I’m back! That’s right. The Republic of Resistentialism is back and the plan is to keep it active going forward. What might you find here? Well that is an excellent question. The answer is it could be anything from information about me to whatever topic grabs my attention that week to reviews of the anime/manga/books/movies/music/games; and, of course, messages to the resistance fighting against our future robotic oppressors.

 As to today’s post, I want to talk a little bit of about 2014 and some of my goals and plans for 2015. 2014 was a challenging year, let’s look at some of its highlights and low-lights.

• Highlight: seeing Mike Doughty perform live at the Dakota Jazz Club (in Minneapolis, Minnesota)
• Low-light: a major bout of depression that started last winter
• Highlight: working with Trevor, Dave, Renee, Bryan, Mark, Cory, Gary, and Sonja in Business Systems through the end of the year at MakeMusic. (There are many other people I enjoyed working with at MakeMusic but don’t have room to name them all here.)
• Low-light: MakeMusic moving to Boulder, Colorado
• Highlight: Finding a new job in the eleventh hour (about a month before MakeMusic “closed” its Eden Prairie offices)
• Low-light: dealing with a number of drug side-effects while trying to get my depression under control
• Highlight: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (which I have completed twice with my good friend Ryan)
• Low-light: my good friend Tim moving to Portland, Oregon. (Tim is still my friend.)
• Highlight: Anime Fusion 2014, Anime Detour 2014, and GameHoleCon
• Low-light: My friend Chris’ divorce. (I love ya, brother.)
• Highlight: my 46th birthday party arranged and run by my good friends Inna and Andrew, and attended by all of my close friends. Thank you all for coming and making my 46th birthday one of the best I’ve had in a while.
• Low-light: Having a panic attack in a MRI machine
• Highlight: Playing D&D (and other games) with my good friend Dave Olson. In fact, just having Dave as a friend made my year better.
• Low-light: lots of insomnia
• Highlight: Attending The 2014 Pikes Peak Prophecy Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (I was able to meet and speak with Stan Deyo, a man I have admired ever since I heard him on PID Radio many years ago.)
• Low-light: a lot of chronic back pain. (This was particularly bad in 2014. I am surprised I am not addicted to painkillers.)
• Highlight: supporting my friends Sharon and Derek Gilbert as they stepped into full time ministry
• Highlight: hanging out with friends while enjoying good food and/or good beer. You all know who you are. Thank you helping me get through this difficult year.
• Highlight: my wife, Chris, and I make in though very tough year together. I love you, baby!

(For those of you counting, yes, there are more highlights than low-lights isn’t that how it should be?)

 Other things of note in specific categories:

• Favorite Book: this is a hard one, I’ve read and listened to so many great books this year, but if I have to choose one, I would go with Zombies and Shit by Carlton Mellick III. Coming in second, I would put Subject 11 by Jeffrey Thomas.
• Favorite Anthology: this would be a trade off between Unholy Dimensions by Jeffrey Thomas and Dead Clown Barbecue by Jeff Strand. Both are excellent collections of horror stories.
• Favorite Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy (awesome space opera for the win!)
• Favorite Album: although it isn’t new, I would go with Lust in Phaze: The Best of Soul Coughing by Soul Coughing.
• Favorite Song: according to Spotify the song I listen to the most in 2014 was Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham; but I would go with either KMAG YOYO by Hayes Carll or Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum.
• Favorite Manga: Biomega by Tsutomu Nihei
• Favorite Anime: a tie between Psycho Pass and Arpeggio of Blue Steel. Very different series, but I enjoyed them both equally.
• Favorite Game: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
• Favorite Podcast: Welcome to Night Vale

 I think that is enough of a recap. Now for what’s in store (or at least my goals) for this new adventure called 2015.

 General Goals:

• Enjoy the adventure that life is more
• Love more
• Hang out with my friends more
• To see Davina and The Vagabond play live
• Take more pictures

 Specific Goals:

•  Eat more fruits and vegetables everyday (at least 5 servings)
• Read or listen to 50 books (Follow my progress on Goodreads)
• Write 52 blog article to be posted here (hopefully one per week)
• Attend at least 10 live music events (Cons do not count)
• Watch 5 complete anime series
• Work out 3 days a week (as by back allows)
• Go to at least 3 non-Con ATC (Anime Twin Cities) events

 Events I am planning to attend:

•  Anime Detour 2015 (You can find me in the art showroom working or in the hotel bar with friends mostly.)
•  No Brand Con 2015 (You’ll find me going crazy as I don’t have any responsibilities at this con. I plan to enjoy it with my wife.)
•  Anime Fusion 2015 (I’ll be working in the programming depart and sitting panels. Once I have a schedule of my panels I will post it here.)
•  GameHoleCon 2015 (If I get my act together I may be running a game of M-Force, if it ever comes out, Monster Hunter International, or other odd-ball game.)

Well that’s it. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post about my adventures in 2014 and future adventures 2015. I hope you continue to include my blog in your journey through life.