The short version, by the boyfriend:

34. arteest. bohemian. crazy cat lady. fashionista. gardener. gothic. gamer. lfg kara pst. netropolitan*. vegetarian.

The long (boring) version, by me.

My New Year’s resolution of 2008 was two fold. #1 was to put myself on a finacial diet. #2 is to do things other than play World of Warcraft. It’s the middle of February as I write this and so far, I’m still on track.

I realized in 2007 that I had possibly eaten a used car. That is, when I tallied up my food and dining expenses for several months I had realized that it averaged out to about $500 a month. Now that wouldn’t have gotten me a cute little Toyota Yaris Hatchback, but it would have given me $6000 for the whole year towards the price of a used vehicle which I could have used at my convenience.

However, there are particular oddities that any reader of this blog should know about me. Since 2003, I’ve been voluntarily without a car. I opted into buying a cute little 2 storey 1100 square foot, 80 year old house located on a busy road, for me and my three cats, Thaddeus, Niko and Aya to live in. So yay, I’m a home owner! I’ve also opted into buying a red Kona Hahanna mountain bike which I have been using whenever possible to get around. I’m still not brave enough to do the winter biking thing, but sometimes I wish I were. I get around by public transit if I have to go further distances, such as weekend trips to visit my boyfriend in Toronto. I like the coach buses. It’s comfy, I can sleep on it, and I don’t have to personally deal with the inexplicable Oakville traffic. And once in T.O., many times it’s just much more convenient to do the TTC thing rather than drive around. I chose the car-free lifestyle for a few reasons. It was just really, really, really economically convenient, for one thing. Imagine not being saddled with car payments, insurance costs and maintenance. It provides me with a little bit of daily excercise. A quick bike ride to work is about 10 minutes. Stretch that to about 15-20 for a leisurely spin. Also I get to be smug about not impacting the environment, what with global warming and all.

I totally blame the winter of ‘07/’08 on global warming, by the way.

However, lately I’ve been seriously thinking about getting a car. Though the coach bus is nice, it’s not all that convenient. Trips to Toronto are extended by approximately one hour and I have to plan my schedule around it and carry all my stuff, which usually includes this 17″ widescreen HP Pavilion laptop, on my back. I still see myself biking to work, but when I need a trip to Homesense or Ikea, or to visit the boy, then having a car may improve my personal quality of life. It’s nice to be eco-conscious but I’m no saint.

The second resolution pertains to me being an artist. At least I wish I were an artist. I technically am an artist. That’s what I would put on my business cards and fill in for the field that says “occupation”. The world being what it is today, I’m extremely lucky to be employed in the arts industry, and in the video game industry no less. Nerds dig that about me, I guess. If I were single, I’d be +2 on the hittable meter just for being an artist employed in the video game industry. Being asian, that’d jump up to about +5 I think. Though being in a solid relationship would probably add a -4 denominator on top of that.

For fun, I like drawing pictures. Mostly of cute goth girls or people in period dress. I would have loved to have been a storybook illustrator. This has nothing to do with work. I’ve always thought to be an artist, you should be able to continue to do your art even when you’re not being paid to. It keeps you motivated, educated and inspired. I won’t say I’m the best at what I do, but at least for me, it’s fun and challenging and I get a kick of sitting back and admiring the finished pieces. I haven’t really drawn consistently though, so I feel like I’ve stagnated in that sense. I feel that I need to get back to that somehow and start improving, maybe even getting into different styles. That kind of thing.

One of the big, humungous reasons I haven’t been drawing is that about three years ago I got sucked into the game World of Warcraft. Unless you’ve been a hermit with no internet, electricity or newspaper delivery, you probably know what that is. It’s an MMORPG that’s suckered in millions of subscribers like me! I play a human warrior, a night elf druid and a dwarf hunter who will probably be my last character I’ll grind to level 70. To be honest, I have fond memories of the game, of raiding Ahn’Qiraj, of exploring the Outlands, or getting my first epic flying mount. If you played it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. However, playing the game in any seriousness took a lot of time. And it was fun to just hang out and grind all night when you had nothing better to do. Lately, I’ve been playing less WoW. It’s up in the air whether I am going to quit the game or not, because it is awfully fun, but time consuming.

We’ll see if the resolutions stick or not. I guess having goals is better than playing WoW, having home-deco crushes on Colin and Justin, eating Sweet Chili Heat doritos and addictively surfing various blogs on the internet.

*“It’s like you’re metropolitan, but you’re on the internet” ~ boyfriend