2013 Mixtape

What year would be complete for me without the annual mixtape? I’ve done this for a few years now, and over time it’s evolved. In its latest form, I create a Spotify playlist. This is my longest mixtape with 70 total songs this year.

Now, these songs are, for the most part, from this year. Actually, the only exception may be Josh Groban’s “Brave,” which was actually released December 18, 2012. I put it in the same boat I did as Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” last year. It came out in December of the previous year when we’re paying more attention to Christmas music, so I’ll excuse that.

How did these songs make the list? They’re a sampling of 2013 with my own personal bias. As such, I left out a lot of country and younger artists that I don’t really care for. So, I’d rather not hear I’m wrong about something or have left something out. If I left out your favorite, I suggest you make your own list because there is no way I could ever please everyone.

As a forewarning, there may be some offensive language in these songs, and I cannot be held responsible for the content of the songs or music videos. I’m not a fan of censorship in any form (though, this is a discussion and a half that goes beyond cursing in music).

( Songs in this year's playlist )

Episodes in 2013

This is just to help me keep track of the television shows I'm watching this year and what I need to catch up on.

50 Movie Challenge in 2013

Why would I give myself the challenge of watching 50 movies when I didn’t even watch the 40 that I meant to watch last year? Well, I hadn’t exactly set it as a challenge, so I hope that by doing so, I’m more inclined to complete it. Mostly, I just want to watch some of the movies on the ever-growing list of films I need to see because it’s starting to get really long. I figure it’s easy enough to sit down on a Friday or Saturday night and watch a movie.

100 Book Challenge in 2013

My GoodReads challenge I set for myself this year is to read 100 books. This may seem a little insane, and I was originally going to set it for 75 books (which I think would have been completely doable since I read 67 books last year), but 100 books a year is something I’ve wanted to work toward for a while. This year is probably the best year for it. It is very likely I’ll have a full time job soon, and it will take up a lot of my time. I might as well try now.

I will keep track of my progress here and at GoodReads. Books I read may be novels, novellas, short stories, short story collections, graphic novels, poetry collections, etc. They can be printed books or read on my Kindle. The only requirement is that I have not read the book in the past (if one or two short stories I’ve read before are included in a collection, that’s fine; the number of collections that include Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” is quite large, I am finding). In order to successfully complete this challenge, I will need to read somewhere around 8 or 9 books a month. It might sound daunting, but I figure, why not? If anything, it may help me discover some new authors or help with my writing. This is also an attempt to start making my way through that ever-growing and massive pile of books I’ve purchased and not read yet.

I will post an entry once a month about the books I've read. This should keep from flooding any friend lists.

2013 Reading Challenge

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365 Album Challenge in 2013

The purpose of this challenge is to listen to one album every day that is new to me to total 365 albums heard in 2013. At first it might seem daunting, but I tend to listen to music while I’m working on other things. After I thought about it, it didn’t seem as impossible as I’d originally thought. I decided to do this mainly because I like a lot of music, but, growing up, I listened to the radio a lot. Because of it, I became more familiar with songs that charted instead of the albums. You see, I have heard of many of these people and have some familiarity with their work, but I claim to be some kind of music enthusiast. I feel like I should keep myself in the know.

These albums may be from this year or past years; they can be relatively new or quite old. The whole point is to listen to one album a day that I’ve never heard. Each week on Monday, I’ll make a post of the albums I listened to in the past week. This is the master list that links to everything else.

( This is going to get rather long. )

2013 Scrapbook

No one can hold me back; I ain’t got time for that… - Kelly Clarkson, "Catch My Breath"

*Warning: This will become a very image heavy post.*

( Last Updated: December 31, 2013 )

2013 Scrapbook

No one can hold me back; I ain’t got time for that… - Kelly Clarkson, "Catch My Breath"

*Warning: This will become a very image heavy post.*

( Last Updated: January 1, 2013 )