.  That said, it was weird to see just how many college football bowl games there are now.  Talk about diluting the product (and what a time waster for people who actually watch these games).  It is ludicrous that virtually all the teams in the Big Ten and SEC ended up playing in a bowl game.  I don't think my brother is particularly bothered, but his school (MSU) got totally stomped.  My schools were split -- Northwestern continues its record of post-season futility, but Michigan had an impressive win.)

I've been doing reasonably well selling off books or donating them.  I really thought I would do better with the CDs, but the classical music store near work has just been giving me the runaround and not letting me bring in the CDs, since they never have any petty cash left!  I'll have to find a better outlet for these things.

I guess that is all I have time for now.