1st post of 2009 -- Happy (belated) new year!

So this is what 2009 feels like.  Funny, because it still feels a helluva lot like 2008.  It happens every year -- it always takes a few days before my brain finally goes, "OH!  It's 2009!"  It also might be because nothing much really changes when a new year comes around -- just some ol' numbers.  And I don't mean that in a cynical, glass-half-empty "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" kind of way (change is the only constant, after all); it's just that trying to split up the whole vastness of time into years, decades, centuries, millenia, months, weeks, etc. is so arbitrary -- it's just a way of making it more understandable.  I don't think about time in those terms unless I absolutely have to -- I've always been a big picture kind of guy, and whenever New Year's comes around I'm always underwhelmed.  Big whoop, it's just another day, right?  Nothing special.  So no partying for me -- just staying at home, watching the ball drop on TV, the same ol' conversation with my folks about the music they play on Dick Clark's show.

This means no New Year's resolutions as well; if I ever made one for myself, it'll never work.  Believe me, I've tried.  I don't see the point over making plans for myself; I've been terrible at planning, and I work much better either taking things in life as they come or waiting until I feel deadlines imposed by others whoosh right by!  XD  Besides, as Russell Banks once wrote (and I'm not quoting verbatim here), "People don't change, they just grow more convoluted."  I believe people have limits (and that it's important to recognize those limits), and that in some cases it's impossible to improve oneself.  There's nothing wrong with honing your abilities and being the best you can be, but for me they're not as important as food on the table, a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and people, jobs/careers, and activities/hobbies that you love -- in the end, that's all that matters anyway.

That said, I mentioned I'm planning on doing that 50bookchallenge , and I definitely want to give it a shot.  But most of my time is spent over schoolwork, and not only am I planning on getting a job spring semester, but I need a summer job and get my driver's license, among other things.  Then fall semester will come around again and it'll be back to the grind, only by then it'll be junior year and things will be getting more intense.  The last thing I want to do after all that is read books; I end up spending way too much time online, as I have been for many years now.  It's very relaxing, I find, not to mention very addictive.  I need to cut back on my Internet usage, even though I enjoy it, not because I want to get myself "out there" but because I invariably do nothing when I'm online.  But dammit, I used to be an avid reader!  Granted, this was when I was in middle school and I was reading easy, short, mostly crappy YA novels, but still!  If I want to improve at least one part of myself -- the part of me that writes -- I need to start reading more, fast, as much as I can.  And writing more, too.  J-term and summer break will definitely give me the time to do that, but spring semester won't.  So -- reading 50 books this year.  It's not technically a New Year's resolution, but it's at least something, I guess.

Will be headed back to college on Sunday for J-term to continue studying Japanese; it should be an interesting, relaxing month.  In the meantime I've had a good Christmas (not too much to talk about -- no real interesting gifts, but then again, I have all the tangible things I could ever want and more) and right now I've been moving random music and stuff on the home computer to my laptop.  The home computer is crap -- we've had it for a few years now (after the old one got infected with loads of spyware and viruses), and because we've used it for so long it's EXTREMELY slow, and Firefox locks up on me constantly.  Fortunately, we plan on eventually getting a Mac to replace it -- because let's face it, Windows, especially the new Vista, is utter shite.  My laptop is an Apple, and I love it; it hardly crashes or slows down or has major problems.  Okay, so my hard drive did crash last summer, but that's because last spring I had this bad habit of leaving it on 24/7 without putting the screen down -- I first did it to keep my torrents downloading, but after a while it became a bad habit, and I overworked it.  Oops.  =D  The only time I had a major problem, it was my fault.  Apples rock, and you should get one if you haven't already done so, and no, I am NOT a paid spokesman, thank you very much.  XD

So, that's that.  Another long, rambly entry, but then again I can't think of a way to make them more interesting.  And no, big breasts don't count.  :D  Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas for those who celebrate it, a happy holidays for those who don't, and a Happy New Year!

EDIT: You know, it's very easy to be freaked out about Rule 34 existing for Transformers.  Then you find out about semi-erotic official art like this, looking like it came from one of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, and suddenly it becomes easier to see why.  Jeez, they don't want robo-porn to exist, and yet they give fans stuff like that?  XD