A Life Of Cyn

So Yesterday

Happy New Year, frands!!

I’m super hip and counter-culture, so I don’t really do Resolutions anymore; I do, however, love me some realistic goal setting (super hip, as I said). Last year, I wrote down some things I would like to see for myself in 2021, so as we begin our 2022 adventures, I thought it’d be interesting to reflect on how things went and pre...flect on where I might like to go from here.

CLIMBING
2021: Send V5 and 5.11d--I sent one V5 way back in January at Stonefort, TN, but I think that was the only one of the year. My hardest sport route was 11c (so close!), but I feel really proud of the progress I made gaining confidence while leading.
2022: Send (multiple?) V5 and 5.12a-- I think I'd benefit from getting some more mileage under my belt before chasing harder boulders, so I'm keeping my grade goal the same as last year but aiming for more variety, and keeping it a little open-ended since I'm not sure what I want to project yet. I was, however, starting to get the hang of leading sport at the end of last season, so I'm calling it now: 2022 is the year of 12a!

COOKING
2021: Go through The Professional Chef--Totally dropped the ball on this one. I think when I set this goal last year, I didn’t make it realistic or engaging enough, so I read a few chapters, got distracted, and never really came back to it.
2022: Go through The Professional Chef--But for real this time! Since the textbook has 4 major sections (excluding the one on meat), I think it makes sense to devote one season to each.
Winter: Stocks, Sauces, & Soups
Spring: Vegetables, Potatoes, Grains & Legumes, and Pasta & Dumplings
Summer: Breakfast & Garde Manger
Fall: Baking & Pastry
It'd be fun to host a dinner party every or every other month to showcase my new-found skills. More on this to come in the Cynful Bites section.

READING
2021: Read 25 books–Having not read this many books since I graduated college, I don’t really know what made think I would magically be able to do it this year, but I stand here before you now having read a whopping 26 BOOKS in the last 12 months. Mostly fiction, fantasy, and classics. My awards for the year include:
Why Did So Many People Recommend This to Me?: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favorite Author I Discovered This Year: Naomi Novik
Made Me Ugly Cry Multiple Times: The End of the Day by Claire North
If I Wasn’t Already Opposed to the 9 to 5 Grind I Certainly Am Now: Refusal of Work by David Frayne
Saddest Book I Didn’t (But Definitely Should’ve) Seen Coming: The Dog Who Dared to Dream by Sun-mi Hwang
2022: Read 35 books--I'm leaving a lot of space for recreational reading, but I'm also setting a specific goal to read 12 books about history/politics/economics/the like. I currently don’t have a lot of context to understand what’s happened/is happening/might happen in the world, so I’d like to start remedying that this year. If you have any recommendations (of any genre), please send them my way!

LEARNING
2021: Korean--This one's for you, mom. Last year, I had a Korean-Learning podcast in mind, thinking that I would listen to a few episodes a week and figure it out from there (dumb). Turns out, podcasts are not an effective language learning tool for me, so in the last few months, I’ve course-corrected and have a new direction for the coming year.
2022: Still Korean--Work through the lessons on the LingoDeer app, aiming to get through all of Level 1 and half of Level 2 by the end of the year. Overcome the embarrassment of checking out Korean baby books at the library. Stretch goal: Write a blog post in Korean for my mom.

And that’s about it! I anticipate lots of other fun and exciting things happening in 2022, but I think if I make progress in these areas, I will feel satisfied that the major parts of my personal life are moving forward. 

I’d love to hear if any of y’all have achievements or goals you’re excited about–send me a line if you feel so inclined! 

Korean New Years Soup, 떡국 (tteokguk) with homemade kimchi on top, no big deal.

In Other News

Immigration have officially begun processing my application (AHHHH)! I just completed my medical exam (to make sure I won’t be unleashing Pandemic: Tuberculosis Edition to the country) and submitted my fingerprints (I’ve not been climbing in the last two weeks due to an elbow injury, which has been a HUGE bummer, but ~*silver lining*~ it means I actually do have fingerprints at the moment), and now we wait some more. It will probably still be a while before I get Permanent Residency, but the ball is finally rolling!

Last, But Not Least

Today marks the 30th birthday of my childhood sweetheart and BFF, Sammie! What can be said about a friendship that has endured through the turbulent waters of time and space for 21 years, except that you are a treasure and I love you and miss you and hope you have the absolute best day. Happy happy happy birthday! XOXOXOXO