Typically, I make a laundry list of to-do items as resolutions. One-time things that can be accomplished with some effort. Not going to do that anymore. But first, let’s take a look, with my comments in bold, at last year’s resolutions:

• Get my driver’s license – CHECK
• Learn C++ – C+what? I think I remember looking at some stuff way early in the year, but I haven’t an idea about it now. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I did any coding in PHP! (Actually, it was probably when I fixed the Weekly Poll at psycho-ward.org.) Perhaps I’m partially exonerated by the fact that I did learn some Java… but that was only because I’m in a required computer class at school. In fact, since I’m more of a manager in that rather large class, I once more can’t remember the last time I actually wrote a program.
• Learn how to solo on trombone – The only thing I can note of worth regarding trombone is that I did learn all my major scales at one point. Other than that, I’m rather appalled in my progress on trombone. I need to practice more.
• Get 200,000 hits in one month at Psycho-ward.org – Let’s see. My original webhost, after years of being with them and having no problems, went down, and then ran away with my money. My hits took a plunge, and only are now climbing back to previous levels. Actually, they’re a little bit higher than previous levels with a solid breaking of 100,000 hits for the past few months.
• Finish one of my long stories – I’m too lazy to check right now what I’ve actually done, but here’s what I recall. I did maybe two chapters of Return to Dawn. I did one chapter of Misadventures of a Post-Apocalyptic Trombonist. I had another unnamed story which I was four chapters into, but then I decided to re-write the thing. I’m only one chapter into it now. At least I wrote over 50 poems.
• Get both French videos finished (subtitles and commentary, too) – Richard did put the first one on DVD, which we had a screening of at school, but I never got a copy of it, myself. We decided against a commentary track, however. The second video remains unfinished.
• Write and film Majestic, the Movie – Nothing. Nothing. I scrapped that idea long ago. Too much work.
• Write songs and lyrics for that fake musical (don’t absolutely need story done yet) – Discarded this idea, as well. I did write one song, with no lyrics.
• Finish the stuff currently on my Coming Soon list at psycho-ward.org – HAHAHA! At least none of the old stuff is there anymore, but I can’t say that I actually accomplished them.
• Learn and memorize all of Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 – Actually, I was making really good progress on it through summer. I memorized it up through part of where it says “tempo giusto vivace.” However, I stopped playing that particular song for a while, and now I hardly remember it. There are still pages to go. I would work on it again, but I’m going to order Pictures at an Exhibition. I’m really excited about that piece.
• Update psycho-ward.org more often (the only one that’s more general) – Not even close to the 2003 frequency, except during the ending of summer.
• Do at least 40 TPVs this year – Rather moot resolution since I ended TPV. However, it ended on a sincere note.
• Do at least 12 Majestic comics this year – Nope. However, I am currently at #12, overall. And, I did go back and redo the style of all the old ones. Does that count as actually doing twelve?

Really, Shawn, this is pathetic. (Sorry, folks, I have a tendency to refer to myself in third person when I do something particularly unslick.) It’s rather disappointing, since I did pretty well the year before, when I put it on paper. Don’t misjudge me, however. I did a lot this year; I just didn’t concentrate on those specific tasks.

In any case, this year will be different. I am only making one resolution: To seize each day, and live it to its fullest. I’m going to squeeze all the life out of each day, like squeezing all the juice out of a lemon. Even if all the juice misses the cup and spills all over the floor, I will still be satisfied, knowing that the day was seized.

This year will represent a new chapter in my life. The year of new freedom… That’s what I called it in the last post of 2004. Why? Mostly because I’m done with my college applications. I don’t have anything hanging over my head anymore, and I can do more of what I want to do. Have more fun, accomplish more.

I do have some specific goals I could have made, but I don’t want to so confine myself this year. The goals will come with the day. Notice how I said seize each day. I picked those specific words because I want to treat each day as one of those lemons. Each day will be its own entity. Each day will be new, different from every other. I will live that day, and only that day, not yesterday or tomorrow.

I already accomplished one thing today — those aforementioned college applications. I stayed up until I finished each and every one. Then, I went to bed, and awoke with a clean slate. This is a new year. But I do not plan on seizing this year — only each day of it.