How can I explain that there are no such things as objective truth and objective reality, without the hearer writing me off as “post-modern” or some other label?

It was a year.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

• Went to Hamilton.
• Got asked to play three gigs.
• Recorded some songs.
• Made some short-and-medium-term goals that I felt good about.
• Some other things.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for the next year?

Yes. They were:

1. Stay at my boring office job (and do it well). I did this.
2. Save at least NZ$15,000.00 (for future travel plans). I almost did this.
3. Keep writing songs and playing shows. I did this and enjoyed it quite a lot.
4. Keep writing fiction, and try to get at least one story published. I didn’t do this.
5. Live deliberately – I’m gonna kick this year’s ass! I kicked it good.

By way of resolutions, I have a few overarching themes for the year, which are:

1. Give the music career all I’ve got.
2. Work on my relationships and interpersonal skills.
3. Keep travelling as much as is practical.

I’ve learned that vague resolutions aren’t enough to make me get stuff done. I now aim to set clear goals that are achievable but still challenging. Right now, they are:

1. Make enough money each week to cover my living costs (but I’m allowed a bit of a holiday after I finish my job).
2. End the year with at least half of my current savings intact.
3. Write a song every week (starting in February when I become unemployed).
4. Spend three days per week working on my music career in some way (eg writing songs, performing, promoting, managing)
5. Get 100 fans-of-my-band on Facebook.
6. Finish and release the E.P.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No-one particularly close.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My grandmother, and my other grandmother’s sister.

5. What countries did you visit?

Does the North Island count?

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

More time to do the things that excite me. More friends. More time with my existing friends. I’d also like to make some money from music.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched in your memory, and why?

• May 3rd: it was my birthday, yes.
• November 10th: marked one year at my job.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

It’s hard to choose between:

• Basically becoming a whole lot more confident
• Deciding to stop pretending to myself that I was a Christian / trying to explain this to my parents
• Staying in a full-time job when everything in me demanded adventure
• Realising the importance of  friendship, and taking some halting steps toward becoming better at it
• Reaching a few developmental/social milestones.
• Deciding to pursue a music career, and doing so

9. What was your biggest failure of the year?

Either not writing any fiction, or not being more outgoing. But I don’t feel bad about either of those.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My guitar amp, and all those plane, train, bus and ferry tickets.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Matt, Christina, Ray, Kat, Rod and various others were particularly supportive.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

I can’t think of anyone.

14. Where did most of your money go?

In order:

• Savings
• Rent/Living costs
• Vehicle expenses (including the bus to work)
• Travelling around the country
• Drinkin’ and gamblin’ and cursin’ and financin’ revolutions

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

• Travel
• My music career
• The changing music business
• Minimalism
• Personal finance
• Personal growth
• Creative Commons / copyleft / copyright reform etc.

16. What song will always remind of you of 2009?

Particles, one of mine.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?

Happier.

b) fatter or thinner?

About the same. Probably fitter.

c) richer or poorer?

Richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Writing, songwriting, performing, meeting new people, having deep & meaningful conversations, dating.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Getting up late, driving to work.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

In Nelson, with my family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

No, but I feel like I increased my capacity to love, or something.

22. What was your favourite TV programme?

I don’t care enough about them to choose.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I still ain’t hate nobody.

24. What was the best book you read?

The best few were:

• The Truth about Stories: a Native Narrative, by Thomas King
• The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck (re-read)
• The Turning, by Tim Winton

My absolute favourite is Blue Highways: A Journey Across America, by William Least Heat-Moon, but I’m still reading that.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Fanfarlo! Also Feist, Bon Iver, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Andrew Bird.

26. What did you want and get?

• A few opportunities to play my songs for an audience
• Enough song ideas, motivation and funding to record a four track E.P.
• Motivation
• New experiences

27. What did you want and not get?

• A prize in a short story competition I entered, ha
• A relationship

28. What was your favourite film of this year?

The Visitor. It is lovely. Also Cédric Klapisch’s Paris.

29. What did you do on your birthday and how old did you turn?

I did some things that I enjoyed very much. I turned twenty-six.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

If the perfect band had materialised and begged me to lead them to greatness.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

Classic and understated.

32. What kept you sane?

Music, crossing off the days on the calendar, daydreaming about travel.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Marion Cotillard or Leslie Feist or Jolie Holland.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The whole copyright thing.

35. Who did you miss?

For the most part, I was able to spend enough time with people that I didn’t really miss them.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Probably Harley Williams.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

I can make things happen.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Much of http://cavalcadesmusic.com/category/lyrics/ is appropriate.

I’ve decided to tidy up this site and refine its focus. Perhaps I’ll even start blogging again!

This site has the following functions:

1. A home for my personal blog (minus content that should live on Twitter, Facebook etc.)
2. A point of contact, and source of background information for clients of my freelance writing business (which, incidentally, I’m hoping to expand)
3. A portfolio for my creative writing

Summary of changes:

• Created a Writing Services page (content to be improved later)
• Added a contact form to the Writing Services page
• Updated the About page (further improvements to be made later)
• Removed the unnecessary front page
• Removed all of my old blog posts except for the Poems and Short Stories.
• Hid the Poems and Stories categories from the front page
• Tidied up the sidebar
• Revised the licence text in the footer

Changes I’m thinking about implementing:

• Adding my twitter feed to the sidebar
• Changing the theme

All the cool kids are doing this, and I’m jumping on the bandwagon before it gets mainstream. Here is a brief summary of things I accomplished last year, ordered by how much I think they affected me:

1. Did the last four English courses towards a Graduate Diploma in Arts, and got an A minus in each of them. This involved a reasonable amount of creative writing, including a poetry portfolio (A+), two short stories of around 4000 words each (B+ and A+, respectively) and a few other bits and pieces that weren’t assessed.
2. Went on a couple of actual dates with actual women.
3. Started a band, of sorts, wrote a couple of songs and performed them at an open mic night.
4. Wrote some music for my sister’s wedding ceremony.
5. Read one of my stories to a class of seven-and-eight-year-olds.
6. Came third in a short story competition.
7. Left a part-time job I wasn’t very good at (but it was a good experience, and I’m still friends with my former bosses).
8. Left a part-time job I was reasonably good at, in order to start full-time work.
9. Did some freelance copywriting work.
10. Started a full-time job as a technical writer, for the purposes of gaining money and experience.
11. Tried a cigar.
12. Switched from Linux to Apple, and (kind of simultaneously) from desktop to laptop.
13. Decided I look better with a beard.
14. Made my own beret.
15. Drew a few weird comic strips.

As for 2009: well, I have a few resolutions:

1. Stay at my boring office job (and do it well) 
2. Save at least NZ$15,000.00 (for future travel plans)
3. Keep writing songs and playing shows 
4. Keep writing fiction, and try to get at least one story published. 
5. Live deliberately – I’m gonna kick this year’s ass!