Happy birthday, Kiddo.

And a happy New Year to everyone too.

Another odd holiday in this ever-stranger year. Looks like when this posts I'll be at Dave's doing the annual New Years celebration I've hosted the past four years. Most have been great, one went horribly, horribly awry [Optimus Prime ran over a cat, and apparently, dreams can fit in a dog house]...

Generally speaking, I'm against resolutions. The idea of picking one time a year to make promises to yourself and others, in some quest for self-betterment, well... it just implies the need for betterment, doesn't it? And in what world should we admit such weakness? Why not just call China up, while we're at it, and explain to them how our greatest weakness is that ever expanding world-debt that's just begging to be bought up...

Hm. I fear I've said too much.

Suppose I could make a few. Got to get that hard drive cleaned up and straightened out, once and for all, so all the porn and the music has it's place, and iTunes can stop whining every time I move a file. New headphones. Got to get that iPod filled up again.

Need to finish "The Trendsetter" -- really make that intolerable monster into a feature. But it's a beloved monster, isn't it, Bella? Kyle has already messaged me a few possibilities, and I've spent the day rolling them over in my head. It's amazing how the slightest feedback seems to rejuvenate my interest and creativity. I think I need an assistant. A secretary? Is that sexist?

Should find an alternative to Firefox, and to AIM. Trillian seems the best alternative to the latter... AIM's dug its spiny tendrils so deep into this computer I can only imagine how nasty excising it will be. Firefox, I will admit, is hard to see go -- but the damn thing chews up CPU so bad with its add-ons and such, I'm even considering Opera. *Shudders*

"Sort life out" should probably be on here. We'll put it as a tentative addition. Some shit shouldn't be rushed.

Get back to "The Familiar." She deserves to be finished too.

Badger Sam into doing a new comic with me. [Happy Birthday, kiddo!]

Get started on "Beyondo" projects [Re: Bride of Beyondo, Kid Beyondo]. Because those still just sound like fun.

Find other artists to work with. As a matter of fact, if you're reading this, and know someone who draws, or draw yourself and want to do a comic or some other kind of foray into graphical literature, e-mail me. Or get them to e-mail me. Or show me where to find their stuff so I can e-mail them.

Finish off that Joshi. Because really, I should have gotten to all that ages ago. Jesus.

And finally, most importantly, new ideas, greater ideas, more follow-through, and... a promise to this blog to not abandon it, when life picks up or doesn't.

Let's be honest -- this thing was a hard sell from the beginning. Few people could look at this blog and not see it as the masturbatory ramblings of a semi-creative manic depressive. And it's not like there aren't plenty of those on here. No, to stand this blog at all, I think you either have to believe in me very sincerely, or swallow the "production diary" conceit unquestionably. Otherwise, this really isn't much different than the millions or so other blogs out there that give nothing back to the iota of space they pollute on the internet.

That being said, I like having this blog. It's useful to me, to see where I've been, and to talk about where I'm going, and I think I walk the fine, acceptable line between too much information and rambling psychosis. It's also helpful because it's always here, particularly at four or five in the morning where I can't sleep and the fear has gripped me to the point of panic and self-loathing. That's a commitment that I've yet to get from, well, anyone, and just the act of sitting here, typing something up, laying out all the priorities or bitching a little lets me find the center again. So for that, it's a wonderful tool, and one I plan to keep.

Much as tonight is the celebration of the New Year, it is also, in my mind, the celebration of three + months of toiling here, and the 15-20 posts I manage a month, I am pleased. Would I like it to be everyday? Absolutely, and I have that to shoot for, but I have surpassed my own expectations in my commitment to this blog, and I can only hope I can keep with it. I think I actually get pleasure from this. Onward, and upward.

My hope is to find other places to snake the Mojo Wire. Importing it to Facebook will likely be the next step, but is there more? I'll look into it. The reasons for this expansion is largely, unsurprisingly, for the attention -- for finding people who will care. But there's also, I think, a greater possibility in all this, that maybe someone else out there who's creative, and isolated, might be able to use what I'm doing as a template, and find the same use for this that I have.

Then again, I'd probably have to keep at this for many more years before anything that redeeming might happen. Ah, that selflessness and selfishness were less than four letters from one another.

I have a few regulars. I've found a use for my soapbox that I don't entirely loathe myself for. That's a win, or at least a television serial "we still have two seasons left" draw. And I'll take that.

Some people who need thanking. John, and Justin, and Glen, all of whom served as examples that a blog doesn't have to be a whorish-shrine to hubristic self-importance. Sam, who's helped me vent. Ian, for assuring me this doesn't suck, and the book. Kyle, for "The Trendsetter." Anna, for the inspiration. Andrew, for something to listen to while I'm posting. Hillary, for the headphones, which have suddenly made listening to something all the more interesting. Ally, for "Dr. Beyondo" and Bruce Lee. Laura, for Calamity and Tana Cash. Carrie, for the 9x9's. Hunter, for the justification of the dream. The Gin Blossoms and Kaki King. The Motor City Machineguns. The Chinese Take-out place that's down the street from me. Sure I've missed a few.

Happy New Year, folks. Shalom.