Reviews and Resolutions

This year I've been able to do everything I set out to do at the end of last year. I got elected (twice), got promoted, and got my home in order. The respect and attention are rising (although people still find it extremely hard to spell my first name correctly), the attraction and interest is growing (from people I would not have expected).

Of course there were setbacks, from all the garbage I had to put up with (literally), to the nervousness I endured about new job offers and late furniture orders. And of course that stretch goal of meeting that very, very special someone...

Now for the coming year we're going for:

• new wheels!
• higher returns-on-investment in love, life and liberty
  
• leadership role in the workplace
• more pictorials on my camera phone!
• cooking a three-course meal
  
• dancing salsa
  
• speaking rudimentary (but understandable) Japanese, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese and Turkish
  
• a clean sweep in my Heart-Head-Gut predictions!
  

Things nobody wants to know about 2006

Music
Band du jour: The Feeling (with two nice top-class singles spanning the last 12 months ['Sewn' and 'Fill my little world'] this band has finally hit the limelight. Inoffensive, unlike Coldplay; Underplayed, unlike Keane; and Truly Engaging, unlike U2)

Honorable mention: Sandi Thom - Smile, It Confuses People

Games
Videogame I played most this year: Warhammer 40K: Dawn Of War: Dark Crusade (and only because I got tired of simulating yet another NBA Live season)

Honorable mention: Does The Sims count if you only use it to model your house?

Sports
Most tragic sports moment: 2006 Lakeside final, Jelle Klaassen beats four-time winner Raymond van Barneveld (Barney gets booed off the stage, tail between legs. His coup to tie former five-time winner Eric Bristow at the Lakeside failed miserably; Jelle runs off to smooch with his girlfriend... who just so happens not to be his girlfriend anymore six months later)

Honorable mention: Andre Agassi saying goodbye at the US Open (would have won the award, if I didn't think the crying was a little bit over the top)
Honorable mention 2: Zidane. I don't need to say more I think.

Movies
Picture I most wanted to see, but didn't: Clerks 2 (supposedly Kevin Smith's worst outing, but I have yet to pass judgement)

Honorable mention: Cars; X-Men 3; Da Vinci Code (Bought them all on DVD)

Television
Stay-at-home-for-this: Bones (Dr. Brennan is strangely, naively hot; and the show kicks ass in every corner of the globe)

Honorable mention: House MD (Got the entire first and second season on DVD already, so don't need to stay at home)

Finally, some memorable quotes I heard this year (thanks, to all sources, notably Gerard):

• "When Jezus died, it took him 3 days to respawn... NOW THATS WHAT I CALL LAG!!!" (someone who plays first-person shooters)
  
• "The day that a child realises that all adults are imperfect he becomes an adolescent, the day he forgives them he becomes a man"
• 'I thought you didn't hold a grudge'
  'I don't. I have no surviving enemies.'
  (Delinquent Habits - Everyday)
• Nothing is as equally distributed as common sense; everybody thinks he's got plenty.
• {makes sense only in Dutch} Het is niet toevallig dat beleid en debiel uit dezelfde letters bestaan.
• {makes sense only in Dutch} De vraag des levens is: Gaan we Door of Slaan we Af. Maar voor de meeste mensen is het: Slaan we Door of Gaan we Af.
  

Things I've noticed in 2006

Apart from all the things I've learned in 2006, there are also some news snippets that I happened to come across this year that were either unsettling, noteworthy, funny or simply strange.

• Jerry Stackhouse fouls Shaquille O'Neal into the stands during Game 4 of the 2006 NBA Finals... and not just by any small amount either... funny thing is, Shaq is 7' 1", 325 pounds; Jerry is 6' 6", 218. And yet Stackhouse - a full seven foot smaller and over 100 pounds lighter - manages to knock Shaq into the second ring. Even funnier: 6' 4", 212 Dwyane Wade manages to stop O'Neal from going after Stackhouse.
• And that means I have to note this year's best known sports hit, Zidane-Materazzi at the World Cup Final. I've already mentioned the brilliance of Zidane's actions, but HOW HARD was that head butt in the first place!
• On a sadder note: Tamara Wolfers managed to get the city square completely filled to the brim... after getting killed in her home this past summer. The thing I have trouble with, is that the person or the people who killed her in the first place, are probably ruthless enough to not let anyone know about it. What's the point of asking then?
• Less serious, but still tragic: the Bos en Lommer complex where people got forced out of their newly minted apartments because the floor cracked... Of course I have a lot of recognition with my own situation this year, and I found out one of my old classmates was actually being interviewed on television!

Next time, let's talk about the cool awards for this year!

Things I've learned in 2006

• It's rather hard to give sincere compliments; it's possibly even harder to give sincere compliments that are in fact negative. And yet there's one that works about 90 percent of the time: insecurity. If you tell some girl she's insecure, she's not gonna slap you upside the head. She's not gonna yell at you, call you names. However, she will feel empowered because (finally) someone else noticed a trait in her that she values greatly.
• I used to think my most important motivation in life was to be right all the time. Win all negotiations, win every discussion, always be the (moral) victor; Although it is still an important motivation, there's one that trumps it: getting asked. I don't need to be right all the time, but I value greatly that everyone comes to me first for everything. That's why I put myself upfront for the owners' association, and the works council, and proposals at work, and giving training and so on and so on. And sometimes this snowballs and consumes me whole.
  
• I am completely unwilling to take a risk to be truly and completely happy in love. Several different opportunities presented themselves in which clearly one more step from me could seal the deal. And every single time I choose to back away instead. Now if I just keep doing that, it ceases being bad luck, and just becomes symptomatic. I choose to be unhappy, because otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Nope, it's not a unique feeling I'm sure, but it is one that can only be felt and carried within.
  
• I learned people from my past apparently think I'm worth looking up, even after an extremely long amount of time. I didn't learn however why exactly. Given my newly found most important motivation, I am extremely honoured by it, but understand it I don't. I mean, have you seen me back then?
• Pro-action is a misunderstood concept; there's only this trait that allows you to remember everything and prepare for everything well ahead of time. It is being careful and disciplined. You react to gaps and issues, and that's not pro-action, it is a re-action. Except in this case the action is taken before the issue, instead of after. The concept pro-action people speak of and value highly should not be called like that. It should be entrepreneurship.
  
• People think and feel as they do, because they do. Your success in society depends greatly on if you can convince many or if you can convince key people to match your thinking and/or feelings. And you have to. If you just sit still and hope everyone will eventually make the world as it should be ideally, then you can wait for a bloody long time. Just like pro wrestling, you need to sell it to pop the crowd.
• I don't have a problem with my salary. I do however have a problem with what I am able to do with it. I perceive that given my environment, experience, track record, skills, attitude, strength, education etc. I should be able to go out every week, fly out for a vacation twice a year, buy and maintain an appartment, buy reasonably nice stuff, get proper health care, drive a nice car and so on. I should be trusted to be able to do so, but society doesn't, so I have to cave a little: no nice car, no second vacation. The solution is simple: Either my salary goes up, or the prices overall go down.
• The Flop, The Turn, The River
• Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and French
• No matter how well I prepare presentations or sales pitches, it becomes completely irrelevant to how I feel during the actual pitch. If the body gives out, the body gives out. Nothing I can do about it.
  

2005's Most Memorable

Sometime ago I started a collection, which mentions everything that made a cool or otherwise memorable impression on me, and deserve to be recognized as such. Each year new things get added to the list. These are the things that get added from 2005:

- buying my first house (any first time goes on the list, so does this)

- Lucie Silvas - Breathe In (very nice album; bit of a throwback to Delta Goodrem, but it's been awhile since such a sound hit the airwaves, so huzzah)

- Paul Stoddard, Minardi Team Boss, goes off on a tirade during the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis (I've never heard anyone in pro sports go off like that on live TV; absolutely hilarious)

- Hitch (Will Smith and Kevin James all the way. The dance sequence is priceless!)

- Gran Turismo 4 (any video game that can single-handedly completely refresh my car knowledge deserves mention here)

- the London bombings (you try not to let it bother you, but if you're going there and there's some kind of terror threat present, you are going to be a bit more nervous)

- working abroad / going abroad for the job (that's another one of my career goals checked off, even if it's only for short stints)

- Batman Begins (most surprising, because I didn't think a movie with Christian Bale would be any good. But he worked out far better than Clooney and Kilmer and even Keaton could muster.)

- Eddie Guerrero's death. (my thoughts about this already discussed here)

- Leil Lowndes - How to Talk (as far as literature is concerned, it has been a very slow year yet again. However there was a book I got a lot out of, and it's this one. Some people won't need it, but I found it helpful, so there.)

- Special Sports (very chic sporty place; quite expensive, but considering it's got all the amenities in one place, I can live with that)

- Danica Patrick (any girl who can drive race cars instantly gets my attention; any girl who looks like that, gets my undivided attention; any girl who does both... well... you do the math.)

- Oracle (the all conquering database corporation is now Peoplesoft/Siebel as well; second only in sheer step-all-over-everyone to...)

- Google (Google Earth, Blogger, Gmail, Google Talk, Froogle, Google Analytics, Google Base, Picasa, Google Desktop, Google Maps...)

- my new catchphrase: crappa della tutti crappis

Plenty of good stuff this year all in all. But next year there's a lot to look forward to: big events, major happenings, good memories...

See you next year!

Capricorns Take Control In New Year, News at Eleven

The end of the year is a good moment to open up the yearly forecasts for (western) horoscopes. Let me take one of those 'scopes that talk about 2006 for my star sign...

Here's what one says about Capricorn (Cappy) for three subjects: love life, career and health:

Love life: Cappy is taking the home situation for granted, and is too focused on work. Communication will see Cappy through. Come November/December trust is regained.

Career: Cappy is ambitious and drives for a function in leadership. The ability to inspire people is a skill that is trained (and taught!) in the first quarter of the year. An opportunity arises in November/December, so make sure to look out for it.

Health: Cappy needs a break, so he needs to plan in moments of total relaxation. Don't eat fatty foods too much.

Of course anybody can read a horoscope how they want to read it, but for me it does show me a possible direction, with enough hooks to take advantage of the good and the positive.

And no, I am not going to do horoscopes for all the star signs. If you're a Cappy as well, you're in luck. The others, well... tough. Go look up your own sign on something like Yahoo Astrology.