2004 - Year of Many Things

"So, what's your New Year's resolution?"
"I resolve to live life on purpose, to take control of my fate, to sieze each day as if it were my last. I will be reckless. I will be daring. I will be strong. I will challenge fate. I will defy the gods. Or I will die trying."
"...Why can't you just quit smoking or go on a diet like ordinary people?"
"It's like you don't know me at all. Life is too short to be ordinary."

So the year 2004 has come and gone, never to be seen again, unless you look in the archives. This is my looking back/looking forward post, for the transition between 2004 and 2005, no more than eleven days late. (I'm part-Chinese, so I actually get to delay this until Chinese New Year, but I'm cool, so I'll do it early.)

2004 Highlights

In mostly chronological, but actually no particular, order:

• I dared to fall in love, consequently got my heart broken. Am still in the same place, apparently.
  
• I was able to go outside the country for the first time.
  
• Bought a digital camera (and still no phone!)
  
• Went to Bicol for the first time in eight years.
  
• I passed the JITSE certification exam. I got to read more.
  
• I started to have health concerns. Oh, and I'm not sure, but I may very well have pissed off my dentist.
  
• I started taking this blog a bit more seriously. Added the comments thing, made it a bit more public. My favorite post of this year: My Eyeglasses Belong to the Sea.
  

Seriously, I think I've changed a lot this past year. Especially due to the first entry above. Personally, I feel like I've broadened my horizons somewhat, I feel stronger, better as a person, more confident in myself. I'm a lot less antisocial now, and heaven forbid, I actually greet people in the office in the mornings and before I go home! Professionally, I feel like I've accomplished a lot as well. I learned a lot of new things; I'm a Web developer now, although my area of expertise is now apparently Oracle Reports; Participated in a lot more projects than I did in 2003, learned a lot of new stuff; Became a trainer for several batches of newbies (I think half the office calls me 'Sir' now...); had my first ON, etc. All in all, a very productive/fruitful/exciting year was 2004.

And the future? What does 2005 hold for our brave not-so-young hero?

I tried thinking up some New Year's resolutions, but, as many intelligent folk know, resolutions suck. Sure, they probably have some motiviational value, but if you really know what you want, you shouldn't need the end of an arbitrarily-decided calendar year to start. So, in lieu of resolutions, I present the following list of things-I-might-have-resolved-to-do:

• Blog every day. This was a good idea, but I figured forcing yourself to do something regularly just for the sake of it was not a good thing. I'll blog when I have something to say, thanks.
  
• Learn to cook/bowl well. This sounds neat. But the real problem with me trying to learn new skills outside my comfort zone is that they tend to eat up goof-off time. But I want to learn new things. So, for this one, I'll do 'em if I can and I feel like it.
  
• Learn PHP/mySQL and use dynamic stuff for this website. This is an easier proposition, since it's something that falls well within one of my areas of interest (coding). However, I already code a lot at work, so I'm not really that motivated to code outside of work. I think I may be able to do this to some degree or other though.
  
• Broaden my horizons. Do new things. Visit new places. This is a good idea. And I hope I can do it some. But I won't resolve to do it.
  

That's it I guess, let's see what 2005 has in store for us. Bring it!