In the spirit of all media, I am going to steal a good idea from someone. My associate Adam Talley of Idiothead.com came up with a great idea for a first day entry of the year, blogging-wise.

I’m going to steal that idea, strip it to its skeleton, maybe move or remove a few bones, and then flesh it out with my words and concepts, making me look somewhat clever at 9 am on a Sunday holiday morning, after only five hours of sleep. Call me Doctor Frankenstein.

How to effectively deal with all problems. Copyright 2010 Michael A. Leuszler

Before I get started, New Year’s Eve was super. Kathy had what we like to refer to as “an old folks New Year’s Eve”. We stayed home, ate somewhat frozen shrimp that didn’t quite unfreeze with Kathy’s wonderful improvised cocktail sauce (Because the idea of buying Dick’s Cocktail Sauce at the local farm market sent me into adolescent tittering), BBQ and Buffalo wings (Lightly coated, as I don’t like my bottom feeling like a flame-thrower when I fart), potato chips, and I washed it down with Diet Vernors Ginger Soda. Very bad, but very good.

And we watched the first episode of the final season of The United States Tara. Great show, great characters, great storylines and subplots, and it’s primarily about a character dealing with multiple personalities. And Northern Exposure’s John Corbett as the long-suffering, but not dumb as a bag of rocks, husband and father to the more colorful family members.

When that was done, we slipped over ABC for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 40th broadcast. Holy crap, how does Dick Clark get off making me feel old? I guess I was in second grade when that first one went up. My then-teacher Mrs. Fine is probably amused by this, wherever she’s spending her afterlife.

BTW, if you follow me on Twitter, you know how I feel about Dick Clark humor. Keep it to yourself. It’s beneath you.

Besides, I can’t wait to hear about Lady Gaga’s latest supervillain outfit and her hometown performance, along with Jenny McCarthy’s, whom the American right and many other Internet trolls have dubbed “America’s Worst Mom” for her anti-vaccination stance in regards to her son’s autism. Shrug. It will take more time for me to totally agree with her eveidence, but, she shows more initiative and interest in the subject than most, and doesn’t just tow the line because “we did it as kids and we turned out okay”.

Sure we did. Even without being still cute as a button, she gets points for standing up for her principals.

Ryan Seacrest comes off as creepy again, as if he’s waiting for his boss to DC to finally kick off, so he can seize all of that power. Guy Lombardo, you ain’t.

Shortly after the ball dropped, Kathy received her annual New Year’s call from her son David, so I switched the channel to Boomerang and watched an episode of the short-lived Secret Saturdays. Any adventuring group built on a Fantastic Four/Incredibles/Doom Patrol/Doc Savage paradigm appeals to me. And I have yet to see more than a few episodes.

Anyway, before this becomes the introduction to 2013, here’s a short list of what I’m looking forward to in the coming year:

1. Better health. After last year’s record amount of hospital visits, I’ve decided to slowly get back on the wagon and live healthier. Not insanely, super healthy, running 20 miles a day or shopping exclusively at the health food outlet, but just making better choices and not just letting things go.  My health has affected my output even more than ever this year, and it’s time to turn that bus around.
2. Better identity. I’m a bit ADHD. I’m wired like an artist. I don’t think like normal, right-thinking people. Many people don’t know what to make of me when they see my display at a show. Many people also have a problem not being able to describe me in five words or less. Sometimes, even I have that problem. This year, I’m going to clarigy what I do and make Mike The Art Guy something that people can talk about with confidence and ease. Which leads into…
3. Better business. My original five year plan included giving up caricatures this year to pursue other things. Well, that’s not gonna happen. It appears that I really enjoy doing caricatures, and it’s decent money. It’s also one of the few places I get to perform, live, and hone my improv skills on a small personal level. I have been made aware time and time again of the wonderful experiences people are having by getting caricatured by Mike The Art Guy, so it would be a shame to stop doing that. I look forward to being even more aggressive about booking events and reaching out more groups and making more contacts and just meeting more customers, both at events and online. That means you, fella.
4. More focus. Every project will be treated with professionalism. Even if it’s on a shoestring budget. Every project is getting tons of research, brainstormed in a mind map, and written up fully in a project document. Except my freelance work, which gets recorded on a new work form Kathy helped me create last summer. The point is, everything is documented, I can refer to my “road maps” when things go astray, and the initial work I put into projects now, keeps me focused so I don’t just shrug and give up so easily. All of this keeps me more focused on not starting fifty things at once, becoming that guy who spins plates.
5. More smiles. With better health, a lot of thought, and a new kitten who’s adorable and killer curious/playful, I’ve tapped into some of the things that I thought I lost after I got married and became an “adult”. More happy means more productivity, which means more sales, less “bad” stress, and just getting back to the life I enjoyed as a youth. Kathy’s been a big source of support over the years in many ways, and it’s about time she got something positive back. Something REALLY positive. 2012 is payback time.
6. More completed projects. Like a new OZ book coming out by author Cynthia Hanson and illustrated by… aw, you guessed. I count on a lot of commission work, both caricatures and illustration, which is fine and good, but now it’s time for me to really do more on the proactive content provider part of my business plan. What does that mean? More prints, more original art, an art book, a project for people who like paper goods (like scrapbookers, gamers, wha?), bringing back a podcast, and possibly finally getting that webcoming launched, going, and continuing on a regular basis.
7. More communication. Via this site, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and through the Post Office. Going back to analog to reach out to more customers. And more professionalism on my social media outlets.
8. More shows, more outreach, more travel, more fun.

And after this article, more brevity. And less path to hell/good intentions.