I don’t know if I’m feeling a bit of a post-holiday depression or what, but the last few days I’ve been feeling increasingly listless, or do I mean shiftless.

There are a lot of things I want to get done this year, and it makes sense to make a start, but I just can’t be bothered right now.

At least I managed to build up my motivation to a sufficient level to get some baking done, you should smell my banana bread, oh boy.  Just 15 minutes to go and it comes out of the oven.

Things I want to get done, well Claire actually listed a couple of them on her site, but let’s see now…

• Sell a painting.  I really enjoy painting, lately I’ve been playing with a new direction in style and I think it’s working out really well – you can be the judge of this I guess, look at the painting I gave my mother for Christmas, that’s what I’m talking about.
• Finish one of my books.  Any one of them will do, but it looks like the stupid sci-fi with the terrible name is furthest along now.  I’d hoped to start off my massive;y successful publishing career with the zombie story, but it doesn’t like it was meant to be.  But anyway, I want to finish one of my books, I probably won’t try and get it published properly, and will just get a small run printed off by on of the POD services, for distribution to friends – or enemies, depending on how well it turns out.
• Get a more reliable income.  I love running my business, and it makes me rich from time to time, but other times it just pays the bills.  So I might make the business part time, and work with someone who has deep pockets for a while.
• I want to shave off my beard.  I’m a bit tired of it now, I want to try being clean shavewn, which is something I haven’t done in well over ten years now.  I don’t know if I can stand it though, I have no idea what I look like with no beard.  Also, Claire doesn’t want me to shave it off now – when I first got it, she wanted it gone, now I’m thinking of razing it, she wants it to stay, not helpful.
• Start back into karate (or something) I really want to get back into some really strenuous physical activity, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to Seido if it wasn’t for the other people that go.  I don’t know if I’m very excited about doing it again this year, but it’s on my long term list.  I’d like to get my brown belt (which, theoretically, is my next grading, but in reality after as long a break as I’ve had, who knows?)  What I don’t want to get is the aggressive, over-competitive, arsehole, bullshit, cultist crap.   This is a real risk, it was only after I’d stopped going for a while that I realised how much complete bullshit was involved.  But I loved how hard the exercise was, and it made me feel good to be really fit.
• Change cars.  I really like driving Claire’s hot little hatchback, and I don’t so much like driving my 4wd.  So I’m thinking about getting rid of the 4wd and getting a hatch of my own, or maybe a small station wagon.  I still like the Toyota Caldinas.  Maybe a Toyota Echo, though, I’ve seen some of them around the city that looked pretty sweet.  (And some that looked like a tarts handbag, but let’s ignore them, shall we?)

Ok, 90 seconds to go on the banana bread, so I think I’ll round this off now.  Bye bye.