2012 has not been an easy year for me.  It has been one of positive aspects as well as negative ones; an entirely mixed bag, really.  Depression struck me down as many times as vainglorious delusions of grandeur sent me back up, hot gas filling a fragile balloon.  Most balloons pop or deflate, and I certainly saw my share of missteps and failures. 

This has not been an awful year to me, however.  Plans were made, plans were executed, and there was success.  A lot of it was meager and fleeting in the face of my life, but it was enough to keep me going. 

I regained lost ground in my academic career.  I lost thirty pounds.  I managed some social contact.  I finally met my girlfriend of four years.  I met her again.  The year’s been painful, extremely so in many cases.  But the victories have also carried me along.  Have they been worth it?  I don’t know.  I still suffer under the pain of past choices and life experiences. 

But I’ve survived this year.  And nineteen more before it.  I can survive another.

New Year’s Resolutions are such a strange bag, for me in particular.  Last year I wanted to pass my high school grade level and lose some weight.  I retroactively added “get good at art” to the list.  All of those more or less panned out.  Now it’s time to build off of that.

I need to get a job.  Get some cash flow in my life.  I need to build meaningful relationships beyond the ones I have.  I could stand to lose the weight around my stomach area.  Exercise more, basically. 

And I still need to get good at art.

This gallery’s a gloss over of various pictures of myself (how vain) over the course of the year.  Maybe I’ll do another in 365 days.

Here’s to 2013.

—Mike