Nunchux Back in Business... and Goodbye 2009

I'm in kind of a random mood today, and if the first paragraph is any indication, it seems my keyboard and I are gonna be fighting today - it may even come to fisticuffs. After a couple of weeks blog-free and an entire week completely internet-free (XBox Live excepted), I am back and am ready to begin more regular blogs once again. I've got some cool stuff in the works for the next couple of weeks, time permitting, not the least of which is my annual best of the year post, which I'm very excited to write. It's probably my favorite post of the year! Like my very own Emmys. I'm clocking through the last great games of the year (reviews for all also coming soon), then I will be ready to post the best of.

You can find a lot of great life lessons within the frames of Calvin and Hobbes. Just sayin'.

Anyway...


Each year, we as Americans have this rather silly tradition of making a New Years Resolution - a goal we will meet or a standard by which we can live. I say silly in the nicest of ways, since I also participate in that tradition. The most common NYRs involve lifestyle changes like "I'll quit smoking" or "I'll actually start going to the gym." This, of course, leads to the utter commercialization of the spirit of what a New Years Resolution is all about - "Join such and such a gym for our special New Years rate! New Year, New You!" and so on and so forth - much like what happened to Christmas (both topics for upcoming blogs, I hope).

My NYRs tend to be things that are not so easy to commercialize or to buy. Of course, there's nothing wrong with quitting smoking or losing weight (I will probably end up needing that one a few years down the road anyway :-) ), but my NYRs are generally standards that I would like to live up to because I think they make me a better person, and that's rather important to me.

For example, the NYR for 2009 was simple: Expand my social horizons. I'm happy to report that I did accomplish my goal, and there were many factors that went into that success. This blog has rather taken off in unexpected ways and led to a few great opportunities, one of which in particular has me very excited. You should see more about that in the coming months. This blog also helped contribute to my involvement in the Hiatus Project, which you should check out by using the nifty banner link at the top of the blog.

The second factor, and by far the biggest, has been Twitter. Among my core group of friends, I am the only one with any interest in the social networking trend. Opinions range from actively hating social networking to a general apathy for it, but Twitter is by far the most chagrined of the social networks with my peeps. I mean, Oprah uses it, so it might be the devil (/sarcasm). I happen to love social networking in general and Twitter in particular - I love the way it connects people and the people you can meet. 2009 marked the birth of my Twitter account and the beginning of some great friendships that have come about through that medium. You all know who you are. :-)

So, that brings me around to this year and something that is a bit of a first for me. This year, for the first time ever, I am going to share my NYR ahead of time. This year I'm shooting for the stars. It's a lofty goal, though it's one that is a natural extension on last year's. But before I get there, let me tell you how this came to be.

On Christmas day, a friend posted to his Twitter a link to a video that he said would change our year. His link went to a TEDTalk. I'm not sure how many of you have watched these talks, but they are fantastic. I watch them whenever I find the time. Anyway, I finally sat down to watch this video a couple of days ago, and if you have 21 minutes of free time, I highly recommend you watch it as well. In it, Benajmin Zander starts with the story of two shoe salesmen and walks us through some fascinating classical music theory (and one buttock playing) and concludes with a great lesson about life.

There are many great points Zander makes in his talk. One of my favorite statements from the talk mirrors one of my own life philosophies rather nicely: "I have a definition of success. For me, it's very simple. It's not about wealth and fame and power - it's about how many shining eyes around me."

As I said, he concludes with a life lesson taken from something an Aushwitz survivor - and it is this lesson that inspired this year's NYR. Simply stated, my resolution: Don't say anything that can't stand as the last thing I ever say.

Do I think this is something I will be 100% successful with? Surely not. But, as Zander says, it's a possibility I can live into.