Friday, December 31, 2010

Looking Forward to an Odd Year

I get crazy every year between the Christmas holiday and the New Year. It always seems to pass in such a frenzied blur. Resolutions are always dancing in my head and I usually have the notion that I'm going to get a head start on one or two of them so that I'll already be in the habit by the time the new year has arrived.

On that note: fail.

Oh well, as I told a friend today, calendars are a figment of the human imagination, and tomorrow is another day. We can make resolutions in March, or September. Same difference.

As a means of measuring time though, I have noticed a trend over the past 20 years or so, and perhaps it's just a fluke, but I tend to have a happier life during odd-numbered years compared to even-numbered years. Again, may purely be a figment of my imagination.

In 1983 I went to live in London and it was one of the happiest years I've ever had. In 1984 I got booted out of England and landed back in the US where I promptly had my wallet stolen from a hotel room just as I was trying to make a fresh start.

In 1985 I went back to college to try and wrap up a real degree in something, and in 1987 I got my diploma.

In 1988 I had my heart broken and in 1989 I moved away to Denver for another fresh start. Great times that year.

1990 was the best and the worst of life. That is the year I met txrad but that event ushered in a tempestuous fury in my personal life. Not one of my better years.

1991 is when txrad and I moved in together in Los Angeles and I found work... real work, and that was the germination of a career that lives on 20 years later.

Major elections are always held in even-numbered years. And you know where that usually puts me. 2000 got us Bushwhacked.

This just keeps going.

Fast forward to 2006 when the year ended with my own advertising company in debt, no clients, and no source of income.

2007 was a fabulous year job-wise, but only for that year.

2008 began with unemployment for both of us and txrad being hospitalized with a severe concussion after a fall. I did find work again in 2008 so it wasn't totally bad.

2010 came in with me smashing my face to bits and having major surgery for the first time in my life. Then I turned 50 while I was recovering. And just recently, I filed for bankruptcy. 2010 will not be missed.

Sometimes I want to do something symbolic before the close of a year just to get a situation, a part of my life, behind me. I really wanted to dissolve the corporate entity I started in 2004 -- the entity which died in 2006 and was a major player in my need to file bankruptcy.

In Texas, this is a 2-step process. The Texas Two Step requires submitting a form to the state requesting proof that you have paid your fees to the state and have no outstanding liabilities to the state. Then when you receive the supporting document, that has to be mailed to the Secretary of State with another form to legally have a corporation declared deceased.

I am still waiting on step one to be completed, so apparently I will be dragging this nasty rotting carcass into 2011. So be it. One of the first of many great things to happen in 2011 will be killing off that thing.

Right off the bat though, my home office will be getting a paint job. Nothing says fresh new outlook like a coat of paint!

And I'm starting off this odd-numbered year with 9 days off from work. I know how to do this right!

What's on your agenda for 2011?

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