It's been a real eye opening month so far. One of the things that I made sure I did this year was spend more time LIVING. Towards the end of 2007 I kept asking people what their highlight was. What wasn't surprising was the fact that most people really didn't have much to give me. It was mainly work related or the realisation came forward that well we all spent more time working or whatever than actually living our lives.
I was guilty of this more than anyone else, with only some real brief moments. So part of the thinking in how I wanted to tackle 2008 was to allow and organise one event, one thing every month, where I can look back and actually live. So far it's been going pretty well I've got to admit.
- I've been to the 02 Arena and saw the Smashing Pumpkins
- I've been to the Royal Opera House and watched the ballet (two things I've never done in the 6 years in London)
- went to see the Terracotta Army exhibition in the British Museum
- attempted to queue in line to see Alan Moore (really fucked off about that, so I won't actually talk about it)
- I finally got around to walking around the V&A museum and found one of the best courtyards in London and while I was there I really got into Rodin, whom I'd had a brief encounter with a few years ago, however this was different, this time I was actually really appreciative of what his work actually means.
- Inbetween I've read one of the best books I've read in a really long time, Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart - you may want to check the wikipedia entry as well
- And watched several movies, 'No Country for Old Men', 'Sweeny Todd', 'Stardust', 'Yu Tu Mama Tambien', 'Blade Runner: Final Cut', 'Tekkonkinkreet'
- Been watching Lost and Prison Break, both of which have generally been much better than average. They've been good and enjoyable. I've been really getting more out of lost by listening to the Transmission podcast and reading the episode elements on lostpedia which definitely enhance your enjoyment of the actual show itself.
- Read a load of amazing graphic novels that really deserve your attention, Chris Ware's 'Acme Novelty library', 'Scalped', 'The Nightly News', 'Stray Bullets', 'Lost Girls'.
- Hell I even bought some proper comics this year and happily I've not been disappointed either. I got 'Kick-Ass' which I thought was well put together and too early to decide either way. Based on how much I enjoyed 'Chosen' I'll be buying the graphic novel when that comes out. The latest 'Fantastic Four' issue by Millar and Hitch was good fun. They'll get me to buy the hardcover when it comes out I'm sure. There was the excellent issue of 'Criminal' and the second volume, both of which were very excellent books that you should be reading if you're into crime noir. I bought Jeff Smith's new book 'RASL' which looks kind of interesting but no where near as tight as Bone. There was something MAGIC in that book when it came out that he doesn't seem to have with 'RASL' I'm afraid to say.
The thing that I find strange, is that usually any one of the elements above would have gotten a post out of me. Be it on this site, or on SplashPanel.
I've taken a step back from my involvement with Habari. Not because I don't believe in the project, because the project is kicking some MAJOR ass. But I think i've done all i have the energy to contribute at this particular moment in my life. If this project had come out a few years ago things would be very different. I feel warm inside that the design vision that is leading the boy is Michael as I'm sure it will differently look that part once it gets to that stage. Believe me, in a year's time the majority of people will be ready to switch over to Habari from whatever system they're running, so you might as well get in on the ground floor, great group of guys with a lot of enthusiasm and knowledge to share.
So what's going on with me? What am I planning on doing? I'm not actually sure. It's actually one of those things that i look at the list above and think to myself, that I've done a lot in the last couple of months. I've stopped certain things, like my involvement with my sites and open source software, I've stopped going to basketball, I've started drawing and writing again and it's time to start thinking where I am with my life and where I want to be.
So the thing that I'm trying to get to is that I'll be posting less and less in the future. I will continue to tinker on my local machine with things and hope that at some point I finally launch the update to this site that I've been working on for months and months and months. I'm proud of a lot of elements of it while other elements I'm not so happy with, but somehow that doesn't matter to me any more. If I get it done it get's shown to the world and it'll be dated the second it goes live :).
It's time for me to go back to where I was meaning to be 4 years ago. Let's see what the future now holds.
I feel we're in a similar boat on this score. I've had periods of web dormancy that have lasted months. However, I haven't been half as interesting as you've been. Where you may actually be doing something of consequence I've mostly been doing nothing of consequence and mainly thinking of doing something of mild interest.
That said, obviously, I still keep an eye on you for whenever you poke your head into the digital sphere. Some folk simply did such a good job of catching my attention the first time round that they get a sort of blogger-emeritus status and stick in my feed list forever.
It's always good to know that I'm not alone in my internet fatigue. After having done just that and really tried to look at other things in my life, I can definitely recommend you look to things around you and make the most of the events going on around you. You'll definitely feel that much better for it :).