Okay, not “already”. 2011 was long as hell and busy.

I resumed going to church fairly regularly. Had my perspective on interpersonal communications majorly shifted. Got married to a great fellow. Got a running partner. Made good progress on my novel. Learned how to incorporate a business. Paid off my student loans (!!!). Lost some weight. Got stronger, more fit, and resumed dancing. Made and held to some good financial plans. Blogged pretty regularly.

Still feel like I only did about half of what I “should have”, of course, but I’m happy with the year, overall. I succeeded at most of what I wanted,

I’m going to finish my last sliver of debt. I’m going to finish not having a long-term financial plan. I’m going to get married. I’m going to finish my novel. I’m going to finish not being happy enough,

and made good headway on what I didn’t finish.

Regardless, 2012 shall be a more adventurous year, featuring new employment, two trips/vacations, and a plethora of writing, coding, financial management, and gettin’ fizzit.

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What could be better than a trip to Crowders Mountain on a perfect Saturday afternoon?

Both the weather and our camera this time was good enough–and we’d just finished our second photography class that morning–to get some vague shots of Charlotte. Out zoom lens (55-200 mm) isn’t quite zoomy enough to really compress the distance, but it was fun trying, especially when we needed to manually focus or do a focus lock.

Instead of just doing the 0.75 mile trek to the top and back (which includes 300+ damn stairs), we decided to hike some of the back trails. All in all, I think we covered 5-ish miles, but my goodness. The Rocktop trail mentions that you’ve have to climb over some rocks. Very nice of them to warn you.

What they don’t tell you is that you’ll be facing a 4 foot wide stone “crawl way” (no way I was walking on that) with pretty steep drops to either side.

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This week’s internet cruising:

• How to keep someone with you forever – "You create a sick system." I wanted to cry when I read this.
• Looking Back — Discord&Rhyme – "To be successful at bootstrapping, you have to cut every feature except those you think are absolutely necessary. Then you cut some that you thought that you absolutely had to have. You compromise your design because you need to get the product to market. You ignore automated testing and documentation because your code is too unstable to be held back by rigorous processes."
• Launching beta, or “How to decide when and where to cut corners” –
• 200+ Seamless Patterns Perfect for Website Backgrounds – Pretty! They're a bit busy, but I think they could be used tastefully.
• Statement by Apple on App Store Review Guidelines – Courtesy of Greg. Apple seems to be getting off their high horse with regards to development tools. I'm not sure yet if this means I'll be springing for Plants vs. Zombies on the iPhone.
• These Dance Moves Are Irresistible – ScienceNOW – Courtesy of Michael. "The most important factor to the women was how much the man moved his head, neck, and torso, the researchers will report online tomorrow in Biology Letters." This is a really cool-sounding study. Thinking about the types of dancing I like to watch and see done well–hip-hop, even bellydance–I like fancy foot-work, but tight (pop and lock) torso and head movements do draw my eye more. Flailing arms are just hilarious.
• Action Not Words: The Difference Between Talkers and Doers – Wonderfully (and miserably) timely for me. The last few weeks for me have been very slothful (as evidenced by the lack of posts here), with correspondence and projects piling up while I squander my time. I've taken to returning to my 3 Most Important Things per day. If I get nothing else done in a day, I will get whatever those three things are done. I know from experience that having the 3 MITs builds momentum so that I'll rarely only ever get those three things done.
• We’re Not Paid To Write Code – This is a really well-written article on how we're paid to deliver a product, not sling code. This is a hard-won lesson for every comp sci major worth their weight I've ever met in their first 2 years out of college, myself included. I'm still not great at balancing quality vs. out-the-doorness on personal projects, but I've learned a lot more about what's acceptable business-wise.

A shorter list, since I’m in Phoenix and don’t want this to sit for a week.

• ShadyURL – Don’t just shorten your URL, make it suspicious and frightening. – Seems slanted towards race/supremacist terms, which seems odd. For instance, irrsinn.net became http://5z8.info/kkk_a5j3_how-to-stop-immigration-for-good.pdf. Certainly suspicious and frightening.
• LoadingReadyRun – Son of a Bitch – I don't religiously follow LRR, but I found this video pretty hilarious. Wait for the ending.
• Your goals suck | Johnny B. Truant – Really good article on getting your priorities right. "You can earn and earn and save and save with the hopes of one day traveling the world, or you can set your priorities straight and do it now."

Sometimes — often after a boring or frustrating experience at work — I wish that I were somehow gainfully unemployed so that I could more easily do the things I wish to do but am not doing.

Writing, coding, reading, running, researching.

Then I realize — usually with a sigh — that I must not want these things badly enough if I can’t manage to do the few things I want to do in the 5 – 7 non-working hours I have a day.

It’s about that time to sit down and prioritize again.