yet another year has come to pass...

...and a new one is just taking shape.

not only is it a new year, but it's also the dawn of a new presidential term. we will see how that works out. personally, i'm not holding my breath; no individual alone can save a nation and i think the country maintains a focal point on the presidential position that is perhaps overwhelmingly unfair. i am not in favor of the current man holding this position, but i also don't think he should be scapegoated in the face of overwhelming failure. after all, many factors are involved in civic actions.

aside from the political rigmarole, i'm already seeing changes taking place in my life this year and i hope the momentum continues. i've been studying japanese on my own for a good part of last year and i already am coming to understand words, phrases, and characters. i listen to japanese as much as possible hoping to train my ear to the language. it's a difficult language, but i really would like to be fluent. maybe some dreams can be reached...

my financial situation is starting to look up and if i keep handling things well, then life's unattainable necessities will soon no longer feel like such a burden. this year should bring the onset of financial stability, which is something i have been hoping for all along. all i have to do is play my cards right and mainly be patient. the downside is i didn't want to achieve this as a result of a family member preparing to pass away. because of that, i will be sure to make the best use of these finances since it is thanks to my grandfather that i have them.

speaking of my grandfather, i mentioned we nearly lost him two weeks after my grandmother's passing last year. something similar happened again in december and i am aware his health is such that he may not see this year through, so i have been going to see him during each holiday since thanksgiving in hopes that he will realize he is not alone or forgotten. i wish the rest of my family would do the same, but it hasn't been on everyone's agenda, much to my dismay. i think my family was fortunate to be there when my grandmother passed. I don't think they will have the same fortune when it is my grandfather's turn. hence, i am concerned that he should be reminded how we feel so he has no doubts.

this month i scratched my other cornea and recuperation has been excruciating, yet nowhere near as bad as the first time with the other eye. i think this cements the idea that i won't be making a living as a fine detail artist as once planned. however, i feel that shouldn't probibit me from working on music, teaching, writing or whatever else i wish to set my mind toward doing. even if my eyes get worse and they still aren't surgically correctable, i still want to forge a way for myself following a passion rather than presuming im useless and only good for something such as basket weaving. the other day i heard that man can be destroyed, but cannot be defeated and i am inclined to agree with that. no matter what obstacles cross my path or change the course of my future, i want to find a way to always persist regardless of the odds.

while i'm thinking about it, i want to convert this blog into a central repository via transferring my other blog entries to this blog. i won't be deleting the other blogs, but i think it would be nice if everything could be read from on place rather than navigating to multiple locations. in that way, this blog will truly feature all facets of my life- or at least as much as i choose to post. i may make an effort to retain original post dates to those blogs so as not to create any confusion with what is currently transpiring in my life. i hope you will enjoy those entries as i bring them over bit by bit (it's quite a lot actually).