What 2006 Will Bring...

Inspired by my brother's post looking back at 2005 and always a fan of sibling rivalry, I decided to one up him by not looking at what happen last but by writing about what I want to accomplish this coming year.

I mean don't get me wrong I did do a lot in 2005, but no point in dwelling on either the positives or the negatives of last year. Let us leave it at I made it through 2005 with my health, my sense of humor and a decent GPA.

2006 should be an interesting year and my goals my seem lofty, but that is why they are goals...to motivate me.

First and foremost I plan on starting and finishing my thesis, pursuant to completing a Master of Arts in Digital Storytelling from Ball State University. This is by far my number one priority for 2006. The one sentence that I wrote last semester will consume a large part of my life for the next year and I truly do look forward to it.

Next, I want to continue running and I want to take it to the next level. I have decided to start training for and want to try to complete a marathon this year. I am thinking the Chicago marathon on October 22 is my best bet, but that is still up in the air. I also want to try to run in the Columbus Distance Classic half marathon and the YMCA Muncie Mini Marathon. Again who knows if my life will allow me to run in all of those races, but as I mentioned these goals are lofty.

I also want to travel. I have always been busy with work and school and everything and I have really not traveled as much as I would have liked to have by this point. So I am going to try to fix that. One of my longtime friends, Kevin, and I are already planning on heading over to Germany during my spring break. So far our general idea is to hang out in Frankfurt for a while and maybe also hit up Berlin and Prague. It is still in the very early planning stages. I also want to head to Baltimore/Washington area again for a long weekend to hangout with my Dad and another longtime friend, Glenn. And I can even guess where I'll travel to during the summer or next fall. I can only plan a trip or two at a time.

Another thing I'd like to do this year is simply meet more people and learn more about people. I tend to get comfortable with a very small group of very close friends and keep everybody else at a distance. I think I want to meet more people and I want to try to figuratively kiss the prettiest girl, because you'll never regret trying to kiss the prettiest girl and getting shot down. But you'll always wonder what if...? That is not directed at any girl in particular. I just think I need to try something different.

I also have about a dozen books I'd like to read and a number of projects I'd like to work on over the next year, but those are boring and I think I'll put those in different lists. So look for a reading list and a things I'm working on list to be up here soon. Anyway, if you wasted your time reading all the way down to here...I think you realized that I also need to work on my writing this year.