End of Year Review
Dec. 31st, 2006 09:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nockergeek2006 finally winds down to a close tonight. It's a good time for looking back at the year's highlights for me.
The biggest highlights, of course, were on the domestic front.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
the_z and I bought our first house this year... and around the same time, learned that she was going to have a baby. It feels like a natural progression - going from being slackers who just rent to "responsible adults" who contribute to the population. :P In the past, we hadn't been too keen on the idea of children (apart from the occasional tickings of Z's biological clock), but thanks to a brief pregnancy scare in the spring, it gave us (and especially me) the chance to make piece with the idea, and now we're looking forward to having a bouncing baby girl.
There were other big changes, too. Z lost her job at the comic book store, and as a side effect, I stopped collecting comics and CCGs. Comics weren't a big thing - I'd only started collecting again when she started there - but CCGs were something that had been a part of my life for almost a dozen years. I still have most of my cards, but I haven't bought any new ones in almost 11 months. While there was some bitterness about how everything went down (which, I'm happy to say, I was finally able to set aside), it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it allowed Z more time to focus on her art career.
Speaking of which, it was our most successful con season year. The big surprise was AnimeIowa, where we did over twice the business we did the year before. I think AnimeIowa almost edged out A-Kon as our biggest gross intake. It definitely was the most profitable, due to the lower costs involved in getting there and staying there. This year also saw us getting a good, solid printer for doing prints, rather than having to go out to OfficeMax or Kinko's to get them. Costwise, it's roughly the same, but the flexibility it's given us (especially for doing on-demand keychains and adult-oriented material) has more than made up for it.
This year saw me leading my own guild in World of Warcraft. It also saw me end my involvement in that game. These two facts are not entirely unrelated, but I don't blame my guild. Honestly, I think I was just nearing burnout, and a number of additional factors just made stepping away feel like the best option. It's not a decision I regret in the least.
Speaking of games, I also started running my first tabletop RPG in over a decade, and despite some trepidation at first (due to my general fear of failure and my obsession with having everything just right), it's been wonderful. It's helped me learn to improvise again, both in terms of playacting and of thinking on my feet. I've got a great group of players, and they give me a lot to work with. I just hope I'm doing the same for them. :)
One other blast from the past - at year's end, I officially got back into Warhammer 40k. It's something I hadn't done since college (and I haven't painted any miniatures since I started WoW), but I'm looking forward to playing againsttim_almasy and kbrighton. I even have Z's blessing on this one (which was a pleasant surprise), so I foresee a lot of mini painting and wargaming in 2007.
Finally, 2006 marked my final full year as a 20-something. Next year, I turn 30. I'll be 30, have a 9-to-5 job, a wife, a kid, a dog, and a mortgage. Welcome to adulthood, neh?
The biggest highlights, of course, were on the domestic front.
the_z and I bought our first house this year... and around the same time, learned that she was going to have a baby. It feels like a natural progression - going from being slackers who just rent to "responsible adults" who contribute to the population. :P In the past, we hadn't been too keen on the idea of children (apart from the occasional tickings of Z's biological clock), but thanks to a brief pregnancy scare in the spring, it gave us (and especially me) the chance to make piece with the idea, and now we're looking forward to having a bouncing baby girl.There were other big changes, too. Z lost her job at the comic book store, and as a side effect, I stopped collecting comics and CCGs. Comics weren't a big thing - I'd only started collecting again when she started there - but CCGs were something that had been a part of my life for almost a dozen years. I still have most of my cards, but I haven't bought any new ones in almost 11 months. While there was some bitterness about how everything went down (which, I'm happy to say, I was finally able to set aside), it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it allowed Z more time to focus on her art career.
Speaking of which, it was our most successful con season year. The big surprise was AnimeIowa, where we did over twice the business we did the year before. I think AnimeIowa almost edged out A-Kon as our biggest gross intake. It definitely was the most profitable, due to the lower costs involved in getting there and staying there. This year also saw us getting a good, solid printer for doing prints, rather than having to go out to OfficeMax or Kinko's to get them. Costwise, it's roughly the same, but the flexibility it's given us (especially for doing on-demand keychains and adult-oriented material) has more than made up for it.
This year saw me leading my own guild in World of Warcraft. It also saw me end my involvement in that game. These two facts are not entirely unrelated, but I don't blame my guild. Honestly, I think I was just nearing burnout, and a number of additional factors just made stepping away feel like the best option. It's not a decision I regret in the least.
Speaking of games, I also started running my first tabletop RPG in over a decade, and despite some trepidation at first (due to my general fear of failure and my obsession with having everything just right), it's been wonderful. It's helped me learn to improvise again, both in terms of playacting and of thinking on my feet. I've got a great group of players, and they give me a lot to work with. I just hope I'm doing the same for them. :)
One other blast from the past - at year's end, I officially got back into Warhammer 40k. It's something I hadn't done since college (and I haven't painted any miniatures since I started WoW), but I'm looking forward to playing against
tim_almasy and kbrighton. I even have Z's blessing on this one (which was a pleasant surprise), so I foresee a lot of mini painting and wargaming in 2007.Finally, 2006 marked my final full year as a 20-something. Next year, I turn 30. I'll be 30, have a 9-to-5 job, a wife, a kid, a dog, and a mortgage. Welcome to adulthood, neh?
