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2014: The Year in Review

I've been dreading this. My 2014 resolutions were made pretty explicitly and pretty publicly in this January blog post. Since then, they've been in the back of my mind, mostly in that, "Oh yeah...I should do that..." sort of way. Some I've acted on, some I haven't.

So, since I'm a bullet-point kind of guy, and this is the season for making lists and checking them twice, let's look back and see how well (or poorly) I did with my 2014 resolutions:

  • Read 52 Books: Done. This will happen. I've read 51 books so far and will certainly read one more before 12/31. For a full account of my 2014 reading, check out my GoodReads page: https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/1095620 (As a side note, I should mentioned that I'd also resolved that at least half the books I read in 2014 would be by authors who are women. I ended up reading 27). 
  • Paint 52 Paintings: Not done. Not even close. I completed 15 paintings in 2014. I'll do better in 2015. I promise.
  • Exercise Every Day: Not done. This didn't happen either. While I do exercise most days, often, and semi-regularly, I've yet to nail it every day.
  • Eat More Fruits and Vegetables: Done. I've eaten marginally more fruits and vegetables, mostly thanks to Tutti Jackson's fruit salads and regular stops at Northstar Cafe (see also Beechwold Salad).
  • Write at Least Eight Reviews for Columbus Underground: Not done. I wrote seven. You can see them here: http://www.columbusunderground.com/author/jeff-r Realistically, I still have time slip an eighth one in. I really did like the Now-Ism show at Pizzuti Collection. Maybe I'll write about that.
  • Keep Up With My Social Medias: Done. I did reasonably well here. I could probably stand to improve my Pinterest presence, but overall I think I'm mostly staying in the game.
  • Record With Jim Diamond in Detroit: Not done. This didn't happen. We'll roll it over onto the 2015 list.
  • Take a Continuing Education Class at CCAD: Not done. See above
  • Fix My Scooter: Done. This happened! For the first time in probably five years I rode my long neglected 1965 Vespa 125 to work. Here's it is, humming along on Vine https://vine.co/v/Mx1jUOKz7EB (In related news, I also won a (running) scooter at the Scoot-A-Que raffle. All in all it was a good year on the scooter front. Next up? Win a garage!).
  • Rake Leaves: Not done. LOL. Seriously. Not one leaf was raked; not the old 2013 leaves and not the new 2014 leaves.
  • Get a New Car: Well, new to me! Done. There's been talk around our house of retiring the Saab. It's been spending a lot of time in the shop and presenting a lot of niggling issues that make it a hassle to drive. I'd been "informally" looking for something in a little better shape, and when a friend mentioned she was getting rid of her 2000 Saturn, I snatched it up. I know it's not the coolest car in the world, but when you've got multiple vintage Vespas (see above), you don't really have to sweat how cool your car is.
  • Paint the Living Room Dining Room, Stairwell and Hallway: Not done. LOL. In fairness I took a week off in the spring with the intention of doing this. Apparently I got side-tracked. We'll add it to 2015.
  • Enroll in a Krav Maga Self-Defense Class: Not done. We'll add it to 2015.
  • Establish a Primary Care Physician: Done. This happened! For the first time in my adult life I have a PCP. That means regular check-ups, physicals, bloodwork and paper gowns!
  • Get All Those Horrid Tests Men My Age Get: Done. Completed without comment.
  • Listen to More (New) Music: Done. Well, more for me, which isn't a lot. For the last few years I'd paid very little attention to music and was kind of starting to miss it. This year I started listening to more music; not a lot, but more (baby steps).
  • Buy More Local Music: Done. Thanks to Connections and Lydia Loveless I've purchased more local music in 2014 than I have in the previous 20 years combined!
  • Take My Lovely Wife Out More: Done, though I got this one backwards (she takes me out). Still, we got to go out a lot and do a lot of fun things!
  • Talk My Lovely Wife Into a Trip To Ireland: Done. I don't know that I really talked her into this (it was more like a tough week at work and a desperate need for a vacation forced her hand). Still, we did go to Ireland. You can read what I learned here: http://onsummit.blogspot.com/2014/05/10-things-i-learned-in-ireland.html
  • Barring That - Take Some Sort of Travel Vacation!: Done. I did however talk her into going to New York to see the Jeff Koons retrospective at the Whitney!
  • Listen More: Done. I think I do! The truth is I'm so determined to not be one of those awful, insufferable, close-minded, intolerant old people that I probably spend more time on intentional self-improvement now than I ever have in the past.
  • Be More Patient: Done. See above.
  • Be More Understanding: Done. See above.
  • Ask More Questions: Done. See above.
  • Ask Better Questions: Done. See above.
  • Leave Things Better Than I Found Them: Done. Isn't that why we're here?
So, what's the finally tally:

26 resolutions presented.
18 completed
8 incomplete

That's a solid C, right? Really, considering how hard life can be sometimes, I'll take it.

Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

We'll see you in 2015!





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