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I think I rocked 2012.

• Listen to music more. I didn’t do so well in the first few months of the year, but it picked up after that.  Between new CDs, SiriusXM, and live music, I think I did well.
• Read 20 books. I read 20 books. I might be able to hit 21 by the end of the day.
• Go to a Halloween party. Okay, so I bought tickets to a Halloween party that I had heard about.  A few days before party, I got an email saying that they were going to change it to an indoor party, which meant fewer people could come.  They offered me ticket to a couples only event they were also having, but I didn’t have anyone to go with.  I decided to stay home that night.
• Go to a Christmas party. I went to my company’s Christmas party and had a great time.
• Buy new clothes. I bought new shoes, shirts, jeans, socks, and coats.  I almost bought a new suit, but they couldn’t get anything to fit me when I needed it.
• Meet new people. I’ve met new people at work and outside of work.  I need to hang out with them more.
• Do social gaming. I’ve done more social gaming this year.  It’s been all online.  P.A.X. inspired me to do more board gaming, but so far that hasn’t gone anywhere.  I recently found out about a couple of groups trying to get a regular gaming night going, but with the holidays nothing got off the ground.  Maybe in the new year.
• Start buying collectibles. I’ve been doing a good job of growing my collection of geeky items.  Following Brian’s suggestion, I’ve been documenting them on Facebook, Google+, and Flickr.

What a great year this has been.  I moved across the country to a great city with lots of exciting things to do.  I’ve made new friends and I have a job that I love.I’m not going to make a list for 2013.  I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.

Man, I’ve been neglecting this blog again. I meant to write something after I had been in Portland for a month, but I never got around to it. Things are so busy. I never even finished unpacking. I’ve been here a little over 2 months now, so I figured I should say something.

I love Portland! Yes, it’s rained a lot, but I’ve gotten used to that. I actually like the rain. Lately, we’ve had some really great, sunny weekends though. I’m sure I’ve made many mental observations about what I like better about Oregon than Mississippi, but I didn’t write them down, so I’ll probably miss a few. I like that there’s no sales tax here. That’s saved me a good bit of money. I like that there’s a lot of places to shop. I’ve done a lot of shopping. I like that there’s a comic book store and a Best Buy nearby. I saw a Facebook post from this time last year where I was complaining about not having either one. I like the beautiful scenery. I like the nice people. I like that doctors, dentists, and vets are open on weekends. The biggest complaint so far is that I haven’t found any BBQ that’s as good as Southern BBQ. From what I’ve seen, a lot of the stereotypes about Portland do have at least a little bit of truth to them. Just watch an episode or two of Portlandia and you’ll see what I mean.

I also love my job. The work is a lot more interesting here than at my last job. I get to work with cutting edge technologies and I’m learning a lot. We move at a much faster pace and that took some getting used to. We have a small office and I’m probably the youngest and most inexperienced person there. Things are going well though.

Because of all the long hours I’m putting in at work on this project that’s ending, I haven’t met people outside of work and I haven’t done much in Portland yet. I think that will change soon. In my free time, I have gone to a Greg Rucka book singing, gone to the Spring Beer & Wine Fest, gotten a tattoo, gone to a screening of the new Morgan Spurlock movie after which he did a Q&A, and gone to a Marc Meron comedy show. Except for the tattoo, I couldn’t have done any of that in Starkville.

I’m glad that I made the decision to come here. Maybe I can get some friends to visit soon.

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.

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.