A new year is traditionally a time to reflect on the year gone by, the changes that have occurred and the goals for the year head. For convenience I have separated this into categories.
Work
2013
Last year I discovered the job security has apparently gone the way of the dodo. As this isn’t an employment blog, I’ll leave it at that.
2014’s aims
To keep gainful employment and not have to resort to selling my rear to Mexican sailors to pay the rent.
Health
2013
I beat cancer again, I’m starting to think it’s the Mike Marshall of the illness world. I also walked away from a car crash relatively unharmed so I’m calling last year a win.
2014’s aims
To continue my 35 year long streak of being STI free.
Romance
2013
Not a winning category, let’s just move swiftly on!
2014’s aims
To be attending sex addiction therapy sessions with my nudist, Rachel Bilson lookalike wife. A more realistic aim may be to not get RSI, Judy Finnigan’s absence from TV will surely help achieve this goal.
Friends
2013
I’ve met some really great people, both in person and online. This last year has really opened my eyes to just how diverse the hobby community is, despite that diversity I can honestly say that there have been very few people that I haven’t liked (I’m actually struggling to think of more than one!).
2014’s aims
I am rubbish at keeping in touch with people, it’s always on my list of things to do but it never seems to make it all the way to the top. This year I’m going to try and make regular contact with people that I want to keep in touch with. If you receive an email in the next few days, I do care what’s going on in your life and want to try and make the effort to find out what that is. I also want to try and get down to London at some point and play a game of something with Richi P (@doctorloxley), we seem very similar in the way we approach things so it’d be interesting to see how far that extends.
Gaming
2013
Last year was a real rollercoaster for me with the Malifaux 2nd edition play-testing, etc. That wasn’t a happy time for me but where life takes with one hand, it gives back with the other. I discovered (with help) a lot of really good games and got to play games with people that I wouldn’t have previously had the chance to. This also made me realise how insignificant games are in the grand scheme of things, friends will be friends whatever is happening in the background. That being said, they are great for meeting new people as our first steps into the world of D&D have shown me.
2014’s aims
My main aim is to play all of the games that I have already bought and start making a bit of progress through my OG Games wish list. There’s currently a couple of grand’s worth of stuff on that list and some of them I really want to get my hands on (e.g. season 2 of Zombicide and Battle Lore 2nd edition). For the most part it will be more of the same though, no need to fix what isn’t broken.
Hobby
2013
With the move away from Malifaux I became a bit lost in the latter half of the year and really lost my motivation to paint. I started painting a 40k army (never thought I’d be saying that!) however that has been held up significantly by Royal Mail losing most of it (bastards!). I have also found my way a little bit by working on a ‘different’ board for this year’s Vapnartak (I’ve been taking WIP pics throughout that project so a step by step blog will come when it’s finished).
2014’s aims
I really want to get back to enjoying my hobby, I used to chomp at the bit waiting to get home to get started and that enthusiasm hasn’t been there in recent months. I’ve really enjoyed the 40k stuff that I’ve painted so far so am hoping the replacement army that is being sent to me reignites that passion for painting.
Soulstone Train
2013
Last year we evolved and matured a lot as a podcast, this is incredibly noticeable when we get new people in (it’s a sad day for humanity when I’m the sensible one in the room). We have added some new faces to our ranks and widened the scope quite a bit. For me SST was always about the community side of the hobby and it really has become an inclusive project for the local community (and wider thanks to our guest sections). In the early days we struggled to balance the recording and drinking aspects of SST and we finally seem to have hit that level.
2014’s aims
So many plans are swimming round my head, some are already in the works and some may or may not happen. One thing that I’m really keen on doing is giving people a little peek behind the curtain of how our recordings happen. So little of the chaos makes in into the final episodes and it could be funny to let people see how much each turd gets polished before it is released. This may well utilise our old YouTube channel, I’m not quite sure yet. Another thing I’d really like to do is collaborate with some other podcast, there are a few out there with a similar mentality that could make for interesting listening. There are also other plans in motion that we’re not going to give too much away about including a special something for Vapnartak. I can reveal what our next episode is likely to cover as we have Memoir ’44 and Dust Tactics to review. I would suggest not even waiting for the episode, just order Memoir ’44 now, you’ll be glad you did.
Well, that’s been my year in a nut shell and despite some fairly significant lows, overall it’s been a pretty good year.
I hope everyone had a good new year and let’s hope that 2014 is good for everyone.
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