Happy 2010!

I'm starting the year out with a cold and bruises on my leg that I don't remember getting! How about you? I think next New Year's Eve, I'll skip the drinking... someone please remind me.

Well I haven't blogged in awhile because of the following:

• My roommate and I have been fixing up our fab Greenwich Village apartment


• I started freelancing in toy design, keeping me busy Mon-Friday 9-5pm


• There's a regular influx of NY visitors, usually involving food and karaoke


• Too many museums, DIY craft events, live shows, to attend


• Holiday festivities, including DIY costumes and gifts and a trip to Chicago


• I can't stop crocheting amigurumi gifts while catching up on my DVR


• I'm making plans for cutting back on the work hours already, to maybe pursue my own art and design projects

Also I want to learn Mandarin, take dance lessons, and get more into photography, exercise, and cooking. Oh yeah, and maybe find some good dates. (I did go on a few in 2009 but there weren't any keepers. One of them wore a bangle! Aka a bracelet. Plus a ring.)

I'm hoping to cut work back to three to four days a week so I can make it happen. I suppose I'll have to eat more cheaply and not buy as many clothes. That may go well with the cooking goal and purging of excess stuff. And I'm hoping the exercise will help with getting more dates.

Sort of like how my Financial Advisor rebalances my portfolio, I need rebalance my life before I get back to a real full-time Monday-Friday job. Maybe in 2011. Or later. :)

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Oh and here are a few movie reviews:

"Food, Inc."(rental)

This documentary is a bit sad, but you should all see it, to understand how the food industry's manipulative efforts toward efficiency and mass production has made your food so gross. It's like today's version of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle." And then go buy organic everything so you don't contribute to this mess.

"Fantastic Mr. Fox"

A delightful cast of charming characters and a beautifully detailed and refreshing take on stop-motion animation by Wes Anderson. I loved it but I'm curious as to whether it appeals to children. There are family dynamics going on that kids would maybe not get into as much but maybe it's still visually fun and amusing enough for them.

"It's Complicated"

Very funny, with a great cast, even though the trailer does show a little too much of what happens. I love every guy in this movie (Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski, Hunter Parrish), though Steve Martin plays a surprisingly subdued character. I don't know if guys would enjoy this as much (it is a Nora Ephron production) but I think I heard laughter from both genders in the theater.

"Up in the Air"

I thought this was just okay. I don't really get why it's getting such rave reviews. Maybe it lucked out that the story is so relevant to the economic crisis. Also, it's surprisingly depressing, especially now that I found out that the characters who react to being fired were played by real people who got fired, re-enacting their real reactions! Just go rent or buy Pixar's "Up" or "Groundhog Day" afterward if you get really bummed.

I guess I should finally go see "Avatar" at some point, even though it looks really unappealing.