Looking Ahead to 2022

[€uroMeinke]

After the bump that was 2019 and 2020, I'm hoping I can actually make good on some intentions for the New Year - Here are 22 things I hope to do in 2022:

1) Spend the night in a place I’ve never been before - Maybe a planned trip somewhere, maybe a spontaneous overnight, maybe I'm kidnapped - all count towards this goal.

2) Read Ulysses before Bloomsday - I have a friend I'm doing this with, something I've wanted to read, but never wanted to do it alone.

3) Post a diary entry at least once a week - Something I've been doing on Facebook/Instagram/My Blog and it keeps me focused and I think connected.

4) Do something creative daily (write, draw, paint, build, make) - to realize this one I hope to set aside 20 minutes a day to do something, that makes it a little more accountable.

5) Translate my fathers journal - he wrote a journal after WW2 about his war experience, I started last year, but need to finish.

6) Visit the Getty Villa - I haven't been since the new Getty opened, so its long overdue

7) Send Cards to friends & family - In an effort to retain and maintain my friendships, I hope this will at least make a physical manifestation of things that have been all too virtual.

8) Get hearing aids - Recently got tested, hearings gotten worse, hearing aides gotten better (and maybe cheaper) awaiting my referral

9) Participate in philosophy groups (podcasts, social media, readings) - Really enjoying some of the public philosophy that's out there now and want to play (and maybe find some new friends).

10) visit a museum or gallery I haven’t been before (Jurassic technology, MOLAA, Hammer) - There are dozens of places I haven't been to yet and it seems many are open again - hopefully long enough to cross this one off the list.

11) Share a poem every month - Doesn't have to be something I've written, but there's a lot of good stuff out there and this keeps me both looking and playing.

12) Find creative accountability partners (groups, individuals, apps) - I tend to need someone else to answer to to make any progress on my own projects, looking at all options and this may be critical path for other goals on the list.

13) Use Duolingo to practice German - Translating my father's journal will help, but I like the daily interactions that Duolingo requires. I'd also like to pick up French again, but this will do for now.

14) Rip 100 singles or other vinyl that never made it to streaming - I continually find gaps in our online music collection, and there are thousands of records in our garage, so time to rip some of the good ones.

15) Scan family photographs and artifacts - Shoe boxes, muffin tins, carousels, I need to digitize these things to preserve tham and share them with friends and family.

16) Get some fun/nice shirts - I work from home, but I want a few nice things I can wear every now and then so I can feel like I can out in the world.

17) Reach out to any friend I haven’t heard from in a month - I'm lousy at keeping up my end of the friendship bargain, so I hope this will help me change that.

18) Write a thank you to anyone who inspires me - People like to be recognized, many people don't get the recognition they deserve, so this is my chance to write some fan mail.

19) Get a short bookcase for the office - My desk is piled with books and notebooks reducing the functional work space - I'll need to do before I can do the vinyl ripping or photo scanning.

20) Prepare at least one new “healthy” meal each week - We've done various meal services and I have my own easy go-tos, but I want to at least try something new each week that I don't feel guilty about.

21) Complete our will - I think we're in year 2 of postponing this, don't have children, but lot's of pets that have expectations of a certain lifestyle.

22) Road-trip to someplace we haven’t been to before - self explanatory, might even spend the night somewhere I haven't been before so I can cross two off the list

So those are mine for 2022, anyone else so bold as to make make some plans or state some intentions?

[€uroMeinke]

So wrapping up the year, here’s how I did:

1) Spend the night in a place I’ve never been before - Maybe a planned trip somewhere, maybe a spontaneous overnight, maybe I'm kidnapped - all count.

check: beat retreat in a rental house in Indio, was hoping something better, but maybe next year.

2) Read Ulysses before Bloomsday - I have a friend I'm doing this with, something I've wanted to read, but never wanted to do it alone.

check: thanks to audio books this made the task achievable

3) Post a diary entry at least once a week - Something I've been doing on Facebook/Instagram/My Blog and it keeps me focused and I think connected.

yeah, not once a week but 22 times over the course of the year? So more than monthly not quite fortnightly - it’s a win, but room for improvement in 2023

4) Do something creative daily (write, draw, paint, build, make) - to realize this one I hope to set aside 20 minutes a day to do something, that makes it a little more accountable.

these ambiguous goals always fail, not enough meat to track, so fail for this instance

5) Translate my fathers journal - he wrote a journal after WW2 about his war experience, I started last year, but need to finish.

Made some progress but I’m still maybe only 20% there, so partial and retread for next year

6) Visit the Getty Villa -
Nope - I haven't been since the new Getty opened, so its long overdue

try again in 2023

7) Send Cards to friends & family - In an effort to retain and maintain my friendships, I hope this will at least make a physical manifestation of things that have been all too virtual.

I started strong but even after getting Xmas cards well in advance they remain unsent

8) Get hearing aids - Recently got tested, hearings gotten worse, hearing aides gotten better (and maybe cheaper) awaiting my referral.

I really tried to do this and just learned about how much of an insurance scam the whole thing is, will do this early next year with a fresh medical spending account.

9) Participate in philosophy groups (podcasts, social media, readings) - Really enjoying some of the public philosophy that's out there now and want to play (and maybe find some new friends).

found some awesome podcasts (check out Overthink and the Panpsycaat), and even attended a philosophy conference (Philosophy and Non-monogamies) so this one’s a win+

10) visit a museum or gallery I haven’t been before (Jurassic technology, MOLAA, Hammer) - There are dozens of places I haven't been to yet and it seems many are open again - hopefully long enough to cross this one off the list.

somehow I barely made this by seeing Nadia Lee Cohen at Jeffery Dietch, great space great show.

11) Share a poem every month - Doesn't have to be something I've written, but there's a lot of good stuff out there and this keeps me both looking and playing.

Shared a few, but been consuming more poetry than sharing, so fail on this but a soft fail.

12) Find creative accountability partners (groups, individuals, apps) - I tend to need someone else to answer to to make any progress on my own projects, looking at all options and this may be critical path for other goals on the list.

Still didn’t do this, but thinking a lot about social media and community vs brand identity - I think the key is focusing on finding community offline or online that will get me to this goal - ie find my audience.

13) Use Duolingo to practice German - Translating my father's journal will help, but I like the daily interactions that Duolingo requires. I'd also like to pick up French again, but this will do for now.

Duolingo’s gamification may be to much for me, find I’m learning more German translating my father’s diary than Duo, but I really want to be more multilingual so maybe just need to find some other tools

14) Rip 100 singles or other vinyl that never made it to streaming - I continually find gaps in our online music collection, and there are thousands of records in our garage, so time to rip some of the good ones.

Nope

15) Scan family photographs and artifacts - Shoe boxes, muffin tins, carousels, I need to digitize these things to preserve tham and share them with friends and family.

Also nope

16) Get some fun/nice shirts - I work from home, but I want a few nice things I can wear every now and then so I can feel like I can out in the world.

Did this, and now I’m back in the office so win win.

17) Reach out to any friend I haven’t heard from in a month - I'm lousy at keeping up my end of the friendship bargain, so I hope this will help me change that.

So so, time slips by way too fast and social media keeps creating the illusion of connection that makes me forget how long it’s been.

18) Write a thank you to anyone who inspires me - People like to be recognized, many people don't get the recognition they deserve, so this is my chance to write some fan mail.

Actually doing better than expected on this, for some reason my introversion has not interfered with me reaching out to strangers and saying thanks for the things they have written or done.

19) Get a short bookcase for the office - My desk is piled with books and notebooks reducing the functional work space - I'll need to do before I can do the vinyl ripping or photo scanning.

Done, but it did not result in other predicted activities.

20) Prepare at least one new “healthy” meal each week - We've done various meal services and I have my own easy go-tos, but I want to at least try something new each week that I don't feel guilty about.

Been cooking more, not sure how “healthy” I’m getting, but certainly better at kitchen improvisations - so as long as the ingredients at had are healthy…

21) Complete our will - I think we're in year 2 of postponing this, don't have children, but lot's of pets that have expectations of a certain lifestyle.

Another nope - partly because I didn’t like the attorney we initially engaged (and retained) for this, but I really need to get this done, so go through with it or find another attorney.

22) Road-trip to someplace we haven’t been to before - self explanatory, might even spend the night somewhere I haven't been before so I can cross two off the list.

Still haven’t ventured on the road this year, travel is still complicated hopefully I can do this in 2023.