Happy New Year 2016!

It's official: 2015 is over! 2016 has begun. It's time again to look back on what was accomplished, look forward to new goals, and reflect on the current state of affairs.

2015 felt rather uneventful to me, to the point where it sped by in a flash. It's not quite as turbulent as last year, where civil unrest and terrorism seemed to dominate the news. However, the worlds' problems are still troubling, especially in the wake of the terrorist shootings in Paris last November. We've seen photos of Pluto up-close for the first time, and a probe landed on Ceres. Early in the year, I felt rather melancholy over the passing of Leonard Nimoy. Right now, I feel a bit more over the passing of Lemmy Kilmister. On top of that, I was rather sick a couple of times this year (from food poisoning).

When it comes to my favorite things - movies, music, games - it's a rather underwhelming year. The biggest highlights have been Mad Max: Fury Road, Jurassic World, and Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, all of which I've found enjoyable at the least. Many others - a fifth Terminator, another Fantastic 4, the last Hunger Games, a plethora of bland action movies like The Gunman and Taken 3 - have all been rather disappointing. As far as music goes, I was surprised to find myself becoming bored or indifferent to the new rock and metal albums I've seen. There have been new albums by Def Leppard, Disturbed, Fear Factory, and Coal Chamber, but they haven't truly enthralled me as I wanted. It seems that I've fallen out of love with symphonic metal - even though I've been a fan of Tristania, Nightwish, and Apocalyptica for so long, their latest albums have failed to move me on any level. Amorphis might be the exception. What has moved me this year is techno. Leftfield produced their first album in fifteen years. New albums by The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Death in Vegas, Groove Armada, and Ipman, have been phenomenal. If there's anything else worth listening to, it's the latest by Celldweller, Joe Satriani, ICP (or, at least the song "Found," which is surprisingly excellent in its structure and positive in its spirit), and various soundtracks. When it comes to video games, Fallout 4 really made my year. Mad Max was fun for a good while. I think that's about it.

Personally, it doesn't feel like I've traveled that far, but I have seen a few good sights worth seeing. I've visited my parents in Colorado a few times, and I've had the chance to see Denver. It is a petty distinctive city, and I got to see a car show while I was there. Later on, I visited the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, which is crammed full of fascinating aviation displays and aircraft. I visited a local tulip festival in the spring. In summer, I took a trip to Moab to see Arches National Park, home to the famous Delicate Arch, which I got to see up close. In October, I went to Oktoberfest in Snowbird for the second time, but really wasn't in the mood for the crowd and for drinking - I wound up taking a funicular ride, and I had a gorgeous view from the mountaintop.

More importantly, I've been a member of a local writing league. It allowed me to attend a local writing conference, in which I attended numerous panels to learn from professionals of the craft. It was quite the insightful experience. Combined with the critique sessions I've had, I've probably learned much more about writing this year than I have in all previous years. It can feel a bit demoralizing to think about all the mistakes I've made before, but it can be motivating to think that I can make my work better and improve myself.

I have independently-published one novel: The Garrison. I daresay that after learning as much as I have about writing, the book is far from perfect. Readers I've met have been happy though, and the book itself is something I can be proud of. I haven't really pushed myself to sell it like I should, but this will likely be one of my goals for 2016.

Speaking of goals, I have at least a few for this year. I prefer to not have resolutions (which insinuates that there's something wrong, leading to feelings of guilt and remorse), but this year, I hope to accomplish the following:

• Read more. I average about ten whole books per year (not counting manga or graphic novels, which I can usually whiz through). If I intend to write, I need to read, in order to learn and enrich my own skills, imagination, and mind. I intend to set aside time every day to read something.
• Better sleeping habits. Not that it's a problem, but it can be a struggle for me to wake up earlier than 6:30 every day. I would like to fix that, for the sake of going to work earlier, leaving work earlier, and having a fuller day.
• Improve my writing habits. I always slack off in my writing - I will have big bursts of activity, followed by weeks of nothing. What I need to do is set aside time every day to contribute to my writing efforts, either by writing, editing, or submitting to editors.

There are probably other things I must work on - I still need to lose weight, things still need to be organized - but I decided to worry less about those things. The bulk of my issues seem to revolve around time management.

I personally expect 2016 to be a productive year, and possibly an eventful one. We have elections to look forward to. I hope to visit Mesa Verde this year. I have no idea if my current day job will let me stay where I am or not. Chances are that I could be changing careers soon - if so, this could mark a new stage of learning, adapting, and overcoming challenges in my life. I have plenty more writing to do in the meantime. And if I need inspiration, there's bound to be plenty more of my favorite things coming my way (lots of movies coming out - a lot of them might suck - at least a few cool games to look forward to, and who knows what new music I'll discover?).

On top of that, I hope to find the energy and inspiration to blog more about all the great things that will come our way in 2016.