There you go. Tick tock, 2006 is running out.

I have had a quiet day. Well, quiet isn’t exactly the right word what with the constant explosions everywhere. But we don’t really have any traditions for the day in my family, so I have been taking it easy. The only tradition we have is the toasting at midnight, followed by kransekage. I’m not sure what that’s called in English. But we have it every year. When I was a kid we used to go out and shoot off the fireworks. But I stopped that after that incident when I celebrated new years in the hospital. And my parents have stopped doing it too. I’m not sure if my brother still does the fireworks thing, but I doubt it.

Incidentally, I should perhaps admit that before the incident I did in fact run around like a hooligan and throw bombs everywhere. So it’s not like I don’t understand that kids want to run around and blow up stuff. I was never a huge fireworks fan, but yes I did throw some firecrackers around. Never at animals or the elderly though.

But anyway. I have been taking it easy. Sleeping and dreaming surrealistic dreams. And I went up to the animals when it started getting dark. Just to check that everything was okay. And to wish them a happy new year. And give them some treats. Everything was fine, much to my relief. Hope it will stay that way. Then I went up to the house and let Nina out of the bath room. Let her walk around for a while. And then I picked her up and sat down in the couch. Held her in my arms and watched the fireworks with her. She flinched and looked away a couple of times, at the biggest explosions. But other than that she seemed to be okay. Calm and cuddly. I wish I could have stayed with her, instead of having to lock her up again. Or I wish I could have taken her home and let her spend new years at my house. We don’t have any kitty supplies though. And it wouldn’t be a good idea to do it without talking to the playground peoples anyway. I should have thought of it earlier. But it’s only for a day, so it’s not the end of the world.

So that’s about it for the year. I’m spending the last couple of hours at the computer and then I’ll toast the new year with the family and have some cake and stay up as late as I can (that’s almost a tradition as well) and then it’s time for 2007.

So how was 2006 for Plume? It was a lot of up and down. My mood swing-swang-swung all over the place. There were times when all I could think about was ways to kill myself. And then there were times when I was, dare I say it, almost happy. Luckily the year has ended on a good note. With good experiences and less depression. A good christmas, a good farewell at Kulturgyngen, a good christmas party at the playgrund, a good Tina Dickow concert, great christmas cards from all over the world. I hope I can carry that positivity with me into the new year.

People and animals came and went. I lost someone I thought was a good online-friend. But I gained others that are very wonderful and make me happy. I had to say goodbye to a very special lady, Mathilde. There were the six kids. That was amazing, they made me so happy. Funny, cute and wonderful they were. And I had to say goodbye to all but Vanilje. I had to say goodbye to Yvonne. I had to say goodbye to Kulle, the prettiest lamb I have ever seen. I had to say goodbye to Fine and Flotte, the silliest lambs I have ever known. Woolrik and Little Tiger. Moomincat who I thought might have come back, but is still off somewhere on adventures. It’s hard to say goodbye, but they all made my year, and my life, so much better. If there are two things that really make me happy then it is the animals and the blog contacts.

Yes, that means you guys.

Also, I think Don Rosa visited my blog! I know he does internet searches for his own name. And I see in my sitemeter someone coming from iglou.com. From Kentucky. With search terms “Don Rosa”. So it must be him. Hi Don! Happy new year. I love your work. Do you have a spare Danish copy of Don Rosa Hall of Fame #2?

Anyway. None of you guys probably know who Don Rosa is since Donald Duck comics are apparently non existant outside of Europe. Or so I gather. I grew up on weekly Donald comics and Don Rosa was and is my favourite Donaldist. But I won’t bore you with that now. Let’s look forward to 2007.

I have never made resolutions myself. And I’m not going to start this year. But I will set some goals and intents, pretty much the same thing only with a name that signals less pressure for me.

So my first goal for 2007 is to move out on my own. I had the same goal for this year. Good thing it wasn’t a resolution, eh! But seriously, it really is about time and I really need to get it done. It will be scary but it will also be a big and important step forwards for me. Hopefully they can help me a bit at TMU when I start there. That’s another one of my goals, to make the most of my stay at Tilværelse Med Udsigt and help them to help me to find my way forward. To live on my own and have a steady job of some sort, that’s a big priority.

Another goal is to try to cut back on the sodas. The cola specifically. Again. I have tried before and done okay, but I always fall back. I am addicted to the bubbles. But I will try to cut back. And generally to eat healthier. Get in better shape. I’d like to join a fitness club of some sort. Failing that, then get some kind of equipment at home. Feel the burn.

Yet another goal is to try and make the animals as happy as they make me. Spend lots of time with them, bring them treats, take good care of them. And this extends to the playground. One of the great things of 2006 was being hired as weekend feeder, and for 2007 I want to do as much as I can to help them out. Like my pictures on their walls now, things that will make the people there happy. Help the kids get to know the animals. Let them see that Mads isn’t dangerous. Not that dangerous at least. I want to do what I can for that place. It’s an important place for the community and I love being a part of it.

I want to find some good charities and donate some money to them. Because I am sitting on a lot of cash. Sure, I will hopefully need it as I start making a life for myself and move out and everything. But I have enough to share. And it’s no good just sitting on your bum and complaining about how the world stinks, if you don’t actually try to do something about it. So donate a little money and try to be aware of treating the world right. Be ecologically aware.

I will pick up some things from you guyses lists too. For one thing, I will be kind to squirrels since everyone else seems to be after them!

I will try to read more. I won’t make it to a 100 books, but I will put more energy into the “Plume starts reading books again” campaign that I started this year. I am currently reading It Crawled From The South, a big R.E.M. bumper.

Giving compliments is a really good idea. Especially since I have felt it on myself how much a little kindness can mean. It makes me happy when I do little good things for others and it makes me happy when they do good things for me. Even just saying “thank you” or something like that. The other day I was standing in line in the supermarket. The girl at the counter was obviously new at her job and things were going a bit slowly. And the person in front of me in the queue got annoyed and was acting a bit mean, like “oh why do I have to waste my time with this”. And sure, I would like the queue to move as fast as possible too. But think about the poor girl who is doing the best she can. How does it help things to be mean to her? Think about your own first day at various jobs, did you do everything perfectly from the get-go? Probably not. So when it was my turn to be served, there was a more experienced girl standing behind the girl at the counter to help her out with things and she apologized to me because it was taking a bit longer than it should. And I made sure to smile and say that it was okay etc. That made me happier, that made the new girl happier. It made everything better. So long story short: be kind to others. Sometimes I let my social phobia stop me from making little gestures, saying little nice things to strangers and so on. A goal for the new year is to not let my phobia do that. And obviously to generally work to overcome the phobia and shyness, that’s a given goal for me. Has been for a long time.

Be more open with my parents. It has helped a lot that I have told them about my phobia. I should like to continue that trend and be open about what is happening to me. When my uncle stayed over for christmas, my mother was asking if it was okay and such. She knew that inviting someone to stay at our house would make it a little more difficult for me. It’s not like she let the decision be up to me, but just that she understood, that helped me. In the past there have been times when suddenly a bunch of relatives would show up at our house without warning and when I’d retire to my room to avoid the socialness then she’d come and knock on my door and tell me to come and say hello and join the fun and so on. It’s just much easier when the people around you know what you’re going through. Then they can help you instead of be disappointed in you.

Try to be good to my brother. I don’t know if we will ever be really close, but at least have a decent relationship with him. It was nice this year, when he got his laptop and had to hook it up to the intarweb and I was able to help him with all that stuff. I would like to be a brother that he can come to for help with things instead of being a nuisance.

Get a cat, or two. But that goes with moving out. Move to a place where cats are allowed, and get cats.

Well, that’s all I can think of right now. Good thing I don’t have any resolutions!

I hope you will all have a safe night and day and next year. And I hope you’ll come back in 2007 and keep me company and help me along towards normal life, whatever that might be.

Thank you, and happy new year!

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 31st, 2006 at 22:16 and is filed under Blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.