Day 365: We Did It!

I Blogged Every Day in 2015

I Blogged Every Day in 2015

In the words of Dora the Explorer, “We did it! We did it!”

Whew.

There were times when I didn’t think I’d finish My Quest to Blog Every Day in 2015.

I thought it would’ve been easier to blog every day. All I had to do was set an alarm to remind me to write and then I’d write. As I found out, though, that isn’t how it works. There are so many things that life throws at you every day that prevent you from writing. I even had to fudge a little on Day 49.

As I wrote yesterday, I wish I would’ve created more substantial posts. When I began this quest, I knew a few of my favorite topics would pop up now and then: fantasy sports, Star Wars, food, movies, golf, my love of the city of Los Angeles, etc. I’m proud, though, that I was able to write about a few more subjects outside of those.

My blog was never meant to be hard-hitting journalism, but it was meant to reflect what was going on in my life and in my head at the time. I’d like to think that I accomplished that.

I’ve never done anything like this before, but I learned two things:

  1. I want to post regularly in 2016, but not every day.
  2. 2015 was the year I rediscovered my love of board games.

The board game thing was a pleasant surprise. I wrote about getting back into the hobby earlier this year which led me to buying more and more board games, digging up games I’d never played yet somehow held on to through the years, and playing games once a week with a local gaming group. My wife and I hosted a few game nights for family and friends and we had a blast talking trash to each other during our occasional one-on-one sessions of Ticket to Ride. And I parlayed my passion into a gig with the fine folks at iSlaytheDragon.com, where I report board game news and bits.

Mainly through my interactions on Twitter about this blog, I’ve been able to have some great interactions with people I would never have met. I reconnected with some old friends and I even shared my blog with family members as well.

Of course, none of this would’ve been possible without the support of my wife. There were quite a few nights when she would doze off while I was typing away furiously, trying to get my thoughts down coherently before Mr. Sandman paid me a visit. Not only is Michelle my biggest supporter and the love of my life, but she’s my life partner and my favorite person to go on adventures with. I wrote about a few of those adventures here. Not surprisingly, it was one of my favorite posts of the year.

(To Michelle: thank you for your patience and understanding as I completed this silly little quest. I love you more than words can show.)

Finally, thank you, Dear Reader, for joining me for on my quest. I appreciate you taking the time to read my words and I hope you’ve enjoyed at least one of my posts this year. See you next year!

– Ruel

P.S. If you were entertained at all this year by My Quest to Blog Every Day in 2015 please consider doing one of two things:

  1. Donate to Visual Communications, “the first non-profit organization in the nation dedicated to the honest and accurate portrayals of the Asian Pacific American peoples, communities and heritage through the media arts.” I’m not affiliated with VC, but I do believe in their cause and donated to them on Giving Tuesday.
  2. Help me get my board game fix via my Amazon Wish List. I won’t tell anyone.

Day 364: Final Countdown

The Final Countdown

The Final Countdown

Eight more to go.

I’m not counting down the hours until the new year, but I’m counting down how many more Yelp reviews I need to write to meet one of my goals for 2015.

Last week I had less than 80 Yelp reviews written in 2015. I’m now at 92, with a little over 24 hours to go.

So, assuming I finish the reviews and write one more blog post tomorrow, here’s how I fared with my 2015 Goals:

  1. Write 100 reviews on Yelp.
  2. Read 26 books and review them on Goodreads.
  3. Break 100 on the golf course.
  4. Watch all of the AFI 100 Greatest American Films of All Time.
  5. Play 10 new board games.
  6. Blog Every Day in 2015.

Not too shabby. I didn’t break 100 on the golf course and I didn’t watch all of the AFI Greatest American Films of All time.

I hardly golfed at all this year, which was a bummer. But at least I was able to get out a few times with my brothers and my nephew. My last round was during Thanksgiving when the four of us played a little 9-hole par-3 course. These are the games that mean to most to me, as all of us Gaviola guys can bond for a few hours.

With all of the reading, writing, and board gaming I did this year, there wasn’t enough time left to watch all of the AFI films. I still want to watch every film on the list, just not in a single calendar year.

So, four out of my six goals will be finished by tomorrow. I’m going back to writing Yelp reviews now, but I’ll see you here tomorrow as I complete My Quest to Blog Every Day in 2016.

 

 

Day 363: A Thousand Words

Best shot I hit all year on the golf course.

Best shot I hit on the golf course in 2015.

I can’t believe I only have two more days until I’ve completed My Quest to Blog Every Day in 2015!

I’ll write more about this on the final post of the year, but for now let me say this: I wish I would’ve written more substantial posts. I didn’t realize how tough this quest would be and I have a greater appreciation for those that publish quality content on a regular basis.

What’s the old saying? A picture’s worth a thousand words? Here are a few photos I took this year. I’m not sure I could write a thousand words for each, but they are a good sample of what I did during the previous 363 days.

WP_20151111_20_58_48_Pro

Roll for the Galaxy

IMG_20151217_184308

Premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

IMG_20151222_144653

Wasabi-flavored Kit Kats from Japan

IMG_20150927_191059

Incredible kim chi fried rice from Little Meats LA

Frontier sign at the Neon Boneyard Museum

Frontier sign at the Neon Boneyard Museum

PANO_20150610_200500

A summer night at Dodger Stadium

IMG_20150707_112902

Celebrating the US Women’s World Cup victory at LA Live