happy new year!
2010 was my busiest year for some time mainly due to getting the pioneer leadership training up and running. but that was also probably the most significant thing too and there is a lot to do in the year ahead… but a new year is always time for a bit of reflection so i'll be thinking a bit about what's ahead and what i can do about it.
on the reverb10 web site i blogged about in december one question that caught my eye then was coming up with one word for the year passing and one word for the year to come. full-on (yes i know that's sort of two words) was my word for 2010 – busy but not necessarily negatively so. rhythm was the word i went for for the new year – wanting to get a better rhythm to life between work and play and many other things so intend to try and map out for myself a sort of rhythm of life – maybe with a weekly, monthly, yearly pattern trying to identify some things i want to value and include.
we had an eventful christmas at my younger brother's in devon – it is an amazing location especially in the snow – this was the view from the garden on christmas morning! gorgeous countryside and beaches and even icicles were hanging on the beach. it's also big enough to house all of my side of the family (i'm one of five now with families) so it was wonderful to have a gathering of everyone in the famly which is quite rare these days. i love this photo of my niece. snow on the hills meant tobogans and snowboards were out which was fun. jen and i were cooking christmas lunch while others were out on the slopes. sadly joel fell off the snowboard and broke a collar bone so is now in a sling waiting for possible surgery next week. so i spent christmas lunch watching top of the pops in a and e at the hospital! we headed back to london earlier than planned which has actually been quite a welcome bit of space.
i was given the first three series of madmen on dvd for christmas so amongst other things we have started and are really enjoying that – i hadn't watched a single episode before. jen and i also went to see somewhere at the cinema this week. it hasn't had great reviews but i really liked it – it's a slow measured critique of hollywood celebrity that has lingered with me for a few days now. it's somewhere between lost in translation and the wrestler in terms of mood and theme.
i am not big on new year's resolutions but i do have one this year – this year i am not going to send in a comment on anyone's book manuscript unless they are a very close personal friend! i seem to have become 'book comment man' – not sure how but i'm ducking out of it! and related to that i will only review books that i want to on the blog – i seem to get sent a ton of books that i haven't asked for (and admittedly don't review a load of them as i am so busy). and i guarantee only honest and robust reviews if i do (not much new there).
anyway hello 2011…!