Thank You 2015
December is always a busy month. We race to finish projects, buy gifts for loved ones, make travel plans, spend time with loved ones, feast, rest, and, finally, relax from the ordeals of the past year. The last week in particular is a time for reflection on events that happened during the past 12 months and plan-making for the next.
I am thankful especially for the family and friends in my life, and my health, but I’m also thankful for some great opportunities that came my way, such as:
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Taught US military veterans the fundamentals of cybersecurity via an Accelerated Learning Program sponsored by the Veterans Administration in order to help them better integrate into civilian life:
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Went skiing for the first time in Colorado (and maybe my fourth time skiing ever, as you can see from the video):
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Grew my YouTube channel to over 950 subscribers:
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Conducted research in speech-to-text translation for low-resource languages:
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Made an embark with the Navy aboard the USS George H. W. Bush Aircraft Carrier:
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Participated in the Fleet Week Parade of Ships with the Navy:
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Made my first public performance–playing guitar and singing in a band:
So, all in all it was an extremely busy year full of hard work, adventure, learning, and growth–can’t really ask for more.
Bring It 2016
Actually, there were a few areas where I hope to do better in 2016.
For one, extremely long work hours and an intense travel schedule kept me off the dojo mat, to my sadness. In fact, work and travel kept me out of the gym except for rare and fleeting visits–this needs to be addressed in 2016.
Another area of neglect to be rectified in 2016 is my writing and other creative efforts. While I’m happy with the growth of my YouTube channel, I didn’t actually make as many videos as I had planned, and my podcasts and web posts almost died altogether. So in 2016 I’ll be focusing more efforts there as well.
I also plan on expanding my adventures into making music. Currently I’m working on a Blues setlist with some folks and we expect to play in public some time in the first half of 2016.
And there are a few other projects I’m working on that, for now, I’m keeping under wraps, but let’s just say that I’m planning on 2016 being another year of hard work, yes, but also of helter-skelter adventure, fun, learning, and growth.
How to Stay Connected
I look forward to sharing these adventures with you, so be sure to:
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Subscribe to my YouTube channel:
- Follow me on Twitter
- Subscribe to my newsletter
- Connect on LinkedIn and Facebook
and share with me what’s going on in your life.
So here’s to 2016–I hope you find joy, prosperity, and magic in the new year.
Buckaroo Banzai!