New Year, New Me?

I'm doing that modern tradition of 'New Year's Resolutions' and so far I'm managing to stick to them, but I hope I'm not one of the many people who let them drop by the wayside throughout the year. I am hoping that if I post them publicly, this will encourage me to live up to the expectations I have declared of myself - especially if people encourage me.

Recent photograph of me by Raven

My resolutions are in three main categories: healthier living, happier living, and college.

Healthier Living Resolutions:

1. Eat less cheese, chocolate and other less healthy foods that I tend to over-indulge in. I'm actually not eating either for January - I've eaten the last of what was left over from the festive season, and I'm not buying or eating any more until at least February, and trying to replace these parts of my diet with healthier options - primarily fresh and dried fruit. 
2. Get fitter and less fat. I've put on fat due to a sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet of convenience food, something I have mentioned before. I managed to loose a little fat and ended up about 2 inches thinner all around last year, but then I gained it again. I need to make sure being a student doesn't also mean living unhealthily and not exercising enough, eating unhealthy snack foods, etc. I don't have a problem with this as primarily an aesthetic issue, but as one of me recognising that it's a symptom of my lifestyle in general having become less healthy. 
3. Go for regular walks. I live in a beautiful, beautiful part of the world and I don't spend as much time exploring it as I ought to. Part of that is because I'm really busy with the house and college, and part of that is because I spend too much time on Faceboook, Tumblr, etc. I need to do less of the latter, and I need to do more exercise, in general, and walking is both relaxing and gets me fresh air, exercise and relative quiet, especially if I stay rural and keep away from populated areas. 
4. Go back to martial arts classes. I have loose joints and a co-ordination disorder, and as long as I'm careful in what exercises I do (that I'm doing them properly, and that I work on having the muscle-strength to control the over-flexibility of my joints) and strap up my knees and ankles properly, martial arts help both of those issues. A complex discipline like martial arts really helps with co-ordination, proprioception and kinesthesia. It helps me become far more aware of where all of me is, basically, and what each part of me is doing, and while I'm still clumsy, and I learn things like martial arts far, far slower than my class-mates (I will never be some badass MMA fighter type!), all the time I'm practising regularly I see the improvement in my everyday life. I also found being allowed to hit things a good stress-reliever. I quit to spend more time on my studies, but now I regret it. I need the exercise, but I also need to do these things that really tax my abilities in order to improve them, otherwise I'm a klutz that trips over air, bumps her hand on the hot parts of the cooker and breaks crockery... I suppose I could substitute any other discipline that requires similar co-ordination, like dance or yoga, but martial arts fits my personality better, plus while I'm no expert, I would like to improve my self-defence abilities, especially when I know how rough things can be for those of us who choose to look different. 

This is my "the photoshoot will be ruined by rain" face.
Photograph by Raven. 

Happier Living Resolutions:

1. Spend less time on the internet. This blog is a fun hobby, and e-mails are a useful form of communication. The internet is also a great research resource (Google Scholar is so useful!), but it has its downside; getting into arguments online with strangers, spending too much time idly on social media, being distracted by pages of funny cat/bat/snake memes, and generally wasting time unproductively. I need to less of the latter, and perhaps spend more time on this blog! Last year I only managed 29 blog posts, and that is not enough content!
2. Learn to say "no" to social engagements. I've been trying to override my introverted nature and be too social for my own good, leaving me exhausted. Just being around people too long wears me out, and I get plenty of that at college. I have to be balanced about this, too, as I have reclusive tendencies, but I also have to respect my own boundaries and not just blindly agree to every time I am invited to see friends or have a coffee. I'm also very much not a fan of loud, busy places - so a lot of bars and clubs are more torturous than fun in my opinion, and I need to be more assertive in saying that I don't want to go to those sorts of places. I am a "yes" to cemetery picnics and a "no" to Friday night drinks. 
3. Draw and paint more. I love art, and I love working on artistic projects, but these days I haven't done much in the way of art and crafting - a lot of the time it's because college has to take precedence, but keeping my artistic skills up to scratch is important to my architecture studies, plus it's very rewarding. I also have quite a few unfinished art projects that I just want to get done. 

This was a test photo of me looking at a tree by Raven

Studious Resolutions:

1. Spend more time on Revit. Revit, for those who aren't in architecture, is a piece of software that is 'building information modelling' - which in ordinary terms means that it models various properties of a building as well as its 3D shape, and allows for information like which company makes something, what phase of construction it's in, or whatnot, to be included. Very powerful software, and an important part of my college course is learning to use it, but I really struggle with it; it's so different from anything I've done before - heck, before uni, I hadn't done any 3D modelling at all. Learning 2D CAD and technical drawing was more a case of applying what I know of doing it traditionally to a new medium, but 3D building information modelling is something completely new. The only way to improve is to practice, and I hate practising because it's an unrewarding battle with something that mostly frustrates me, but I have to, so I will. 
2. Tidy my study. My study has ended up something of a storage room instead of a quiet place to work; it's full of crates, books, etc. It's hard to move in there, let alone get any studying done, so it needs a clear out! Because of the amount of junk that has been shifted in there as we decorate (and really, refurbish) other areas of our house, it's become rather cluttered, so this is a significant task. 
3. Manage my time better. I struggle with time management - partly because I have a couple neurological issues that mean I have problems like no sense of how much time has passed, and with remaining on task (I have short-term memory issues), but I've got a tablet computer now, and apps and software to help - I use countdown timers a lot, for example, and it's easier to have one on my computer than keep taking the one from the kitchen - plus I'm trying to schedule my time better with time-tables, etc. I got behind last term, and I don't want to repeat that.  

Those are my 10 resolutions for this year. I really hope I can keep to them.

The photos interspersing these are the best photos from the first attempted photoshoot of 2017 and are all by Raven. Unfortunately, bad weather came in and ruined it all, which means I'll have to try again soon. The jacket is by DarkStar and the jabot and shirt by PunkRave. My hair is dyed with Directions Apple Green, Stargazer UV Green and Directions Alpine Green, with the UV Green as highlights at the front, and the Alpine Green as lowlights in the lower layers. It's washed out a little since I did it, hence why it is a little more pastel than my usual vivid green. 

New Year!

Happy New Year everybody! 

Click this pic!

I have New Year's Resolutions, and I have tried to pick ones that I can actually do, with measurable targets and realistic goals. None of this abstract stuff that's too wishy washy to stick to, and nothing too impossible either. I have 13 New Year's Resolutions as it is the year 2013. 

I am entering this post in Sophistique Noir's monthly theme. It's not an outfit post, but hopefully it's suitable. One of the things I am trying to do on this blog is cut down on outfit posts; I don't want this to become just another fashion blog. There will still be photographs, just fewer of my clothes.

❅ Sporty Resolutions

Sport used to be a much bigger part of my life than it is now, and I now have this gap where it used to be. I'm not quite as fit as I used to be, too. It's not just missing the actual activities themselves, I miss the social aspect, especially with the roller derby girls.

1)Get back into roller derby!

I stopped going to Derby because I simply couldn't afford it. I've decided to make sure I re-adjust my budgeting (including walking more so I spend less on transport, which is part of another resolution...) to have enough for one session of Derby per week, and to put all loose change in my Gear Fund. I've got most of my own protective gear (am picking up a nice neon green helmet soon! whee!) but I can't afford my own skates. I've been using stuff from the team gear pool, and I feel like a cheap-skate (pardon the terrible pun.)

2)Walk more. 

Theoretically I could walk my commute to work and do 15 miles of walking per day. I could also walk from work into town for my lunch, and walk back again. Actually, that part I often do! Anyway, in winter I am awfully tempted by that £9.50 for 7 day's unlimited bus journeys around the city, and try and maximise that ticket's value for money by going places by bus, out of the cold and rain, instead of walking. This is a bit lazy. Obviously, if there is a howling gale and driving rain, I will probably still take the bus, but if it's just grey or drizzly, I am going to walk more.

3)Join an archery club again.

I have posted before about my love of archery, and am wanting to get back into the sport. I really miss it! I've heard that there is another local club, and that they have indoor archery in winter, and outdoor archery in summer, and apparently they have space for new members.

4)Join a Gym.

I know this is a common goal, and most people don't stick it out past january, but looking at my funds, I won't be able to afford this until April, anyway. I am quite an active person anyway, and am not looking to "get fit", I'm looking to address certain specific things in order to improve my performance at the sports I do. 

5)Join a new martial arts class.

When I lived in England, I was learning Chen style Taijiquan and really enjoyed it. In Inverness there is an exercise and relaxation type Taiji class, but no martial Taijiquan class. There is, however a Wing Tsun class; I know how Wing Tsun split away from Wing Chun and how while there are a few similarities, it has quite different principals to Taijiquan, and suchlike, but it still looks interesting. There is also a Kung Fu place that does a variety of Chinese martial arts, but the classes are completely out of my price range. 

❅ Life Resolutions

These are more general resolutions, for everyday life. There's not really a theme to them, there just things I want to do over the year.

1) Budget better

I sometimes impulse buy, and quite frequently get lost as to what is incoming and what is out-going. When my outgoings exceed my income, this becomes a problem. I have set up, with lots of help from my Dad, a spreadsheet that should really help with this.

2)Make Sure Raven & I Have 1 Date-Night Per Month. 

We both work, we both lead busy lives, we often are both really tired in the evening, and it ends up with neither of us really wanting to cook, and both of us engrossed in our computers or a book, or some other form of minimal-effort entertainment. Putting aside some time connect more seems like a good idea, and having a specific 'date night' means that it's a scheduled enjoyable event we can look forwards to, especially when work or other things in life get stressful.

3)Go Out And Socialise More. 

I am REALLY outgoing once you get to know me, but I'm... actually a bit shy and awkward in person with new people. I'm quiet, and tend not to open conversations, but I'm friendly enough with most people, if they talk to me, but even if we do talk, I rarely talk to people again. I'm friendly with everyone, but friends with too few. Most of my good friends, my really good friends, are either in England or Wales, and hundreds of miles from where I am now. I've been here nearly a year and a half, and yet I don't have very many friends up here. 

4)Restart My Daily Gratitudes

I used to write a list of 10 things I was thankful for, everyday. This was something I did to take my attention away from things I wanted, and put it towards appreciating the things I already had. It sadly fell by the way side as a daily thing, and I would like to start doing it again. I would write the list 'blind' to the previous lists, and it was interesting to see what variety of things I came up with. I actually have a lot to be thankful for in life, but I often get quite miserable. Perhaps restarting the daily gratitudes will help me be a less miserable person.

5)Keep A Diary

Somewhere in the middle of last year, I stopped keeping a diary. I think I came to the conclusion that my days just were not interesting enough. Hopefully, if I work on making my days more interesting, I will write them down again! 

❅Blogging Resolutions

My last three resolutions are to do with blogging. There's a few things I can do to improve, and here are the first three I came up with. 

1) Put a new music post up every Monday

I liked my musical Monday idea, and I like doing showcase posts for bands I feel are not well-known or appreciated enough. I'm not one of those Goths who prides herself on the obscurity of my music knowledge; I figure that I should share good things I come across so that others can enjoy them. Goth is a subculture that thrives of creativity, and it should not be one dominated by a handful of big bands, because there's a lot of very good small bands, too!

2) Blog at least twice a week. 

I have been plagued by uncertainties and worries about blogging recently, and haven't had the motivation and inspiration to blog much. I hope to remedy my lack of blogging and post more. I think I will end up writing more opinion pieces. Fashion posts/outfit posts/decor posts seem to all be a bit of a cop-out from writing something more interesting and substantial. 

3) Link more to other blogs. 

There's some very interesting blogging out there, especially in terms of good craft tutorials. I will do a monthly round up of stuff I found that was interesting in terms of other bloggers. 

Hopefully I will do a reasonable job of keeping to my resolutions and I will update people with interesting developments on my blog.