2018 Resolutions Recap and Film Overview

For anyone that wants a reminder here is my post about 2018's resolutions here and film overview here. I did not do well. Out of 20 goals I achieved 2 and a half. I saw 5 films at the cinema, got a new car and lost 1 stone out of 2. Not great. I even failed my usually faithful book and film challenge. This year I did change my work hours slightly. Friday's I used to do 8 til 1 and then I'd come home and watch a film before walking the dog to meet mum from work because she was doing 11 til 5. But then we realised switching round would be better because it means mum can come home and do things like cleaning or ironing. So we did so that meant bye-bye film Friday.

I will do a post in a few days about this years resolutions, I've just got to come up with them first! Back to last year's recap. Body mods, driving and days out were affected by money. We got the new car in February but then a few months later the clutch went so that needed sorting, plus it's had two tyres done. Forest had his op in the summer as well so no pups for him. Also mum had problems with her Universal Credit stopping, basically her details got deleted when the system changed so we needed to re-set that up. We also did one for me but apparently living at home means I have no outgoings - tell that to my weeping bank account - so I'm not eligible for anything. Sucks. I haven't had the energy to look into anything job-wise so I'm still in retail hell for now. The only drawing I've done all year is two Secret Santa gifts in December. I've really struggled with motivation and concentration this year, with reading as well :( I worked out that for music to play on my phone it needs to be in MP3 format so I'm working on converting my library and I will get a larger memory card for my phone. I do still need to get a tablet for writing though and It'll make keeping up with this blog easier. I can't keep taking months to post reviews...

Films
Now onto the film section! This year I only managed to watch 88 films. That's bad for me. Onto the breakdown:

January: 18 of which 4 were animated, 3 musicals, 3 superhero, 2 fantasy, 1 serious and 5 horror. 4 new to me.

February: 5 of which 1 was animated and 4 were fantasy. 3 new to me.

March: 7 of which 3 were animated, 1 superhero and 3 fantasy. 1 new to me.

April: April was a bad month and I watched no films. :(

May: 4 of which 2 were animated and 2 were superhero. All 4 were new to me.

June: 10 of which 4 were animated, 1 superhero, 1 musical, 1 romance, 1 animal and 2 fantasy. 4 new to me.

July: 10 of which 3 were animated, 3 animal and 4 fantasy. 2 new to me.

August: 12 of which 5 were fantasy, 3 were animated, 1 animal, 1 musical, 2 serious. 2 new to me.

September: 2 of which 1 was superhero and 1 was animated.

October: 2 of which 1 was fantasy and 1 was horror. 1 new to me.

November: 3 of which 1 animated, 1 fantasy and 1 serious. 2 new to me.

December: 15 of which 11 were animated, 3 fantasy and 1 serious. 4 new to me.

33 animated so less this year. 27 new to me films I ended up not tracking re-watches like I planned. I may for 2019, I've started a new notebook which is a little bigger and lined so it may be easier.

Total Cinema Trips: 10
I smashed my goal of watching 5 films at the cinema and went 10 times for 8 films!
The Greatest Showman x 2
Black Panther
Avengers: Infinity War
Deadpool 2
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again x 2
Bohemian Rhapsody
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

I haven't yet looked at what's out next year but I think that'll come in my next post with the new resolutions themselves as this has gotten a little long.

Stef Out x

New Years Resolutions 2018

So I thought last year's resolution list of 22 was more manageable but I still only achieved 6 and a bit. The bit was to read 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and I did start it but I'm on book 3 part 1 so I've put on this year's list to finish the series. The one thing I failed that shocked me was that I didn't read my 100 books! That's something I do every year without fail. I guess puppies take up more time than you realise... So here goes:

1. Lose at least two stone.
2. Get at least one piercing.
3. Get at least one tattoo.
4. Refine my clothing style, focus more on quality pieces.
5. Learn to drive.
6. Buy a new car.
7. See at least one stage show.
8. Got to Longleat Safari Park.
9. Get a second dog.
10. Read 100 books.
11. Finish 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series.
12. Watch 100 films.
13. Watch at least 5 films at the cinema.
14. Complete NaNoWriMo.
15. Finish the first draft of a novel.
16. Learn to draw dogs.
17. Improve my equine anatomy.
18. Buy a tablet.
19. Buy an iPod Classic.
20. Find a new career.

The trickiest things are going to be seeing a stage show, that depends on if there's anything decent on. The annoying thing is Wicked is on from pretty much now until March but we don't have the money for tickets at the moment and if we get the money then they'll probably have sold out so we'll see what happens. Shrek is on later in the year so that's a possible, as is the Take That one they did the TV show for.

NaNo is always tricky (this time I burned out and only wrote about 9,000 words) but I have a different plan in mind for 2018. Google docs or something similar on a tablet with a keyboard case. Hopefully that combination will fix the problems I have with speed and portability/ease. I can type faster than hand-writing but my laptop is a bit big and clunky to be bothered with and slower to start up whereas tablets are pretty much instant.

The other troublesome one is likely to be finding a new career. The thing is I'm starting to hate my job more and more. Retail is killing my soul and I don't know how much longer I can stick it. I'm 27 for Christ's sake this is not where I saw my life being, the thing is I've never had any clear idea of what I want to do. The only possible thing I did think of recently was dog grooming but I don't know if the market is too saturated where I live, are there too many? Are there any jobs? I need to research what's available locally in general - next town over is also possible once I learn to drive - and then see if there's anything that will suit me aka not retail, cleaning, office or reception (I struggle with telephones and 'perky face') that doesn't require masses of expensive training.

I'm shocked that I haven't already learned to draw dogs anyway but this year an idea for a project came to me themed around dogs, and then my brain literally just spoke and said why not do a series and include cats and horses too so that'll keep me busy for a few years hypothetically. Equine anatomy always needs improving in my art, I want dynamic, realistic poses!

I know an iPod Classic is an odd thing to want especially as Apple don't even make them any more but the storage size has always appealed to me. I debated just putting a super large SD card in my phone since my Nano died but the music app on my HTC phone is crap and some songs that I know are on the SD card just won't show up in my library which is weird. I even downloaded a music player thing from the app store and even that's not showing them. I don't get it.

I've already lost some weight but recent health crap at the doctors means that losing some more would be a good idea, also I want more freedom of clothing. I don't want to cross-examine a top or dress and debate whether or not it's going to fit me. I also want to buy more things that suit my rainbow goth style. As for piercings and tattoos they're a constant that keep getting pushed each year. Although saying that I did get a tattoo last year, even if it was only because a friend of mine is an apprentice and was doing them for free, I still love it anyway. It's a mandala style moon on my right shin.

Oh something I didn't put on my resolutions list but want to do is figure out a direction for this here blog. I'm thinking maybe more of a book/film review type thing with occasional writing bits thrown in. I originally started it with the intentions of it being a fashion blog but most of the time I'm in a t-shirt and skinny jeans or jogging bottoms because of walking the dog. I did try and take an outfit photo with my new camera a while back but I couldn't get everything in focus so I'm not sure how people who do it solo manage...

Anyway I've written enough for one day so I will leave it there for now.

Stef Out x

New Years Resolutions 2017

Last year I had a massive list of 34 resolutions separated into 3 categories of which I achieved 7 and two of those were halves. *sigh* This year I have a more manageable list of 22.

1. Get my septum pierced.
2. Get my ear re-pierced.
3. Get at least one other piercing.
4. Get at least one tattoo - cover-up or otherwise.
5. Lose at least 2 stone.
6. Refine my personal style.
7. Learn to drive.
8. Get a dog (preferably a Borzoi - to be followed by a Shetland Sheepdog).
9. See a stage show.
10. Go to Longleat Safari Park.
11. Go out for a meal.
12. Read at least 100 books.
13. Read 'A Song of Ice and Fire'.
14. Watch at least 100 films.
15. Buy a new camera.
16. Buy an iPod Classic.
17. Buy some New Rock boots.
18. Buy new wardrobes.
19. Buy new sofas.
20. Finish the first draft of my novel.
21. Blog once a month.
22. Improve my art.

So that's my list. I haven't even bothered to categorise it like last year. I've also left off some of the less achievable things like 'go on a date' XD knowing my history that's kind of unlikely. And things like art goals tend to get forgotten. We'll just have to see what happens.

New Years Resolutions 2016

So I thought I'd post my list of resolutions here just so I've got a digital record. Dunno why, just thought I would. :)

Personal/Appearance

1. Get my right ear re-pierced
2. Get my septum pierced
3. Get my ears pierced at least once more
4. Start stretching my ears (once healed)
5. Get an industrial piercing
6. Get my cover-up tattoo
7. Dye my hair purple
8. Dye my hair with henna
9. Lose at least 2 stone - more like 1
10. Refine/establish my personal style

Finance Related

1. Learn to drive
2. Get a dog (preferably a Borzoi)
3. Buy a laptop
4. Buy an iPod Classic
5. Get Netflix
6. Upgrade the car - battery changed
7. Buy a new camera
8. See Mamma Mia on stage
9. Get Amazon Prime
10. Buy a new phone

General Goals/Aims

1. Read at least 100 books
2. Read A Song of Ice and Fire series
3. Watch at least 100 films
4. Discover 2 new shows
5. Discover 2 new bands/singers
6. Blog at least once a month
7. Do more book reviews
8. Improve my equine art
9. Improve my human art
10. Learn to draw dogs
11. Learn to draw cats
12. Draw a self portrait
13. Finish the first draft of my novel
14. Go on a date

Naturally some of these are more achievable than others. For example the 100 books and films. My challenge history on Goodreads has me at over 100 every year but one where it looks like I didn't set a challenge. In 2013 I even read 213 although it looks like it was a year for short books like my Animal Ark collection (which I did finally let go of last year, at 25 I guess I'm a little older than the target market).

Go on a date seems unlikely but I still wanted to add it. Upgrade the car currently means fix it since the battery appears to have died so depending how things go that may count as that goal being completed.

Oddly things as easy as getting pierced seem to slip furthest down the list. Get my septum pierced has been on my resolutions list since at least 2013 (can't be arsed to check my older diaries) yet I still haven't got round to it. Mum may be tricky regarding the stretching. She's fine with me punching a ton of holes in my ears (almost encourages it) but she hates stretched ears that you can see through. Luckily I wasn't planning on going that big, an 8 or 6 maybe and the only reason I'd actually wear tunnels is so I can still wear my other dangly earrings, unless I just wear them in the next hole up.

Also while it does say about losing weight up there it's not my highest priority. I do want to lose some and I know I need to - my blood pressure has been up my last two nurses visits and while it may be stress related (old awful job the first, starting a new job on Christmas the second and cuffs/machines not working both times) it may also be weight related since I have put some back on. I don't want to be taken of contraception I know works thanks to weight (that happened before at my old surgery). And also I want to wear nicer clothes. I want to fit into Joe Browns main range and all the cool Gothy brands I see around. I want to find the right stuff to be able to wear Dark Mori without looking like I'm wearing a sack. I'm not doing any diets or anything. I'm just walking to and from work and I hope to set up a swimming membership at some point. Possibly around March. Finances should be more free by then. I have a list of books as long as my arm for January and hopefully a laptop for novelling in February. Course it all depends on how much I get and how much mum needs for household stuff.

New Years Resolutions 2015

Personal - Appearance

1. Lose a bit more weight, minimum 1 stone by moving more and eating better.
2. Get my right ear re-pierced.
3. Get my septum pierced.
4. Get both ears pierced again.
5. Start stretching bottom holes once healed.
6. Put dreadlocks in my hair once long enough - may be extended until 2016.
7. Refine my style.
8. Find a new purple hair dye - my current one isn't purple enough. Feel free to suggest, permanent colours only - less upkeep.

Personal - Other

1. Get my provisional license.
2. Learn to drive.
3. Decide a career.
4. Train for career if necessary.
5. Get a better job.
6. Help mum find a new job.
7. Write (finish!) a novel.
8. Go on a date.

Material

1. Buy new phones for mum and I.
2. Buy an external hard drive.
3. Buy a new desktop PC.
4. Buy an iPod Classic - used since they are now out of production (I hate years of bad finances).
5. Buy a Kindle.
6. Buy a laptop.
7. Upgrade the car.

Goals

1. Read at least 100 books.
2. Watch at least 100 films.
3. Finish the Gossip Girl series.
4. Read A Song of Ice and Fire.
5. Read Under the Dome.
6. Discover at least 2 new shows.
7. Discover at least 3 new bands/singers.
8. Improve my equine anatomy.
9. Improve my humans.
10. Draw a self-portrait.

Update April 2015:

A few things have been crossed off which I'm quite pleased about since we're only a few months into the year.

Update November 2015:
I've managed to cross some more things off but as we are now approaching Christmas I probably won't be able to cross off any others. The frustrating one is the weight loss one. I did manage to lose a bit but I've put it back on plus a little bit I think. *Sigh*