*represses the urge to do a "best of" list*

A lot of people whose works I frequent on this here interweb have already written "end of the year" musings. I had planned to leave mine up until, well, as close to the end of the year as I can manage, but as this may be the last time I can garuntee bloggage until the new year I'm doing it now.

2005 started out to a fantastic start for me. I finally settled in to a school that I thought had no place for me. I turned a corner with my acting and my writing. I developed close and important friendships with people in Chicago.

People started to read this blog, and I found therein a fantastic way to hone my skills as a storyteller. In the process I met some really awesome people. You all know who you are.

I joined a community theater troupe in the summer to keep in the game. As a result I put in my best performance ever, and established myself with a theater company that I'll be able to pitch my own play to for next summer (I really need to get on that) I also met even more cool people.

Of course the downside of the year, even the good parts, was that it saw new levels of sexual frustration that a keen analytical mind might have noticed in my writing. Though now that I think about it it's entirely possible that it would take an analytical mind three times as keen as mine. It's easy to find something if you know it's there.

Then around comes September and I'm eager to get back to school, when that entire business gets shot to hell. And it's not to say that the past few months have been entirely bad, its just that the few bright points were white spots on a field of black, as just about all of my friends were at school, some of whom at a school where I should have been. It sounds cliché I know, but having this space has helped with this a lot. So thank you all.

Of course in the world outside me some worse stuff happened in 2005, but we all know that.

So, as for 2006? My situation isn't going to be improving very quickly. Hopefully I'll make it back to Chicago in September, but I'm pretty much stuck here until then.

There are some things to look forward to in '06 though; at least in the way of pop culture. There will be new studio albums by Tool, Radiohead, Mogwai, and The Mars Volta. Also, Clerks 2 is coming out along with, and Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest, Carmen Sandiego, Cthulhu, and Get Smart (with Steve Carrell as Agent 86) And those were just the ones I bothered to look up.

So, lately I've been eschewing the idea of a New Year's Resolution. This year I vow to just cold kick ass at life. To, in the words of my good friend Bernie, who still has yet to reply to his Absurdity Jam invite, "Exist Harder." So on that note, I leave you with a Twain quote

Let us endeavor so to live that when we die, even the undertaker shall be sorry

Happy New Year, everyone.