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While I have been taking baby steps with most of my new year’s resolutions, there is one goal with which I’ve made huge strides. I’m steadily making my way through the Harry Potter series. A week after starting the first book, I’m over halfway done with the third book. I’m amazed at how quickly I flip through the pages, and how when I’m not reading them, I think about when I might get a chance to read again. The series has really grabbed me. I now understand how and why these books energized so many folks to read, even if they were not “readers.”

What’s lucky for me is that I never tainted my opinions of the series; in addition to avoiding the books, I’ve never seen any of the movies. I have kept myself fairly isolated from all things Potter, which means that I can still make my own mental images of the characters and I have no idea how the plot will twist and turn. I find myself making predictions, but I do not voice these to my friends because most of them are familiar with the books. I’m having a lot of fun being immersed in this world, and even though I thought the books would be childish and silly, I find myself admiring the prose and the language employed to convey stories that are not boring in the least. In fact, in Chamber of Secrets, Rowling used the word “tenterhooks,” which made me really, really happy. Perhaps I’ve been living in this county for too long if proper usage of words makes me giddy.

I think that after I finish the third book, I may take a brief break. Perhaps I will read something else, or dedicate myself solidly to working ahead on my classwork. Regardless, I think that three books in a little over a week will be a sufficient start to meeting this 2010 goal. Dan also pointed out that if I read all seven books in less than a month, I may start thinking that I am Harry Potter.

He’s totally wrong, though. I’d be Hermione. Duh.

The Year in Review

In January, at my first InnerPartySystem concert

For me, 2009 was a transitional year. In 2008, I was treading water, working nearly the entire year at a job I grew to hate and searching for the motivation to aspire to something greater. In 2009, I worked through numerous obstacles to find a foundation for successful living. Part of my ability to have a good year was courtesy of resolutions I made last year. Honestly, I don’t remember them exactly because I recorded them in my now defunct BlackBerry, but they improved my diet until about mid-summer, when I gave up and started eating poorly again. Another key factor in how I lived in 2009 was the spontaneous departure from my job. If I hadn’t done that, there’s a slight chance I would still be living miserably, making barely enough to get by.

In December, at my sixth InnerPartySystem concert (with Patrick!)

It’s funny how things work. In January, I quit my job without any sort of back up plan. It was necessary, but scary at the same time. About a week later, I met Dan for the first time. The end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 were fueled mainly by Patrón, but by March and my “official” start of a relationship with Dan. I spent the beginning of the year unemployed and going insane, but able to work on myself through Wii Fit and hiking, so it wasn’t a total loss (but it was some weight loss!). I finally found myself working at a convenience store for some funds, which provided a crash course in how I do not want to spend the rest of my life. By June, I knew that I needed to take steps to get away from a survival job, so I took guest teacher training to obtain emergency substitute teaching certification for fall. My luck improved even more when I randomly saw a position in Hershey’s Central Reservations posted online in June and I switched to a cushier, more fulfilling “summer” job with higher pay and more hours.

Basically, as soon as that job ended, I was subbing. And that brings me to where I am now, staring at a calendar wondering how 2009 flew by and pondering possible resolutions.

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