new year's eve reflections

We are at the end of 2004 . . . so how is my life different now than it was at the end of 2003? Let's see, according to my journal entry for last New Year's Eve, at the time I was concerned about getting a co-op at Colgate, I wanted to quit my job at Walmart, and I'd been a bit worried that my programming skills were not good enough to get me a job anywhere. So, what has happened since then?

• I did get the Colgate job, and worked there from January to July.


• As a result, I quit Walmart.


• I read The Age of Reason, by Thomas Paine. Actually I started it while sitting in the library waiting for my first day of classes to start.


• I also read Atheism, The Case Against God by George Smith. I think that mainly what I learned from it was how philosophy and logical demonstration works. However, I was a bit shocked at how easy the philosophical arguments for God were refuted.


• I started going to my folk's church again for a while.


• My sister had a baby.


• While my parents were out of town for 4 weeks to see her (she lives in Oregon), I decided to check out First Unitarian Church.


• After a lot of worry about the issue on my part, I told Mom that I'm going to First Unitarian after they got back from their trip. Mom is not exactly approving, but she has not tried to stop me.


• I voted democrat for the first time in the elections, but I'm not sure if I'm proud of that or not. I'm rather cynical about politics since the last election.


• I've actually gotten more comfortable about going to a few church functions at my folk's church. What this really means is that I've gotten a lot more comfortable with being an atheist. I've also gotten to be a lot more open about my article beliefs with my folks, without any eruptions or ruptures occurring.


• I discovered pantheism and the World Pantheist Movement in August.


• I went steady with Jacob from August to December 11, and made a lot of memories with him in the process. And I still have him as a friend.


• I've survived the junior level classes in the CIS program, with no major damage to my GPA.

I know I'm forgetting some things, but this list will get really long if I list everything . . .

So it is New Year's Eve again today. Where shall I go from here? I shy away from New Year's resolutions--those things are just made to be broken. I do have a few goals and hopes for the next year:

• I'm working on exercising more and drinking more water.


• I want to work on keeping a positive attitude when I'm stressed out. (It's not a problem when I'm not stressed.)


• I intend to graduate at the end of 2005. This involved also finding a co-op for next year.


• I'd like to be moved out on my own by the end of this year, or shortly after graduation.

Those are the main things anyway.
Happy New Year!