“Which way you ought to go depends on where you want to get to...” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Happy New Year!

Holy cow, how did 2019 get here so darn fast? I remember 2018 like it was just a few weeks ago!... (ha, bad joke!) I swear I say this every year. 

View of Mannheim from Ludwigshafen

Anyway, I've made a personal tradition of making a "Year in Review" post to  remember what happened each year. I'm sure when I'm older and my memory starts to fade, I'll appreciate that I did this for myself. 

Not that long ago, I heard something to the effect that podcasts are people talking to themselves, because no one was listening. In a lot of ways, I feel this is true of my blog as well, but I'm totally ok with that. I am not complaining. I don't advertise anything and on occasion, I will post the link up when I've written something, but heck, even I forget to look at it!

I won't lie and say that life always been amazing and wonderful, especially in this last year, but I CAN say that I feel gratitude for the ups and downs that made me grow and learn more about myself , for better or worse. I'm a perpetual work in progress, what can I say?

Here are some of the highlights of 2018:

Travel: 

1.  A two week sailing adventure on the Atlantic. Ok, so maybe it was more motoring through the ICW, but still... (To read more about it, you can go here). 

2.  Mammoth for snowboarding in brand new gear! (Translation: I'm obligated to continue with that sport for at least another 5 to 10 years, my body willing!) 

3.  Road trip to the Bay area to see old friends, meet new additions to the family, see the coast and a castle

4.  Crossed the pond to explore some of Europe (post will be coming soon-ish) 

Literary journey:

After grad school, I've made a point to read more for enjoyment. It was something I had always done as a kid, and it's still very fulfilling, especially when the storytelling is as good as the story itself. I highly recommend those with a *; those with a + are worth a read as well imho.

Books read:

1.  The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon - David Grann+

2.  The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

3.  The Color Purple - Alice Walker*

First mate aboard the SV Improvise

4.  A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea - Masaji Ishiakawa, Risa Kobayashi, Martin Brown*

5.  Uglies - Scott Westerfield

6.  Pretties - Scott Westerfield

7.  Specials - Scott Westerfield

8.  Extras - Scott Westerfield

9.  Feast: True Love in and out of the Kitchen - Hannah Howard*

10. A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

11. Never Stop Walking: A Memoir of Finding Home Across the World - Christina Rickardsson, Tara F. Chace+

12. The Thinnest Air - Minka Kent

13. The Last Black Unicorn - Tiffany Haddish

14. The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins+

15. Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood - Trevor Noah*

16. China Rich Girlfriend - Kevin Kwan

17. Rich People Problems - Kevin Kwan

18. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood+

19. The Princess Diarist - Carrie Fisher+

20. I Know Who I Am,  But What Are You? - Samantha Bee

As you can tell, I got into a few book series. They were mostly very fast reads, so it was easy to just keep going. Some were young adult series, some were not, but all were entertaining to some degree.

Jason Mraz

Concerts: 

Didn't get to many this year, but I had a blast at the ones I attended. Although I enjoy music, I've never been one to find anything outside of what's on the radio. It's nice to have people around me who can't stand pop and introduce me to other things non-mainstream. (e.g. #1 and #3, though I just saw #3 on SNL!!)

1. St. Vincent

2.  Jason Mraz

3. Courtney Barnett

Theatre: This was more entertaining that I thought it would be. :)

Spamalot

Kreativitee:

I restarted Hump Day Haikus in 2018. This time, I also included "photokus" and "paintingkus" to my "sketchku" repertoire. The first year I did this, back in 2015, I had a ton of ideas and my drawing skills improved. It was a great project, and one that I'll never forget.

I needed less pressure so that it would still be fun. And hopefully not redundant. In any case, to take a look at those, you can go here or here.

Radio shows/ podcasts:
Over the last year, I've discovered some things to listen to while I'm taking walks, hikes or going to the gym. Storytelling is as old as time and man, do these guys do it well! Here are some of my favorite:
1. This American Life
2. Serial
3. Lore
4. Modern Love
5. The Mortified Podcast
6. The Moth

The present:

As for 2019, I'm going to steal a phrase that my good friend often uses... 

I'm "cautiously optimistic" that it will continue to bring with it great opportunities for growth and everything else that life throws at you.