22 Things to Do in 2022

I can’t remember the last time I made a New Year’s Resolution.  For the past 20 years or so, I have instead made lists of things to do during the coming year.  This is one of those. 

Last year’s list (50 Things to Do in Year 50) was by and large a miserable failure.  I successfully managed a grand total of 4 things off of it.  This year with a smaller list, I’m hoping to do much better. 

I thought about arranging these in some sort of order, but that seemed like a lot of work.  So, they are simply arranged in the order I typed them in when trying to think of a full complement of 22 things. 

Find a Sex Partner

Sure, I’d like love and romance.  A girlfriend-turned-wife.  Things like that.  But right at the moment, I’ll settle for just having someone to have sex with.  Friends with benefits, and whatnot.  More on that in a later post. 

Join a New Starfinder Group

For the past year, I’ve spent every other Saturday online playing the (normally tabletop) role-playing game Starfinder.  (Which is kind of like Dungeons and Dragons, but set in space.)  But once every other week isn’t enough to fully scratch my Starfinder itch, so I’d like to join an additional group to get more play in. 

Read a Minimum of 52 Books

This one’s a perennial favorite.  I try and read an average of a book a week each year.  I usually meet if not exceed that goal.  (Last year I ended up reading 69 books.)

Write a Novel

How the Hell am I going to write a novel with writer’s block?  Your guess is as good as mine.  This is the year I finally smash through my writer’s block.  I say that every year, but this time I mean it.  (I say that every year, too).  This is most likely to happen during November (National Novel Writing Month). 

Reconnect With Old Friends

This one pertains mostly to my friend Mike (who – according to Facebook – suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage last weekend, complete with helicopter ride to a hospital in Portland.  Get well, man!) and my friends Dennis and Leanne, whose wedding I missed last year due to a lack of available transportation. 

Participate in SHIPtember

Every September, countless LEGO builders participate in SHIPtember, the goal being to build a minimum 100 stud long spaceship in 30 days or less.  I’ve always wanted to do this, and never have.  2022 seems like as good a time as any to finally accomplish this. 

Reorganize the LEGO Room

I’ve got breathing issues, so I sleep sitting upright in a chair.  Due to my lack of a bed, I don’t have a bedroom.  Instead I have a LEGO room.  And it’s a mess!  About a third of the room is currently full of non-LEGO stuff that I have nowhere else to put.  And the LEGO portion of the room is the least organized thing in the world.  Can’t find anything, and there’s very little space in which to actually build. 

Finish Emptying Out My Brother’s Basement

In between moving out of my Dad’s house and moving into my own apartment, I spent six years living in my brother’s basement.  When I left the basement, I took very little of my stuff with me.  Now he’s looking to put his house on the market, which means it’s time to deal with all my old stuff.  

Get Blood Sugar Under Control

Diabetes is typically controlled with medication, diet, and exercise.  I’m on medication.  And when I try to tell my endocrinologist that one out of three isn’t bad, she just gives me this withering look.  So, it’s time to at least try to cut out some of the junk food I eat and move around more than just going from chair to chair. 

Start a New Blog

DONE!  Next?

Start Using the Slow Cooker

When I moved into my apartment four years ago, my sister gave me her old slow cooker.  It’s been sitting on my kitchen counter gathering dust ever since.  A couple of months ago I spent some time on Pinterest, and then bought a whole bunch of ingredients for slow cooker recipes.  And I still haven’t used the thing.  It’s well past time that I start. 

Get Teeth Dealt With

I hadn’t been to see a dentist in over 15 years.  But last year my insurance company assigned me a dental office and told me to make an appointment.  (Or else?)  So I went to the dentist, who examined me and then declared that the only solution was to pull all but six of my teeth and make me a set of dentures.  This hasn’t happened yet, and I need to find out why.  But dental-phobia has kept me from doing that. 

Climb Out of My Current Financial Hole

The last couple of months have been really hard on my bank account.  Between Christmas, an upcoming LEGO convention that I keep buying special elements for, the first wintertime electricity bill of the year, and a particularly bad week where all of my dinners arrived via UberEats, I’m currently about $350 down from where I should be.  Not yet overdrawn, but there are still days left in the month, so you never really know. 

Build a Minimum of 12 MOCs

(Uh-oh!  LEGO jargon!  For those of you unfamiliar, MOC stands for My Own Creation, which differentiates an original LEGO model from a set (or kit), which is built using detailed instructions instead of your own imagination.)  I’ve got a long list of MOCs I want to build.  Some to display at LEGO conventions, and some ‘just because’.  For the last few years I’ve done very little building, and that needs to change. 

Build a Minimum of 52 LEGO Sets

I have, in the LEGO room, several floor-to-ceiling stacks of unbuild LEGO sets.  Some of which have been opened and had minifigures harvested from them, some of which are still sealed.  I apparently buy more sets than I actually build.  I need to apply my ‘average of one a week’ philosophy to these sets, and try to make a sizable dent in my collection. 

Reorganize Computer Desk

My computer desk currently looks like an altar to the gods of chaos.  Every cubbyhole is crammed full-to-overflowing with stuff.  The only clear space on the surface is directly in front of the keyboard where my arms go.  And nothing can be actually found when I go to look for it.  I have a specific plan to go through all of it, I just haven’t put that plan into motion yet. 

Begin the Massive LEGO Parts Sort

My collection of LEGO parts takes up a plethora of totes, plastic shoeboxes, cardboard boxes, and the like.  And NONE of it is at all organized.  When I need a specific part I have to dig through boxes and hope to get lucky.  (And then sometimes say ‘fuck it,’ and buy the part off of Bricklink.)  I’ve tried sorting the bricks in the past, but never gotten very far.  It needs to happen. 

Start Taking Photos

Even when I finally went cellular, I had a dumbphone for so many years that I never got into the habit of taking pictures.  I’ve had a smartphone for a couple of years now, but still haven’t started taking photos.  And I’d like to have photos.  (Especially now that I’m apparently blogging again.  Pictures would liven up these posts, don’t’cha think?) 

Finish Watching “Supernatural”

I made the decision to get caught up on Supernatural back toward the end of 2020.  I went to Netflix, and started watching the episodes, and then there was this massive ice storm in February that knocked out my internet for a week.  No internet = no Netflix = no Supernatural.  When the internet finally came back, my interest in watching Supernatural didn’t.  I’d moved on to reading books for my entertainment by that point.  (Watching TV and reading books tend to run in cycles for me.)  I need to start watching again so I can finally get to the end of it. 

Make Kyle Commit to Space Western 2023

My friend Kyle has this awesome idea for a Space Western collaborative build that he wants to organize at a LEGO convention.  I want to build for it.  And a bunch of other people have expressed interest in building for it.  We were all hoping that it would happen for March’s Bricks Cascade convention in Portland.  But…no.  So I’m going to take it upon myself to goad, cajole, entice, and possibly even threaten him into committing to it for next year’s Bricks Cascade.  Space Western 2023!  Whoo!

Start Posting Photos of My MOCs Online

I’ve been building MOCs and displaying them at conventions for almost ten years now.  And yet there’s not really any proof of this.  Very little photographic evidence exists.  Everyone else can go to their Flickr or Instagram account and show off their creations.  I need to be able to do the same. 

Look Into CBD Products

People are always recommending CBD to me.  I’ve got a whole raft of medical problems, a lot of which people claim that CBD products help with.  And I have yet to avail myself of any.  Mostly because of cost.  But my medical issues just keep getting worse, and so it’s time to discover if CBD works for my problems, and figure out how to afford it. 

So that’s it.  My plans for 2022.  Be sure and check back in January of 2023 for a summary of how well I did. 

(Oh, and welcome to the new blog.  I hope that you enjoy it and become a longtime reader.)