The Road So Far

{Carry on my wayward son! There'll be peace when you are done!}

{ Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more}

So here is my big summary of the past year, with Carry on My Wayward Son playing in the background. I am going to start by covering the things that I did and did not managed to accomplish from my resolution list from last year.

{Once I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusions.}

{I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high}

{Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man. Though my mind could think I still was a mad man.}

{I hear the voices when I'm dreamin'. I can hear them say.}

1- I did manage to keep up with this blog pretty well. I only skipped a few posts, which is pretty good for me. I didn't manage to write a single post for The Flaming Vegan though.

2- I made it through one more semester of college before I gave up, yet again.

3- I don't think I did a single bit of real activism this year. In fact, I barely even did any slacktivism this past year.

4- I did actually get an article published in T.O.F.U. magazine. It's not like I got paid or anything, but still it was pretty cool. You should definitely check out the magazine.

5- Apparently finding a job I don't hate is just going to be a lifelong struggle for me. Who knows, maybe this whole handyman(ish) thing will actually work out.

6- HAH! Improve my social skills? What the fuck was I thinking with that one?

{Carry on my wayward son. There'll be peace when you are done.}

{Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more.}

{Masquerading as a man with a reason. My charade was the event of the season.}

{And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know}

7- Nope. Didn't take a martial arts class either.

8- Uh, yeah. I'm not any less angry either. Probably due to the fact that I haven't managed to make any progress in my life over the last year.

9- This one really pisses me off! I have been trying every day for the last year and I still can't do a single fucking pull up. I can now do six almost pull ups, but those last few inches are killing me.

10- I don't know, I might have been more creative? Maybe?

11- Again, maybe? I guess I may be acting a little more like I really am than I used to. Meh, who knows.

12- I did not make it back to Farm Sanctuary, not even for the Celebration for the Turkeys, which sucks.

13- Fairly certain I have not gotten any better at saying things that need to be said either.

{On a stormy sea of moving emotion, tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean}

{I set a course for winds of fortune, but I hear the voices say.} 

{Carry on my wayward son. There'll be peace when you are done.}

{Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more}

As for my bucket list, I have managed to cross off

#19- Find a way to stop my hands from getting all bloody and gross every winter. I'm not even sure what I did, but they didn't get gross this year. Yay! 

#40 and 41- My sister got me a really nice camera for Christmas, and I did use it to take the picture for yesterday's blog. 

#46- (Sort of) I don't know if I officially feel "good" about my body, but I feel better about it than I ever have in the past. 

#50- I did come up with fifty more things for the list. This one was a bit of a freebie. 

#63- My dad bought me a punching bag, and I have made good use of it. 

#73- I did buy an iPod. (I love how half of my goals were basically to spend money that I don't have.)

#82- I actually found an exercise that works on my legs. I'm not sure which one it is exactly, but something in my yoga routine is definitely working.

That's about it for those. 

{Carry on you will always remember. Carry on nothing equals the splendor.}

{Now your life's no longer empty. Surely heaven waits for you}

{Carry on my wayward son. There'll be peace when you are done.}

{Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more.}

Now here are a few kind of cool things that happened that weren't on any lists.

1- I went to the Festival of Colors. This is actually something that I have always wanted to do, but didn't even bother putting it on any lists because I thought they only did it in India and I knew I was never going to get to India. Turns out they have one in West Virginia, who would have thought?

2- Got into size 0 jeans. Size 1 actually fit but, by god, if I can squish my ass into those 0s I'm going to do it.

3- Impala came to live here which, now that he doesn't piss all over the house anymore, has turned into a really good thing.

4- I passed that police test. Even though it didn't result in a job, and was basically just a waste of time, I'm still pretty proud of that.

5- I actually read one of my poems out loud, in front of a bunch of strangers. It was basically a disaster, but I still did it and I guess that's something.

I have also watched SO MUCH Supernatural this year. So much. 

Looking Back

Well everyone 2013 is almost here, so here is a list of my twelve favorite things from 2012, some I would generously call "accomplishments" others are just random things that happened to me.

1. I interned at Farm Sanctuary's Acton California shelter. This actually entailed three pretty exciting things. The internship itself, traveling to California (which I have always wanted to do) and flying for the first time in my life.
2. I got paid for writing for the first time, thanks to The Flaming Vegan!
3. I ended up with As in all of my classes (the gods of laziness have smiled upon me once again.)
4. I spoke about animal rights in front of a room full of people (more than once.)
5. I learned how to go from standing into a back bend and then back to standing, quite awkwardly for now but I'm still working on it.
6. I discovered an affinity for British Television (thanks to my Pinterest friends) which has somehow managed to make my own voice inside my head speak with an English accent most of the time.
7. I learned to go across the rafters in the pig barn like monkey bars.
8. I have gotten into the habit of getting up absurdly early in the mornings, like between 3 and 5 early, which for some reason really seems to be working for me.
9. I had a class with a vegan professor.
10. I have gotten to the point where I am, at least sort of, satisfied with my body. Okay, maybe satisfied isn't the right word, but I don't completely hate it anyway.
11. I Finally got a coat that I like. I know that sounds stupid but I have wanted a sort of signature coat for years and I finally have one.
12. I have learned to stand up for my beliefs, at least a little bit.