HERE'S TO 2011 BEING BETTER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR

Yer Bunche, using his dimension-spanning hypno/x-ray goggles to try and peer into a less bleak future. Thus far, the reception is kinda dodgy.

Hey, o Vaulties.

With dead birds plummeting from the sky and fish floating tits up in alarming numbers, 2011 has gotten off to an ominous start, and I find myself in a sort of limbo.

As stated previously over the past couple of months, Yer Bunche has been rather out of sorts. Fuck "out of sorts," the simple truth is that I have been in a state of pretty deep depression and most of my attempts at shaking my beige ass out of it have met with only limited success. As the new year approached and my state of unemployment showed no signs of change despite being on the hunt for work since March, my spirits flagged and my soul felt crushed and helpless. Those who know me in the world beyond the Internet will be the first to tell you I'm a very emotional person, so when I'm in the midst of hard times I allow myself to be miserable rather than hold all that shit in and give myself an ulcer (or worse). I've been one morose sad sack of a Bunche for too long and, thanks to some seasonal socializing — particularly a New Year's Eve celebration where I put a major dent in a bottle of Jose Quervo, which led to some late night/early morning catharsis and an accompanying hangover — I'm slowly coming back from the semi-dead.

While sussing out the strategy of my crawling from the spiritual wreckage, I've had time to think about just what the hell I'm going to do in 2011 in order to kick my world back into gear, and here's some of what I've come up with:

• Join the local gym. I could stand to lose a good bit of weight and tone up, so time to put up or shut the fuck up.
• Get back on the stick with my writing. I've been too unmotivated and that has to end. Now.
• Return to a regular martial arts regimen and keep my basics sharp, swift and shattering. (I wish I still had the barbecue joint's central support post as a makeshift mook jong; it did wonders to toughen up my shuto.)
• Spend as much time with my friends/family as possible. My extended family is rather immense, so it'll take some doing, but I'm gonna do it.
  
• Start saving now for my adventures at the 2011 Dragon Con in Atlanta and book a decent room as soon as possible.
• Begin my learning of the Japanese language in earnest. I already have a CD set to facilitate that goal, but I have heard there's a better one than that which I own, so I'm going to snag it.
• Fully sort through all the stuff in my apartment and eliminate all but the real "keepers." My girlfriend has eagerly volunteered to help with this task, but before she gets to it I suggest she read the story of Heracles and the Augean Stables...

And most importantly as far as you are concerned, dear readers, get back to posting regular entries on this here blog. I hope to return to either daily posts or posts every other day, but whatever the case, I need to get back on track to maintain my (tenuous) sanity and writing chops, so please keep coming back and kindly making time to read my blatherings. Your participation in all of this over the years has meant a great deal to me, and even though I earn not one fucking penny from doing all of this, your continued interest and support is worth more to me than a truckload of cash. (NOTE: that's not hyperbole: I've had several opportunities to run ads on this blog, but I refuse to do so because I hate that kind of shit on the blogs I read, so why make mine just as annoying for my regular readers?)

Anyway, here's to 2011 being better than the last year. Please wish me good luck, and I will happily do likewise for you.

Oh, and check back here no later than a day or two from now. I have the assessment of my current Top 25 Favorite Films list on the boiler, complete with liner notes, so that's as good a place as any with which to start the new year.

-sincerely,

Yer Bunche