Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

Today's New Year's Eve.  As I've said in my last post, this has been a very fast year.  The past week and a half has been great and awful at the same time.  I got to hang out with friends, see family, play games, and just relax; however, I've been almost unbearably ill since last Monday till now.  I'm pretty much in the same position I was in near the end of 2012 where I also fell ill and decided to take better care of myself in 2013 (of which I did a very good job of).  But this year, in 2014, I kind of fell back on it in favor of getting work done and stay up all night to play games with friends.  In 2014, I was very inconsistent with going to the gym (but at least I kept up with it instead of giving it up entirely) and my sleep schedule slipped back into it's terrible juggle of sleeping between 3-5 AM and waking up at 11AM-1PM.  And the worst thing was I acquired a taste for spicy food this year.  If I go out, I eat spicy food.  If I'm home cooking, I add all sorts of spicy sauces.  So for the past 1.5 weeks, I've been having a problem with my stomach where it constantly feels hungry, is always churning and feels like it's burning, I keep feeling like I want to throw up, and in the worst times I can't even find the appetite to eat when I'm starving.  As the days progressed, I started developing dizziness, dry throat, fatigue and susceptibility to coldness.  I finally feel somewhat stable today with only a lingering hunger feeling, slight churning and feeling a bit light-headed.  I can't wait to fully recover and feel okay again, for I'm looking forward to 2015.

I felt hesitant and unsure of myself in the beginning of 2014, but I felt like I was able to accomplish enough.  I don't want to say "a lot" since I never really feel satisfied with how much I do and always want to accomplish more.  But this time around, I'm very excited about 2015 and what I want to do with my time.  Working on the Ultima: Exodus Remix Project was an eye opener to what I want to do with the time I have while I wait for job replies.  Also, Camera Obscura was finally Greenlit yesterday!  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the email.  Whether this is a breaking point for me is unclear, I just know I want to continue working on my own projects while I continue searching for a job because it feels fulfilling and it feels right.  It's what I should be doing and what I've been wanting throughout my life but couldn't do before.  I just bought a bunch of new samples and loops to work with on Music Creator 6 and I'm planning on buying Open Canvas 6 today.  So I plan on producing even more work in 2015.  I'll probably be doing a more detailed reflective review of my year in 2014 in the next few days, but for now I just want a speedy recovery.

Almost 2015 Already

I'm shocked at how fast this year has passed by.  My greatest achievement was definitely the Ultima: Exodus Remix project.  It's was fun, productive, and inspiring and I really want to do more.  I really wanted to work on more after that project, but then I teetered off because of fixing up my online portfolio, applying for jobs, and then getting majorly distracted since October with the release of Super Smash Bros. 3DS and Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus.  I still didn't produce as much audio as I wanted and I still couldn't land a job, though I thought I had a chance with the audio department at Riot Games, but I felt like it was still a productive and fun year.  I'm going to work even harder next year with the excitement of creating even more music.

I've been kind of taking it easy this month of December, though I have been helping out a lot around the house since we were preparing for my sister's return today of which she'll be home for 2 weeks.  The Black Friday sales, Cyber Monday sales, Winter Sales and Christmas sales have really influenced me this year as I bought quite a bit.  I bought games like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Child of Light and just received Valkyria Chronicles last night as a gift for PC; bought games like Conception 2, XBlaze, Embryo, Sword Art Online -Hollow Fragment-, and Freedom Wars for handhelds (3DS/PSV); and games like Project DIVA F 2nd, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and Drakengard 3 for PS3 the past month or so.  With so many interesting games to play, I'm stretched thin on time of what to focus on.  And since my sister is coming home today, I'll probably be playing games with her too.  It should be a pretty fun Christmas, and I'm actually looking forward to next year.  I still worry about not finding a job, but I'm really excited to be working on more personal projects to hopefully bolster my presence to the industry.