First and rightfully so, I’d like to focus more on reading and writing. I currently have a nice selection of books on my desk at home that I’m reading through and fully intend to continue soaking up the written word. Conversely, I also would like to focus more on writing more, as intended with starting Clovis Pulse. The site has started off slow, but ideas between myself, David, and Crysti are continuing to brew and we plan on doing some fun stuff in the next year with the site. I also have many journals I’ve been given throughout the years and think it would be fun to pick up a pen every once and a while, even if it’s just to write something as simple as a haiku. Words inspire me to produce more words.

Fitness and nutrition will also be a priority in 2010. Almost three years ago, I was in the best shape of my life, eating right, and exercising heaps. I want to get back on that wagon, as I miss running. A big focus for 2010 is going to be regaining energy lost from laziness and eating poorly. That’s right, I’m talking about more vegetables, granola, and cooking my own meals. I plan on using Traineo.com to help me organize and motivate this effort.

Finally, 2009 was the year I started my own freelancing business. I was tasked with helping the Clovis Police Department develop a new website, along with a few other projects. In 2010, I aim to buckle down even more with a variety of clients, with my biggest goal being to help people develop websites and social networking awareness, and also to build and focus on my web design portfolio. The biggest challenge is juggling the two hats of print designer and web designer. I look forward to studying and practicing new skills, as well as sharpening old ones, in order to continue to pursue my second professional passion.

Cheers, to a happy and healthy Twenty-Ten!

And then it occurred to me: doing business and coming up with (and executing) new ideas is a lot like archery. Now I haven’t picked up a bow in many years, but hear me out. Let’s say you have a quiver of arrows on your back, and in your lifetime you only take one arrow and shoot it down range, fully expecting a bulls eye. Slim chance unless you’re an expert archer and marksman. What’s wrong with being the type of archer who is grabbing multiple arrows and taking lots of different shots, sometimes at different targets? Which archer is going to have a better shot at the bulls eye. That bulls eye could be the next big thing.

Whether you apply this to business or even spending time doing something new with your family, I think we should shoot many arrows. Many will be a hit, some will be a complete bust, but at least you had the courage to try.

[This post is also published on SoulFoodRevolution.com, where I am going to begin doing a semi-regular guest column.]

Another project on my plate will be designing and launching Mitch Gray’s new website, SoulFoodRevolution.com. Mitch has some great ideas to help promote his books and seminars, and I’m excited to help him develop a site that will be rich in video content. Stay tuned for that one for sure.

Freelancing has officially begun, with three clients currently on board for web design services. It should be lots of fun, but also pretty involved, as the biggest project is a more ambitious website for the Clovis Police Department.

This month I’ve also been doing a lot of miscellaneous work for the Curry County Centennial, making use of a logo I designed in mid-2008. I put together a DVD with many historic photos of Clovis and Curry County, and I’m debating putting a version of this on YouTube. I really think it needs to be seen by more people, but sadly the photos are not my own to do as I please with them. I’ll be posting a better downloadable version of the logo in February.

So what’s on the horizon for the rest of the year? I’ve met a few local people on Twitter who are involved in web design and developement, and I’m thinking about starting a local web group. Another excuse to get coffee and “talk shop!” On that note, I’m also hoping to get the ball rolling on LEMUG soon, and perhaps a Spring launch would be more realistic.

With that being said, I’m caving and compiling a short list of resolutions:

• Read more
• Keep camera at my side
• Take more photos (see above)
• Accomplish one major home improvement task each month
• Rekindling my love for drawing/sketching
• Make healthier eating decisions
• Strive to control clutter while reducing urges for material possessions

I don’t want to go too overboard, but that seems like a good start! Happy New Year everyone!

• Keeping my backyard picked up
• Not giving my dogs enough attention (remember this?)
• I started two books (at least) that I did not finish
• Cooking a meal for my family at least once a week
• Spending too much money on Virtual Console and WiiWare games for the Nintendo Wii
• Spending hours watching bad reality shows on VH1 when I could have been more productive
• Not letting my wife pick more movies on Netflix
• I should have blogged a lot more

What do you wish you could have done better or more of in 2008? Let me know in the comments! I’m still debating if I should post a list of New Years resolutions for 2009, but if I were, it would probably look something like Kevin Rose’s list.

Even if you are not a graphic designer or photographer, take a look at a couple of my favorite posts from Smashing Magazine:

50 Stunning Examples of Reflective Photography

50 Beautiful Winter Wonderland Photos

Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

50 Stunning Underwater Photos

25 Beautiful Macro Photography Shots

As you can guess, there are far too many to list. I’ll save some more for a rainy day. Thanks, Smashing Magazine!

Did I go too far?

A few months ago, another stranger texted me asking if I could email their school paper to them, the one they had “typed on my computer.” They weren’t too happy when I texted them back and told them I deleted it.

Does this type of behavior make me a bad person, or a fun-loving jerk? Let me know in the comments! I just got a sudden craving for snow crab and biscuits.

I blame photography. When I bought my PowerBook almost 5 years ago, I was taking photos with a Canon PowerShot S50 and the typical photo was about 2 MB total. Today, I’m shooting with a Canon DSLR (Rebel XT), which shoots 8 megapixels in JPEG and RAW simultaniously. All jargon aside, this means my hard drive is filling up FAST, like a scout troop in quicksand and there’s no rope in sight.

Sure, I could get a new hard drive, but a new computer would give me a boost in speed, giving me more time to focus on creatively editing my photos in either Photoshop or Aperture. I have spent enough time in iPhoto to know that it is no longer meeting my needs. Those are the easy questions to answer. The brain stumper is currently whether to go with one of the sweet new MacBooks, or shell out for the 24-inch iMac.

Sure, money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does buy new gear! And with new gear comes a whole host of new abilities and ideas. 2009, here we come!