2014 Bloggolutions

While I have mentioned in my last two posts that there was a possibility that there would be no goals for 2014. The reality is that having these goals was good in keep me focused on three of my hobbies. Keeping that in mind I decided to run with some goals for 2014. Most of these goals will be the same as with 2013, but adding some difficulty to make them more of a challenge. I liked the idea behind most of these, and feel they keep my collecting going in a direction that has been fun. Keeping with the theme of 2013 as well. I'll be going with 10 goals, and rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 when the year is finished. Now without beating around the bush any longer lets see what the plan is for 2014.

1- Make over 240 posts for the year.

This is one of those goals that can go either way. While I came close to this amount of posts in 2013. Come November the amount of posts I was doing slowed way down. Despite the slowdown all it will take is around 20 posts per month to make this happen. Going against me is a planned two week vacation, and a bunch of work we plan on doing around the house. If I can post around those this is an achievable goal. Working in my favor is we did two weeks at Disneyland, and Las Vegas in 2013. I posted around that vacation by writing up some generalized posts. This is a possible idea once more, and odds are something I will attempt.

 2- Finish 10 sets or subsets of baseball cards.

This could be considered one of those are you crazy type things? My 2013 goal was to complete five sets, and I came up short by only completing three. So how do I follow a failure like this? I double that goal, and go for ten sets or subsets. The good news is I added some new stuff to work on, and some of those were hit pretty hard. Currently there are 14 different sets, and subsets that are within five cards of completion. I will go out on a limb, and say half if not more of the ten completed by the years end will not be from those 14 sets. That alone will make this goal even more impressive when it's completed.

3- Add Rosario, and Trout nectar to the collection

For people who don't know about this whole nectar thing. Recently I saw the word used on another blog. The first time I heard it though was on a metal detecting show that I've seen a few times. While the two guys on that show are absolutely nuts if you ask me. I kind of like the word, and am more than happy to join the revolution of people throwing it into the collecting phrases dictionary. As a collector of many different items here is where I want to go with this idea. Being back into the collecting scene I've been toying with players to collect. I've decided to go with Wilin Rosario, and Mike Trout as my main guys. To me for something to be nectar it has to be sweet. This means for an item to count as one of the ten additions the item will have to be someplace in the following. Autograph cards, game-used cards, bobblehead, or SLU.  Other things will count as well, but I'm not going to count basic cards, or subset stuff. I want the stuff that leaves people saying "now that is sweet!" Hopefully this work out at five items apiece, but I'm a realist here. Trout auto's, and game-used cost a ton. With my budget that's not very realistic so unless I pull something in a pack. All my Trout nectar will probably be in the category of SLU's.

4- Complete 52 trades of baseball cards.

If there is one thing I have learned in just over one year of blogging. It would be that the definition of a trade is different than it is to the rest of the world. In the non-blogging world a trade consists of both parties agreeing to send certain cards to each other in an exchange. In the world of blogging a trade is another blogger sends you a batch of cards out of nowhere. In return the sender of said package gets the wonderful feeling that you've made a collector's day or possibly even week. Sending out that feeling is something I want to do 52 times this year.

5- Add 40 cards into the Rosario, and Trout collections

While I am making these two the focus on my new player collections. My Wilin Rosario collection is fairly small at under ten cards. Currently I have no idea on how many Mike Trout cards I have. Getting Trout's cards into a binder will be my first priority in the collection. From there I will be able to see where that player collection stands, and what cards I can use. More than anything Mike Trout is where most of the cards will come from. Rosario usually only gets one card from the various sets while Trout appears in some of the subsets as well as the regular sets.

  6- Continue to improve my artwork for the artelopes

While I made giant strides in my drawing, and ideas. I want to keep the improving going strong. Some of this will be getting better in the drawing category. The majority of this will be coming up with fresh ideas to use for teams we mailed in 2013. A big wrench will be when I send requests to the colleges for pocket schedules. I collect football schedules, and basketball from three different colleges, and want to mix things up when mailing them. Maybe coming up with ideas for these three will get the creative juices flowing. The benefits of this won't only help in the artelopes, but help with the blog writing.

7-  Show more blogging love

Much like the get more involved in the blogging scene goal from last year. The idea for this is to post comments atleast 52 times this year. Thus the name of show more blogging love. As I've said many a time, there are tons of great bloggers. Going along with all those great blogs are some incredible posts. Procrastination killed me in 2013, but this year I'm going to fight that urge, and let people know how great their work is by commenting.

 8- Get all three of my hobbies organized

Another of the holdover goals from 2013. During this past year I made some great strides in getting the hobbies in order. The plan is to keep running with these, and take it a step further. Luckily the groundwork for most of this was laid down already. There are some new things that will be added to the list. I just need to stay focused, and knock things off one by one.

9- Continue to improve my writing

Improving my writing is something I will be constantly trying to do as long as this blog exists. No matter what anyone says it is something I think can get better. Using where I currently stand as a point the scoring for this goal will be interesting.

10- Double the amount of blogs listed on my blog list

Part of my progression in blogging comes through in this single goal. Last year I had the gain 33 followers, and early on decided it wasn't a very good goal. Keeping with the so many great blogs out there idea. I currently use the blogroll, and most times only read the blogs listed on that list. Problem with this thinking is not every great blog is listed on the blogroll. Nothing proves this more than on my own list which includes a couple blogs not on the blogroll.
                    Currently my blog list has 23 blogs listed. This means by years end it should be at a minimum of 46 blogs. Adding blogs is another of those things I procrastinate about. Who knows, maybe once this year is over. Goals such as this one will help me stop procrastination in other aspects of my life.

There you have it!  Ten things I plan on working on for 2014. Much like 2013 some of these aren't really all that tough. Some will take a ton of work, and give me a nice mixture to work towards. Unlike 2013 where I had done most the work during the first half of the year. I believe adding some difficulty to the ones I kept for this year will turn this into a year long focus.