As the last few hours of 2012 tick away, I now have a chance to reflect upon the year and assess where I am and how much I've learnt.

This first point may sound a bit weird but 2002 was a really good year for me. I was really enjoying school and doing well, spent a lot of time with friends and was in high spirits. I came into 2012 with the mind that I wanted it to be as good as 2002. There were certain things that didn't go as well such as my time at university but things worked out in the end and it could have been a lot worse. One of my lecturers actually came into work to buy a bike for his daughter and he said he was sorry it didn't work out the way I'd originally hoped. As a result of it though, one thing I had learnt this year was that you can try to plan things but it's not necessarily a bad thing if they don't plan out the way you expect them too. I was lucky in the respect that I now have a job where it feels like my employer actually values me and I have a lot more than a fair few of my fellow graduates. I'm going into 2013 with promising prospects in regards to job security and the opportunity to earn more money.

I have kept up with a lot of my old friends and it's something I wish to continue and perhaps do more of in the new year. I might even try to get in contact with some of the older ones and see if we can start doing something a bit more regularly again. One of the things I have previously mentioned is how lucky I feel to have so many friends who I've met through websites like dA, FA and so on who enjoy talking to me. To all of you who will probably be the majority who will be reading this, I thank you once again from the bottom of my heart.

I aim to get back into the creative side of things. Because of university and work, I haven't been able to do much in the form of art for here or videos on YouTube but next year, I plan on changing that. Thanks to the new PC I've bought myself, it will allow me to do a lot more in terms of creating various bits of media. I also aim to improve my digital art skills which are pretty much non-existent. Any advice from you guys out there would be appreciated!

I'll let those who like the techie side of computers know the specs. The PC is an Advent DT2111 which is a basically a PC World own brand computer. Some of you may be asking why I bought one off the shelf rather than build one. I had the intention of building one but when I saw what this had and saw the price of it, I thought there really wasn't any need to. It has an Intel Core i5 2320 3Ghz quad core processor, 8GB RAM, 2TB hard drive, AMD Radeon HD6670 2GB GDDR3 graphics card and is wireless 802.11bgn enabled which is perfect for me. The only things I've needed to change are the wireless receiver, the keyboard and mouse. I am running TP-Link WN722N USB WI-FI adapter with antenna. I have played online with it and experienced no lag so highly recommend that. The computer also came with a wireless mouse and keyboard but I bought higher quality wired ones as I couldn't be bothered with changing batteries and having to sync them etc. For all that, it was the same cost as the budget I was planning for my home built PC so it was a no brainer.

I have been fully immersed into the world of Steam and would like to thank those of you who have been kind enough to buy games for me through it. The one time 'console only' gamer is now enjoying a variety of PC titles. AND GODDAMN, THOSE SALES PRICES ARE AMAZING! I also had to buy Skyrim for the PC and after playing it for a year on PS3, the difference in frame rate, load times, saving times and even the graphics is shocking. Even with this relatively basic set up, it is so much quicker and better than on the consoles. Anyway, who am I to point out the obvious? I love this rig and am glad to be using Windows 7 on a desktop after four years of a MacBook being my main computer. Not saying Mac is bad by any means but it is a refreshing change. So much more stuff available for it and so much cheaper as well. I will still use my MacBook, which to be fair to it, has been worth the money I paid for it but for the stuff I wanted to do now (like HD video editing, recording), unfortunately, it just wasn't enough anymore.

Going back to art, I owe a lot of people artwork and to those of you who I have promised it and not delivered, I am sorry. I really do aim to change that. I have had art blocks and have been drained at times when I want to do it but have been lacking the energy. Other times, life has got in the way but I still enjoy drawing and I am also getting into a lot more writing as well. In fact, I am working on a piece staring a few characters belonging to  fiercedeityfox and I plan to do more stuff like that.

Anyway, rather than promising to get stuff sorted and then not doing it, I have the best intentions to get it done. I just need to get it done!

Thanks for reading this and hope you have a great 2013. See you next year!