Welp I thought I’d be more busy today but I actually have a bunch of free time right now so I thought I’d sum up some stuff about this year. I already wrote a post about how the year went for Rumbirds, which you can read here. Stuff that happened in 2011:

• started Rumbirds. This alone makes 2011 special for me. Not just because it’s the start of a series that I am actually following through on, but because it makes me excited to get more titles under my belt and improve, improve, improve. It shows that I am capable of a lot once I brush away all the excuses and self-doubt I’ve incurred over the years. And I’m only going to get better.
• cut ties with poisonous people. Just completely wash my hands of those who made me upset more than happy and whose motives I was always questioning. It was painful at first but now I can easily say I have no one in my life that I consider an emotional vampire.
• saying “no”. At work and to people in general. Attempting to stop being such a pushover.
• Japan trip. This was the first vacation Roy and I ever took together - just the two of us. We planned and saved and navigated our way through Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo by just using the trains and subways. We braved monkeys, Tokyo Game Show and a typhoon. We ate at places 3x older than America. It still feels like a dream.
• podcasts! This year felt like the Year of the Podcast for me. I started some, quit some, and finally settled on My Fair Hunter, which I run with Roy. The initial popularity of MFH gave me my first taste of the Greater Internet Dickward Theory. People were talking, praising, and bitching about us on forums! So weird. After all the dust settled, I can honestly say that I love our viewers, our commenters, the people who are eager to play with us. The show is a lot of fun to do and I am so happy to be a part of it.
• survived a week long power outage. Going an entire week without hot water, electricity and the Internet was simultaneously freeing and exhausting. Our fridge still stinks.
• dreaming big. It seemed like this year was finally the year that I woke myself up and realized that it’s ok to be dissatisfied with the status quo. I started to give myself permission to dream big.

• take on more projects. Get involved with more creative people.
• more self-improvement. This shouldn’t be hard since I am basically addicted to learning. But still important.
• read and speak more Japanese. It’s sad how fluent I was when I lived in Osaka and now I find myself struggling to think of the right words to say to my mom. And kanji. Argh.
• start a new language.
• wake up and go to bed earlier.
• stop self-sabotaging!!! It’s okay for things to go right.
• read more. I just got a Kindle and all but devoured the first Hunger Games book. I forgot how good it feels to read.
• open myself for commissions and re-work my websites. Re-design Kotowari.