Ironic Contradictions

Well it's 6pm right now in Australia. In 6 hours it will be 2014 so I'd like to make a brief post commenting on the year in retrospect.

2013 has easily been my best year ever that I have had. Sure, I may not have read as many books as in 2012, or gone to university for the first time like that year. So there are things about 2013 which were not as great as 2012. Yet, as its own year 2013 has been fantastic. Here is a brief list of what was incredible in 2013:

• I worked for the whole year on a regular nightshift schedule. Which meant that I gained a new experience of working all night and gained some useful money to buy books, gifts, movies and other assorted items of interest.
  
  
• I saw more movies in the cinemas than I ever had. Including The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Pacifc Rim, The Wolverine, Thor 2, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Gravity, The Butler, Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2 and many others. I also bought many of those for my dvd collection.
  
  
• Speaking of dvd collections, I have built mine up to around 60 dvds and also built my book collection to have well over 100 books. I also purchased a Nintendo Wii U and around 10 games. Which means I did spend a heap of cash this year, but it was worth it!
  
  
• I went to the USA and had the time of my life experiencing the baseball, Boston, Washington, New York, 4th July in Washington - including going to the concert on the steps of Capitol, the Empire State Building and many other special memories! 
  
  
• I also had the privilege of just recently visiting the Gold Coast again for a family holiday which was a special time and had many wonderful things!
  
  
• I progressed through the second year of university, which was not as good a year academically as the first, but was still a great year. The main issue was the repetitive side of things, however teaching rounds meant that I did get to teach some proper classes for once!
  
  Church and family life have never been better with all the new church friends I met and became closer to, including a bunch of the most amazing Filipino men and women! Those people will hold a special place in my heart forever!
  
  I saw a great friend get married and two others get engaged and I also experienced several 21sts! All great first moments in people's lives around me!
  
  I made many new friends and became closer to the old friends around me, whether it was catching up at parties or sports or movies. I treasure all the times in my life when I've been able to do such things with friends...
  
  Of course, 2013 was also a great year in terms of sports. At the start of the year I received my second award in cricket, and for the first time was the number one bowler in my side. I now look forward to continuing in this season and seeing what heights I reach by season's end in March! I also saw my team win the AFL 2013 Premiership, in an unstoppable season (they lost only 3 out of 25 games and in the process beat every team but one). And of course the Aussies both lost and then won back the Ashes from the English!
  
  Aside from those things I must finally mention my exploits in reading. I read many books I'd been meaning to get to, including Ulysses, The Iliad, The Odyssey and Don Quixote. I got to Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities and Nicholas Nickleby - rushing through many great Dickens classics as a result. I read the new Brandon Sanderson books, I read Crime and Punishment and I successfully navigated many comic book arcs I had wished to. All in all a successful year!