Looking Forward, Looking Back

Some trivia to start out your 2012 with: the month of January is actually named after actress January Jones, who plays Betty Draper on AMC's hit series Mad Men.  For real!

I can't believe you went and double-checked me on Wikipedia!  OK, it's actually named for Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions.  He has two faces, one to look forward, and one to look back.  Because it gives me an easy, lazy post to start the year with, I'm going to take a look back at Look What Danny Made! in 2011, and a look forward at some of what I've got in mind for 2012.

So, things that happened in 2011:

• Got bitten by a spider
• Watched a month of romance movies
• Had a wooden tomato winged at me
• Made the most bitchin' pie in the world
• Ate weird foods for a month
• Got off the couch; lost 50 pounds
• Took in a stray; still trying to get rid of it
• Enraged China
• Took a month of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
• Lost my dad; still getting over this one
• Redesigned this joint
• Watched a month of horror movies (again)
• Did a month of service projects 

I'm looking back at that list right now, and I'm going to have to go ahead and pat my own back a little bit.  2011 was neither my very best nor my very worst year, but it was the year when I decided to do things and I did them.  Sure, some of them were silly things like watching a whole bunch of movies, but I feel like I also managed to accomplish some really positive things, like the weight loss and the service.

I'm still firming up ideas for things to do this year.  There's going to be another Project Valentine, but it's going to be something entirely different this year.  I'm planning two movie projects, the conclusion of Project Horror and one TBA.  Project Gastronome is coming back in April, to see what other nations I can anger.  I'm also going to be doing the Marine Corps Fitness Test once a month between now and December, and reporting the results (and hopeful improvements) here.

But I'm also planning something that is going to be my biggest project EVER, not just on the blog, but in my life.  How big?  This one won't take a month, it's going to unfold over the next several years.  I've shared the details of it with a very few people already, but I need to get a few more details in place before I'm ready to unveil it here.  I'll give you the name: Project Summit.

Happy New Year, friends.  What are you going to do this year?