The Friday Furo Questus - PS Editition

The Pacific Slope Edition

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."
Benjamin Franklin

Here I am, at the turning of another year.

And of course, the inevitable resolutions. Along with the usual ones to lose weight and eat healthier, I have some spiritual goals I hope to accomplish, I plan to date more, to read more, and to get going on that train layout I've been itching to get going. While some are more possible than others (although I did have two dates in a single month this month - wonders never cease), they're goals worth shooting for.

It also offers a time for some introspection and retrospection, a time to look at ourselves and where we have been. While I'm not satisfied with where I am (hence the aforementioned resolutions), there's time to improve, and in all, it's been a good year. I've been able to travel a little, making it to Chicago, Boston, and Boise; my dating situation is a little better than it was at this time last year; and thank's to Jamo's urgings, I started blogging.

One of the results of Jamo's urgings is our group blog, the Wasatch Front. There, A bunch of friends rattle on about the issues of the day and whatever strikes our fancy, although it has been quiet of late. The others are this blog, The Pacific Slope, and its spin-off, The Pacific Slope Extension. The Extension is a mostly de-politicized single-subject place, set aside for my interest in railroads and rail history, and my hobby of model railroading; here, I'll comment on anything, from the latest news to the oldest jokes.

Why blog in the first place? Well, it's good for my blood pressure - a rant-space where I can babble on, maybe write something someone will find interesting, and I can put down my thoughts. Am I writing for all the world to see? Maybe - but the world has to come find me if they want to read it. Here, I'm really writing for myself.

What will 2006 bring? Good and evil, heroics and cowardice, war and peace will all come. If we're lucky, 2006 will be a relatively quiet year, but I can't help but wonder if we live in the "interesting times" threatened by that old Chinese curse. Some interesting things will happen - friends of mine will be getting married, and other friends will be having kids. That weird feeling of at once being old and young, of simultaneously feeling behind even as I make progress, will be a constant companion in the year to come.

What the future holds for me is anybody's guess. I don't have the foggiest notion. I'm not worried; the ultimate end is assured. It's the getting there that's not too clear.

I'll keep you posted.

Without further ado. the
Churchill Quote of the Week
"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."
Sir Winston Churchill

A good thought to keep in mind as we make our New Year's resolutions.

Happy New Year, everybody. See you in '06.

[Read The Friday Furo Questus, only at the Wasatch Front!]