Let the door knob hit ya 2005, where that dog should've bit ya. (Plus the year end 2005 hiking report)

Last week I was sitting in The 400 Club in Altoona, Wisconsin having a cold one and writing to my friend Lord Scott Nelson (Lord in nickname only) when two flannel shirt wearing locals started reflecting on the year 2005. "Worst fuckin' year ever! I'll be glad to see the ass end of it. Good riddances I say. 2006 has got to be better.". Hear, hear. While personally it wasn't a terrible year, globally a lot of folks suffered from all manner of catastrophe and I'm sure they too are glad to see 2005 come to a close. With the news dominated by one major crisis after another, at times it seemed the forces of doom and chaos were getting a leg up and all I got to say is Buddha bless Jon Stewart and The Daily Show for wringing laughs out of the misery. Lose your sense of humor and it's really over.
Onward. So, I'm sure you are hanging on the edge of your seat wondering, "Did Hal actually complete his hiking goal of 650 miles for 2005?". Well, as you can see from the progress bar to the right, I did indeed hit the mark and tacked on an extra mile for luck. The last miles fell on New Year's Eve, when I took a fine, eight mile hike out past the Erie Canal to the airport and back. I got to admit that I didn't feel like hiking much that day, but then that's the purpose of the goal, to keep me moving. For 2006, I've decided to scale back a little bit to 600 miles. I feel I need to balance my time better and have allowed my screenwriting and film ambitions slide too much, so the extra time and effort will go to that end.
As far as New Year's resolutions go, I prefer to choose more concrete goals and last year my enthusiasm got the better of me with thirteen goals, many of which were quickly neglected. This year focus will be the theme and I will keep the list shorter by half. I'll post that list soon, until then I here's wishing us all a safe, productive and gentle 2006.

OK HW