Goodbye, 2012! Hellooooo, 2013!

2012 was a much better year than I expected it to be, when it started! Most years, I've felt pretty "meh" at the end, and describing it as a crap year, hoping for better from the upcoming year. This year, sticking with the whole "hope for better", but... 2012 was a good year for me!

Buckle in, because this post might get a bit long. Here's a breakdown of 2012 in my corner of the world:

I took part in Karaoke Ring of Death for the first (and, so far, only) time!

That same month, I decided to review an album, 

because I kind of missed writing review posts. 

Then, at the beginning of February, I decided that I wanted to blog every day

for an entire year. It only took about two months to fail....

For a little while, burritos were king. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

I was the burrito king, making a few dozen at a time, then freezing/reheating.

Gay marriage was legalized in Washington -- by lawmakers, and later by voters!

I still stand by my offer to officiate ceremonies whenever needed, too -- for all couples,

gay, straight, and anything else that Washington state allows.

I started working on Project: SAMSON, which got shelved a little while ago.

Still plan on putting it out, but I'm working on other things soon. It had an artist, and

then I lost touch with that artist. Someone else took an interest, and I haven't

really heard from her since. So, you know... shelving it made sense.

The ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE STARTED... or not. The tastebud apocalypse

definitely happened, though -- the idea for the 5-Alarm Fire Burger was born!

The Wall of Geek started small in March(left),
and has gotten much bigger now (right)!

Now, it's got one of my autographed HEROES pictures, two Doctor Who posters,

the box from my Kindle, a framed panel of Parallax beating Superman from DC's

Zero Hour (I think), a dreamcatcher that I've had for years, and 

the koi that Jynni drew for my birthday, just before we started dating.

I took a blog meme from The Tsaritsa Sez, one of my favorite People From The Internet!

Some random artist on the bus to Olympia sketched me.

We talked for a bit, he let me take a picture of the sketch

because I liked it, and I told him that I was looking for

an artist. Unfortunately, I didn't have a card, and he didn't

reach out, here on the site.

Also, I might have made a Thing. But, you know, probably not.

I did find out that wrong numbers can be fun, and had a 

bad experience with some plumbers.

With help from the Hogabooms, I even got to peer into space

and take pictures of Saturn through a telescope. Even now,

looking back at the blurry pictures of a planet that is an

unimaginable distance away, it's humbling. The universe is amazing.

I've become part of a regular D&D group, too! We've been meeting at least once

or twice a month since this summer, and have a pretty good storyline going!

I came in to my own as a pretty great cook this year, too.

With recipes and without, I made some excellent stuff -- even

baking, which is something I thought I was incapable of doing well.

Behold, the collage of deliciousness!

1) Two-cheese baked chicken

2) Steak breakfast burritos

3) Sweet and sour steak

4) Banana bread

5) Sun Chip chicken

6) Sweet chili & garlic steak cuts

7) Coconut chicken curry tacos

Not pictured: Pepperoni pizza

And I got my writing out there, too! I started writing the occasional post for 

Grays Harbor Down back in May, applied for a job as a reporter, and got some articles

about realty in a local free monthly newspaper, working with a realtor friend.

I wrote a "memorial" for an online community that abruptly disappeared, and started

WHO KILLED HERMES?, a novel that I'm always excited to write about

Lastly, I joined the world of comic book blogging with a Blue Devil blog!

The most important thing that happened this year, though, was that I fell in love. I met Jynni in May after having known her dad for years. We started dating at the end of July, and even though it's long-distance, we're closer every day. Four days in, her 8 year old brother asked if Jynni was going to get me an engagement ring.

It's been nine months since we started talking daily, and seven months since we started dating. Some people might consider it a bit early to be as confident as I am, but I can see this relationship lasting for a while. Her daughter adores me, and we want so many of the same things out of life. Considering everything this relationship has going for it, I can overlook the fact that she thinks Michelangelo is a more awesome Ninja Turtle than Donatello.

THAT was my 2012. I'm excited for 2013! There are already plans in the works, like being the minister for Jim and Wendy's wedding in a few days!

What do you have planned for 2013?

To the Danger Room, my X-Men!

"I can't decide what's worse: having a forum but nothing to say
or having something to say but no forum."

-Lorraine from Late to the Party

This is really the only quote that fits. I've had internet for about a week and a half, and also haven't blogged in almost that long. I've just had little to nothing to say, so here's the low-down on what's happened lately:

• I'm currently in Olympia to see Jim & Wendy, and to make a short stop at Danger Room Comics, one of the best comic shops I've dealt with
• Speaking of Danger Room Comics, I've started the Sympathy for the Devil blog! If you haven't checked it out, it's for the DC Comics character Blue Devil, because I think he's awesome, and previously had next to no representation online!
• WORKING MY ASS OFF (figuratively)
• Exercising by HIKING MY ASS OFF (not quite literally yet)
• Reading because I just started a free trial of Amazon Prime
• Writing and researching articles for a local free monthly paper, to get some exposure
• World-building and writing Who Killed Hermes?

There's probably more stuff to mention, but it's midnight while I'm typing this up, and I've been up since 6am -- after having only gotten 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night. Really, I'm surprised that I can words together string to coherent make sentences.

Oh, yeah, I should probably mention the whole "having internet now" thing.

A week or two ago, my roommate had a friend with some issues where he was staying. She offered him our couch to crash on for a few days, and he decided to have his internet and TV service moved to our place so he didn't have to be without. When he left, he decided to leave it as long as we keep the bill paid, which my roommate is doing since she's working again. Essentially, I have internet again without having to pay the bill for it -- huzzah! Feels good, man.