New Year 2008

itunes: Grover Washington Jr, Winelight (1980)

I picked the following quote from the papers and it's quite appropriate for the time like this, in the final hour of 2007:

Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols. - Thomas Mann, German author, 1929 Nobel Prize laureate.

Chinese translation:
时间无涯，没有所谓的分界，即使新的一个月或一年开始了，自然界不会发出一声雷霆巨响或是号角，喧嚣迎接它们的到来。即使是新的世纪降临，也只是我们这些凡人在猛敲钟、乱开枪一通。- 德国作家托马斯曼，1929 年诺贝尔文学奖得主

Is 2008 going to be a good year for me? I would think so. Or perhaps it's because of the optimistic mood that's I'm in now. I've been reading the blog entries of 2007 and they are indeed good recap of my thoughts in the past 365 days. There are ups and downs, some things came to fruition while others didn't. The biggest achievement in 2007 is that I'm finally financial independent, a goal that I have for years and this is going to make 2008 significant.

Think I'm not going to have any new year resolutions for 2008. Instead I'm going to list down items that I want to do in 2008. By 31st Dec 2008, let's do a reality check of how far I have achieved. The To-Do list for 2008 (not in any particular order):

01. Lose 5kg
02. Iceland trip
03. Stay put in this job
04. 5% in returns and capital gains combined in investments
05. Get my driving license (least priority)
06. Take up sailing
07. Remove my dark eye rings and eye bags
08. Own an Iphone
09. Adore my partner more than in 2007
10. Take better care of my parents than in 2007
11. More serious in photography
12. Full body checkup

Now I have listed mine, what's yours?
Happy and fruitful 2008!