Year in review.

[saxikath]

It's that time, isn't it? Time to think about the past year and look ahead to the next one. This is, of course, a thoroughly self-indulgent entry, but you don't have to read it if you don't want to.

So, my year in:

• The highlight of the year was, of course, the release of Wordplay, even if I was only in it for a grand total of maybe 30 seconds. Just the experience of being in a movie that did so well, even as a bit player, was a thrill.
  
• The other highlight was probably being the subject of an article in The Boston Globe, about my crosswording. The pictures were less than stellar, but it ends up being one of the better puzzle-related articles I've seen.
  
• And the other other highlight is bringing my Enigma editorship to a close, after four years. I'm glad I did it; it was a chance to give back to an organization that means so much to me, and it allowed me to make connections with people that I wouldn't otherwise have made, but I'm also glad to be done. I look forward to being just another solver again.
  
• January: MIT Mystery Hunt. ACRONYM, patched together from several teams, has a mediocre year -- but I have a lot of fun in the process. Afterwards, I decide I've had enough of being in charge of a team, and join II&F for next year. Looking forward to that.
  
• March: Stamford. I rip the killer puzzle 5 up, down, and sideways, finishing with the highest score (first time that's ever happened on a puzzle, I think!), but a dumb mistake on puzzle 2 (SPACEY instead of SPACEK, and failure to check the crossing) costs me any chance at the finals -- had I not made that mistake, I would've made the top 3 for the first time. I wind up 6th overall, one down from last year.
  
• July: Will Shortz uses a puzzle suggestion of mine for his NPR puzzle challenge. I don't know it's coming, so hearing my name on the radio is as much a surprise for me as for anyone else!
  NPL con in San Antonio. The usual wonderful escape onto the puzzle planet for a few days, complete with outrageous "Texas Jeopardy" and a victory in the flat competition with thedan. I also finish first on one of the pencil and paper puzzles, but it doesn't get me into the New York Times this year. I announce the end of my editorship, and nominate Crax as my successor.
  
• August: I participate in the Haystack puzzle hunt in New York for the first time, with ericberlin, thedan, bourbon_cowboy, and Voks. It's a fun romp through the city, with some very clever puzzles.
  
• mabfan starts bringing me the NYT crossword every morning and timing me on it. Not everyone gets a personal puzzle trainer!
  

All in all, a pretty good year. I'm looking forward to the coming year: puzzles without responsibility! I hope someday to make the top 3 at Stamford, though I can't see how it'll happen unless there's another killer puzzle that shakes up the standings -- it's clear I can't match the other top-10 types on sheer speed.

• I vocal direct Patience in the spring. The unconventional setting, about which I was very skeptical to start, turns out to be very successful, and I meet a lot of neat new people in the process.
  
• I do my first non-musical, A Murder Is Announced, during which I get to die dramatically on stage and play a rather mentally challenged character. It's fun, but I think I'll go back to musicals.
  
• I don't do nearly enough singing.
  

I need to get back to musical theater and singing in 2007. I'm not sure what projects I'll be getting into, but I need to do something.



Work was busy and varied, including two trips to California (one to meet with teachers in Fresno, the other to go to the California Science Teacher's Association meeting). Things are occasionally frustrating, but on the whole much better than the old job. My boss seems happy with me, as far as I can tell, and there are definitely more interesting tasks this year than in 2005.

• Legends starts the year with me getting tangled up in politics plot for the first time. The spring season ends in the most dramatic way possible, with my four-year character Sinduri dying finally, unexpectedly, as a result of a ritual gone bad while trying to save her mentor. It's a good way to go -- and the aftermath reveals to me that my character (and I?) meant more to other people than I had ever realized. The game itself is in kind of weird flux, with new people taking over running plots, but manages to put on a good run in the fall. My new character Kenna gets into some fun stuff, and I get to witness one of the more moving events I've seen in LARPing. And I get to beat a fury almost single-handed, one of my proudest combat moments ever.
  
• ToV continues to kick all kinds of ass. I go to three out of the four events of the season, and my character has some amazing character development and participates in the banishment of a major bad guy. I am lucky enough to have the trifecta of metagenie, residualentropy, and chmrr running much of my plot, with dharklady and torilgrey not only running the game but doing lots for me personally too. The new site rocks hard, both in dark mist and in bright moonlight.
  
• I continue to play in cnoocy and lorelei_sakai's Buffyverse game, which is a lot of fun. It's the first time I've ever done a long-term tabletop game, and boy, are we having a wild time of it. Bee demons, zombie kittens, golems, disappearing books, serial killers, the dangers of cinnabar...
  
• I attend my first Intercon, and have a good time, though I still prefer the longer-term LARPs.
  
• I try MJ for the first time. It's ok, but not enough to make me take on three games at once. I intend to go to a second event, but knee injury stops that plan.
  

• Healthwise, the big event is, of course, what tmcay called The Legends of the Fall: the night I walked into a ditch on the Legends site back in April and messed up my left knee but good. I wind up on crutches for a week and in various knee braces for nearly two months. The knee is still cranky sometimes, even now, though it's much better. I manage not to have much in the way of illness, though. Mentally, depression remains my demon to fight; meds help, but it still comes up and smacks me sometimes.
  
• At dotknocker's encouragement, I join a new gym, one with a pool. I'm good for a while about going regularly, and then stop. This WILL change in 2007! Got to get a regular schedule going with that, to get my body in better shape.
  
• I start the year on the beach in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Pretty nice way to begin a year. Mom and I plan to go to the Galapagos in early 2008.
  
• I watch too much TV and spend too much time goofing off on the computer.
  
• I spend time with cool people -- but not enough of it. Being more social is another goal for 2007.
  
• We lose mixedborder much too soon.
  
• The Boston NPL folks surprise me with an iPod as a thank-you gift, leaving me red-faced and speechless -- and still, so grateful.
  
• I get to see Girlyman perform twice!
  

And, the quotes of the year:
"It's like having your own personal paparazzo."
"I have four!"
"How can there not be a goat union?"
"Puzzle 5 saved my ass because it kicked so many other people's."
"Not necessarily, but in this case...no."
"Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!"
"And sad affliction bravely borne."


Whew. Busy year. May we all have a happy and healthy 2007.

Comments

[qaqaq.livejournal.com]

Oh, I thoroughly disagree with your Stamford comment. Of you, Stella, and Amy (the three people most due to hit the finals for the first time), I think you may be the likeliest to do so. You are right there on the verge.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

mabfan starts bringing me the NYT crossword every morning and timing me on it. Not everyone gets a personal puzzle trainer!

And you know what I get out of it, right? The puzzle's solution, one day early!