2014 – The Year That Was!

So here it is, the end of 2014.  I know this is an arbitrary date and every tomorrow is the start of a new year, but it’s a nice time to take stock and look around. To see where you are and check in from that place. So here goes.

I’ve written 115,000 words or so – fiction and non-fiction (and a good deal of that has actually been published). I also got back to some roots by writing a script (and a big thank you to Matthew for kicking may ass into gear on this one). This year I want to write more. Specifically more fiction but I’m setting a few goals for myself. I’m going to have regular updates here on the blog. Mondays will be Movie Mondays and I’ll post reviews of the films I’ve seen. Thursdays will be for books, and I’ll get in a review every Thursday of some piece of literature or other. There will also be personal updates and travel pieces and whatever else I think of, but those two things, for sure, will happen weekly.

I won several awards. I got one for writing the Best Local Column-Magazine by the Nevada Press Association. I also won best foreign teacher and best teacher in the department at the university.

I read some books (74 to be precise). For the next year, I discovered an interesting reading challenge. I’ll see how far I get on that – the books will be tagged as 2015 Reading Challenge on Goodreads. Of course, if you’re not already my friend there, please join me.

I traveled. Aside from trips around Lithuania, I went to London for science fiction, Paris for Disneyland, Riga for the day, Helsinki for fun and Vaasa for a wedding. Oh yeah, and Vegas for my eldest niece’s Bat Mitzvah. Hoping to get some much needed travel in the coming year, particularly to Los Angeles for JR and Natasha‘s wedding.

I was the MC/Auctioneer for a charity event to raise money for breast cancer screenings.

I reconnected with old friends this year and made new ones. I hope this trend continues.

I’ve seen friends go through amazing amounts of personal growth and deal with horrendous personal tragedies. I’ve been there when I could be, emotionally or physically. I’ve been a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, an idea sounding board. And I’ve had friends be all of these things for me.

Thank you all for being here. You make my world a brighter place.

And then there’s this: The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.