2009: Year in Review

No way to deny that 2009 has been a busy year in many ways. I've posted much here in the past few months, which is a little ironic because at one point I thought about retiring the blog. This has generally been a good year, too. I'm especially happy to report this because in January 2009 I was probably as much on edge about the state of the world as anyone else:

These projects make me pretty excited about the year ahead and all that is to come. Perhaps I should acknowledge the general gloom and doom that surrounds everyone right now. Yes, the economy is dreadful and getting worse. War seems everywhere and endless. The environment seems not only to be transforming in front of us but exacting revenge. Heartache and head-shaking inanity – not to mention insanity – seem to underlie the behavior of ordinary people everywhere. I recognize this, but I don’t care. I can only do what I do, and that must be enough.

The projects I am referring to above include training for a marathon, two book projects, and a series of music retrospectives.

I never ran that marathon. I am in somewhat better shape now, but I can do better. I never got those book projects off the ground, but that was because I became involved in a few new ghostwriting efforts and also had to get my new dissertation work established.

Fortunately, I did manage to post a few articles on music, which I think came out well. I wrote about the Beatles, the Rolling Stones (first, second), Keith Jarrett (first, second), and Bob Dylan.

The kids and the family are doing well. We've had our share of health flare-ups, most recently with my mother in the hospital, but I think we'll come through OK. About health and about everything, there's not much to be except optimistic and positive - and resolved to work hard to create situations that foster these outlooks.

To all who read and follow along: I wish you good health, optimism, positivity, resolve, laughter, reason, and pleasant music. We live in great potential, and I think of humans as machines for converting potential into reality.

Time, Money, Money, and Money

I'm spending less time on this blog, mainly because my other one has been consuming my time. Well, that and work.

Work's been major league busy, but add to that my scholarship duties and my ghostwriting and you get one stretched out dude. Speaking of my ghostwriter employer, he finally paid me. I got $500 for a quick-turnaround assignment. I ended up buying about $220 in books for school. And now I am trying to negotiate about $1200 for a new project, half paid up front. I would take $750, but we'll see where he comes in. My bet is that we end up with $650, but we'll see. If I get close to $1000, I'm buying some stuff.

Strange Living and the Burden of Potential

"The strangeness of this life cannot be measured," says Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves.

I have not mentioned that my author friend contacted me after the new year to see if I was interested in a new book, a book on Jesus and how he was a good orthodox Jew. He also had another book for me, a book on why Jews shouldn't leave Judaism and convert to Christianity. I recently finished the Jewish Jesus manuscript. All I had to do was edit and re-format. I think I did a decent job on the first few sections, but I think the text is a bit uneven. The chapters are of widely varying lengths. The book ends quite abruptly.

I've also initiated an inquiry to see about finishing my doctorate. Things look good. I should hear in a few days. I can't express how overjoyed I would be to have the chance again to finish the degree. It certainly wouldn't be easy, but I'd make it work. I have suffered thinking about that lost degree. It's pained me more than I care to admit even here. I think about it all the time. I have no idea what I might do with a doctorate, if anything. I don't really know what I should do with it. But I know that it was once mine, and I want it back. It won't solve my problems or make me a better person, but it will give me peace of mind and some real closure on my already-gone youth. I don't know whether I was meant to be successful or a failure, but I think I was meant to be a Ph.D.