A lot happened in 2011 – I completed two semesters of school, a summer filled with leisure, research, and adventure, and I made significant headway on my next book. In 2012, there are a few things that will probably be different: this will be the first year in seven years that I will not be working with Barton Ct. Productions Inc. (which is now being switched to a new company name and form), I will be less than two semesters away from graduating with my undergraduate degree, I’ll be studying for the GRE (graduate record examination), and most importantly: I’ll be taking on some new goals.

Unlike previous years, where I often announce what projects I’m either cutting ties with or what new projects I’m starting, I’m instead going to devote even more effort to some other aspects of my development. I will continue working on my new book and my website as much as I possibly can while simultaneously trying to avoid all fast food completely and will attempt to obtain new physical fitness levels that I’ve never previously obtained in my life.

I feel the fitness goals are especially important. Since high school, my body has gone through some interesting shifts. At one point in 2009, I was up to approximately 170 pounds in body weight, about 15%-17% of which was fat. At this point, I’m 148 pounds, eight pounds of which is recently gained muscle with 9% or 10% body fat. I will not focus so much on body fat levels, as I predict those will mostly stay the same. I’ll instead focus on achieving new levels of strength and endurance to put my body into a healthier condition. The real trick, of course, in combination with avoiding all fast food, will be to find time in my schedule for these things.

That trick can be accomplished in a number of ways, I think, by using the proper balance of workout time and rest time along with study time, work time, and whatever other times I might be having! A rough goal I have by 2012’s end will be to be able to do 50 slow push ups, solid strong plank routines, 12 pull ups, 12 shoulder presses, and to feel good following my weekly sprint sessions. Much of these goals I had in 2011 but was unable to obtain them. However, I did make a slow progression toward the goals and am still ahead of where I was.

I had given some thought at one point to completely giving up coffee and at one point I actually had called it quits. I’ve decided that it will probably a good idea to avoid coffee as much as possible, with one exception. I’ll definitely be having an occasional cup of coffee on test or exam days during this coming semester because, as research suggests, the adrenal gland trade off can be worthwhile for the once-in-a-while antioxidant and cognitive performance boost. So, coffee is in for me, but in limited quantities. Hrm, there’s also a good chance of me writing an article on caffeine fairly soon too, as I’ve been independently researching the subject for some time now.

A few people have asked me what I will be doing in relation to movies or film. The answer – not much at all. I’ll be making an appearance, it seems, on Stephen Wolfe’s new upcoming film Doll Factory. I’m also still attached to both producing and starring in a possible Barton Police feature length movie. Doll Factory is an important project and particularly noteworthy to me personally is that it will be the first HD Barton Ct. project to date and will be the first film in over five years where, it is said, James Monaghan will be making an appearance. James was previously a major representative of Barton in the early days and also acted in many of Stephen’s earlier movies.

While I do not want to promise the Barton Police movie is happening, I can tell you that if it does happen it will be exciting, hilarious, and an interesting reinvention from what the online series was. The storyline will also be mostly the same, with some important and worthwhile changes. Beyond that, that’s all I can say, but the point is that I’ve both seen and contributed to some of the script outlines and drafts – they take a departure from some of the absurdity present in the internet series. There’s also a couple other ideas that I have lingering around on the “backburner” but I’d best not talk about them yet.

Aside from that, I suppose it’s worth saying that above all: my primary motive will be to get into a good graduate school for either a Masters or doctoral degree (most likely doctoral if I can get the support). So, wish me luck with that, and wish me luck for finding time off!