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Here’s my list for 2012. Hopefully I’ll have an even better success rate than I did in 2011.

• Listen to music more. I want to try to get back into music like I used to be.
• Read 20 books. I read 17 this year according to Goodreads. 20 should be doable.
• Go to a Halloween party. I’ve never been to one or even dressed up for Halloween. That needs to change.
• Go to a Christmas party. I’ve never been to one of these either.
• Buy new clothes. I shouldn’t have any excuses not to this year. I want to buy a few nice things while I’m at it.
• Meet new people. I should meet plenty of new people in Portland.
• Do social gaming. Whether it’s board games or online video games, I want to game more with other people. Playing with by myself gets old after a while.
• Start buying collectibles. I want to grow my collection of geeky items. I have Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Dexter-related items, but I want more.

On the last day of the year I like to look at my last.fm profile to see what I was into musically the previous 12 months.  Since I listen to most of my music on my computer or iPod, it gives a pretty accurate account of what I listened to that year.

Top 10 Artists
1. Revision 3 [podcasts]
2. Pearl Jam
3. Michael Giacchino
4. Arcade Fire
5. Jay and Jack TV [podcasts]
6. Red Hot Chili Peppers
7. Murray Gold
8. The Smashing Pumpkins
9. Foster the People
9. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Top 10 Tracks
1. Foster the People – “Helena Beat”
2. Foster the People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
2. Katy Perry – “Firework”
2. Arcade Fire – “Modern Man”
2. Arcade Fire – “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
6. The Naked and Famous – “Young Blood”
6. Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”
6. Arcade Fire – “Ready to Start”
9. Arcade Fire – “Rococo”
9. The Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Did I Let You Know”

With everything going on lately, I had kinda forgotten that Christmas happened this year. Since neither my mother and nor my sister were in Jackson this year, I didn’t even go home. It’s the first time I’ve ever spent Christmas alone.  I wasn’t completely alone.  Reese is always here, but you know what I mean.

What did I get this year?  I got Darksiders on the Xbox 360 and the first book in the Dresden Files series from a friend.  I got usual movie theater gift cards from my boss at MSU before I left there.  I got the Dresden Files TV series from a kind friend on Twitter. I participated in Twitter Secret Santa again this year and got an awesome USS Enterprise pizza cutter.  I don’t think I’m going to use it.  I think I’ll keep it as a collectible.  If last year is any indication, my sister will probably find the time to send her gift to me around February.

Overall, I just wasn’t into Christmas this year.  I hope it’s different next year.  I hope that whether I’m in Oregon or Mississippi I get to spend Christmas Day with people I care about.

It’s the time of year for reflection and introspection. I figured I should look back on the list of things I wanted to do in 2011.

• Move. I decided not to move to a new place in Starkville, because I was pretty certain I would be leaving Starkville. I’ll be moving to Portland in February. Not quite 2012, but close enough.
• Go to my first convention. I went to San Diego Comic-Con in July and had a blast. If I don’t go back this year, I may go to one of the Seattle-based conventions.
• Keep exercising. I kept up the good work I started last year. I’ve lost about another 40 lbs this year. Hopefully, I can maintain my good habits in the new year.
• Buy new clothes. I bought a few pairs of jeans and some underwear before Comic-Con, but other than that I didn’t do so well. Losing weight gave me an excuse not to buy more. The jeans I bought are already feeling a little too big. I’ll do better next year.
• Learn something new. I learned some new stuff for my old job and I’ve already started learning new stuff for my new job.I think that counts.
• Meet new people. I met a lot of people at Comic-Con, but I didn’t meet any local people. I can’t wait to get out and start meeting people in Portland.
• Listen to music more often. I did well at this at the beginning of the year. I even unsubscribed to a lot of podcasts. At Comic-Con, though, I met a lot of podcasters and started listening to all of their podcasts. I’ll work in that next year
• Blog more. Once again, I started out well, but slacked off. I lot of times I do have things to say, but by the time I get around to writing about it, it doesn’t seem like it’s worth it. With all the changes coming in the new year, I’m sure I’ll be blogging more.

I think I did well for the most part. Soon I’ll come up with a list for 2012.

I found a flash drive that I thought I had lost.  There was a directory on it with over 20 e-books that I had collected a few years ago.  I remember that Tor was giving away free e-books for a while, so most of them probably came from them.  I didn’t have an e-reader at the time, so I guess I put them away for later.  I put a separate reading list page on the site and I’ll update it as I go along.  I have enough to read for a long time to come.

Hamlet, William Shakespeare. This is the first book I read on my Kindle! I wanted to read it because the overall story one of my favorite current TV shows, Sons of Anarchy, is influenced by it. Hard to judge this since it’s so old and the speech is so different that it was hard to understand what people were talking about sometimes. It’s alright. The David Tennant movie version is arriving from Netflix today. Maybe I’ll enjoy that more.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Stieg Larsson. This is the last book in The Millennium Trilogy :(. What a great end to the series! It was a continuation of the story started in the last book and it tied up all the loose ends nicely. The last 2 books were their own complete story. I know there’s a 4th book in legal limbo, but I would be happy if there were the last one.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, Michael Lewis. I read this on my Kindle for free thanks to Amazon’s Lending Library thingy. It’s about how one of the poorest baseball teams, the Oakland A’s, managed to win so many games and do well against much richer teams. It’s a good book if you like baseball, which I do, though not as much as I used to. As much as I love statistics, there was too much of it in this book. Maybe I would’ve liked this more if I read it when I was more into baseball. Another thing, I didn’t like the way that players were thought of as chess pieces instead of human beings. I need to read some fiction quickly.

I’m pretty sure there’s a way to embed my Goodreads review here, so I’ll probably do that from now on.

I added all the Kindle books I have acquired to my reading list. Woah! I’m going to try to get through 20 of the unread ones and not add any new ones in 2012. Like that’ll happen.

• Last Argument of Kings, Joe Abercrombie
• A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham
• The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri
• Under the Amoral Bridge: A Cyberpunk Novel, Gary A Ballard
• Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold!, Terry Brooks
• Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
• The Awakening and Selected Short Stories, Kate Chopin
• Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
• Principle-Centered Leadership, Stephen R. Covey
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
• Bleak House, Charles Dickens
• Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens
• The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection, Arthur Conan Doyle
• Go, Mutants: A Novel, Larry Doyle
• The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
• Serenity Found, Jane Espenson
• Paranoia, Joseph Finder
• Incarceron, Catherine Fisher
• Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, Mick Foley
• No Mercy, John Gilstrap
• The Deputy, Victor Gischler
• Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
• The Associate, John Grisham
• Ford County: Stories, John Grisham
• In Her Name: Empire, Michael R. Hicks
• Assassin’s Apprentice, Robin Hobb
• The Fourth Hand, John Irving
• Daisy Miller, Henry James
• The Turn of the Screw, Henry James
• The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemison
• 11/22/63, Stephen King
• The Walking Dead, Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 4: The Heart’s Desire, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 5: The Best Defense, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 6: This Sorrowful Life, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 7: The Calm Before, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 8: Made to Suffer, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 9: Here We Remain, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 10: What We Become, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 11: Fear the Hunters, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 12: Life Among Them, Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Volume 13: Too Far Gone, Robert Kirkman
• The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights, James Knowles
• Mercury Swings, Robert Kroese
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
• The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larsson
• The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest, Stieg Larsson
• Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, Michael Lewis
• Completing the Cycle, Mike Lewis
• The Stormcaller, Tom Lloyd
• I Am Number Four, Pittacus Lore
• The Giver, Lois Lowry
• The Day Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
• The Twilight Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
• The Final Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
• Busted Flush, George R.R. Martin
• Suicide Kings, George R.R. Martin
• A Dance With Dragons, George R.R. Martin
• Crimson City, Liz Maverick
• Letters to Steve: Inside the E-mail Inbox of Apple’s Steve Jobs, Mark Milian
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
• Batman: Year One, Frank Miller
• Either You’re in or You’re in the Way, Logan and Noah Miller
• The Final Crusade, Chaite Naasiri
• The Darker Mask, George Phillips
• The Hangman’s Daughter, Oliver Pötzsch
• L.A. Noire, Rockstar Games
• The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson
• The Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson
• The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson
• Towers of Midnight, Brandon Sanderson
• A Memory of Light, Brandon Sanderson
• Blue Boy, Rakesh Satyal
• Hamlet, William Shakespeare
• Titus Andronicus, William Shakespeare
• Private Parts, Howard Stern
• Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain
• The Prince and the Pauper, Mark Twain
• King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Unknown
• The Way of Shadows, Brent Weeks
• Shadow’s Edge, Brent Weeks
• Beyond the Shadows, Brent Weeks
• The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
• The Optimist’s Daughter, Eudory Welty
• The Dragonbone Chair, Tad Williams
• Stone of Farewell, Tad Williams
• To Green Angel Tower, Tad Williams
• Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1 – Unmanned, Brian K. Vaughan

It’s been about a month since I got my first Kindle. I was either going to get a Kindle Touch or a Kindle Fire, both new models. I decided to get a Kindle Touch because of the E Ink (Electronic Ink). I know how much I’ve hated reading books on my computer and I figured the E Ink would be easier on my eyes.

I love my Kindle Touch! I’ll be reading paper books as long as they print them, but I’m getting a lot of use out of the Kindle. I’ve read at work when I needed a break, in the waiting area at the doctor’s office, in the waiting area at the mechanic, on the stationary bike, etc. I feel like I’m getting in a lot more reading. Navigating in the menus is a little slow, but I don’t have to do that much. I’ve had it for a month and haven’t had to recharge it yet. Also, I’m really digging the touch screen. I am very pleased.

Before the Kindle arrived, I already had about 40 books for it. I got most of them for free from Amazon or from author or publisher websites. I won’t have a problem with finding stuff to read for a long time, not that I did before. I’m a little slow to embrace devices that take me away from physical media. Once I do, I’m usually happy that I did. As long as I still have the physical media.

One suggestion that I’ve mentioned before on Twitter. Since I still like physical media, if you buy the paper version of a book, I think Amazon should give you the Kindle version for free or give for a small additional charge. It would be almost like buying a blu-ray and getting a digital copy with it. That way I can read my paper copy at home and read my electronic copy when I’m on the go and not have to worry about carrying a book around and possibly damaging it. I’m sure they’ve already thought of this. Maybe it’ll happen one day.

In case you haven’t heard, I have a new job! I’ve done a bad job of spreading the word, but hey, I have been talking about it since I found out less than 2 weeks ago. My last day at Mississippi State University is Friday, December 16, which 3 days from now and 1 day before my birthday.

The name of the company that I’ll be working for is Tactel US. They’re based in San Diego, but they have offices in Portland and Sweden. I think they even have some positions in the San Francisco Bay area. I’ll be working in the Portland office. The interview process was pretty painless and they made me an offer the week after Thanksgiving. I’m thankful to them for giving me this opportunity. I don’t already know everything I’ll need to know, but I will have a chance to learn.

I’ll be starting on December 19th and working remotely from Starkville at first. Then I’ll take some time off and I suppose that’s when I’ll move. I’m looking forward to it. I’m a little nervous about starting with a new company, working with new people, and moving so far away from my family, but change is good.

I’m sure I’ll be talking about my new job a lot in the coming months.

My first Kindle came in the mail today and it made me realize that I haven’t even mentioned here that I got a new iPhone. Yes, it’s a 4S. I had a 3GS, so this is a big difference from what I had.

I’ve had my new phone for just over a month and I’m really digging it. The retina display, the great quality pictures, and a bunch of new iOS features/apps are all making me a happy consumer. My favorite thing to do is to use Siri to set reminders or write texts or tweets. Asking her funny questions was fun at first, but it got old after a while. I think Siri alone has made it a worthwhile upgrade. So far I haven’t seen anyone looking at me like I’m crazy for talking to my phone.

The new phone itch that I had for a while was scratched. How would I get by without my phone?

Speaking of things that aren’t in Starkville. Last week my friend John texted me that a PetSmart was opening in Columbus (about 25 miles away) last Saturday, which was a week ago today. He said that he would be there with his dog, Bailey, and suggested that I bring Reese. I had no idea this store was opening. I hadn’t been to Columbus in several months. I’ve wanted to take Reese to a PetSmart and spoil him for a while now.

I got there with Reese a little after they opened at 9am. John was already there with his cousin, her partner, and all of their dogs. There were so many people and so many dogs there. Like John said, it was like Comic-Con for dogs. The place was packed and it was cool being around so many pet lovers. A lot of them wanted to pet Reese and Bailey. My biggest concern was that sometimes Reese doesn’t listen to me when he sees someone he wants to play with, but he was on his best behavior. He was trying to run off every 5 seconds, but at least he listened when I told him come back or keep going. Eventually I got a cart and we put Reese and Bailey in there. It was much easier to get around the store that way.

The store gave away some free toys and treats. I got a few items for Reese that I had planned to order from Amazon. We stayed away from the adoption area, which is good because I didn’t need to come home with another dog. PetSmart had a picture area in one part of the store and they stopped and asked us if we wanted to get out picture taken for free.

I can see myself using this store a lot for as long as I’m in the area. It’s nice to have a good pet store nearby.