I have been largely neglecting this blog for about a year, because it was always meant to be a place for random thoughts, and I was working on a more focused idea over at Not So Basic Black.  However, I struggled to get through the end of last year on that blog, and since then, have only written the post saying that I was taking a hiatus from the blog. (UPDATE: I did write a few future posts over the weekend. Nothing significant though.)

I find myself largely avoiding the computer at night as of late, and the only thing I can assume is that it’s finally catching up with me that being online all day, writing blog posts for work, tweeting and interacting with customers on Facebook, all of this is coming together and making me completely uninterested in creating more content at night.

Oh this is me a little bit. Hilarious.

It’s good in a way, since my focus is on my job and I’ve been creating more content there as of late, which is my favorite part of this job.  Check out my Elvis Presley post!

So, right now, I have the following projects in motion.

• Work blog: The Noritake Dish
• This blog: JamieSanford.com (not very active though)
• Shopping/Fashion/Pop Culture/etc blog: Not So Basic Black
• New project: Magnets And Stuff
• Podcast

Should I list the full-time job there as well, or is it assumed?

So I’m busy, and I think something has to go.  The podcast takes the least amount of work, it’s mostly just me and one of my best friends having a blast talking about many different topics, while being wildly inappropriate. We even have a tentative “yes” on an interview for the show that I am REALLY excited about.

I’ve thought about moving most of the Not So Basic Black content to JamieSanford.com and just having my site be a home base for “things I want to talk about,” whether it be me talking about business and marketing or reviewing a movie.  It would probably be easier to handle, and would take me down to 4 projects instead of 5. Magnets and Stuff is very embryonic and needs a lot of work, work that I haven’t found the time for yet. I need to finish my judging for The Communicator Awards and I have some other things happening right now.

January has been a month of stewing on a lot of things, which I think I needed, at least for my personal projects. I’m ready for February, and the rest of 2012, to be more productive and leave me feeling accomplished and fulfilled (as opposed to overwhelmed and feeling like I’m not getting enough done) at the beginning of next year.

How is everyone doing with their 2012 so far?

Since I am back a little bit, I decided to share my Top 5 posts from this blog to remind me of what should inspire future writing.

1. There’s a penis in your subject line.

2. Quality retweeting is the new #followfriday.

3. When is social media necessary?

4. Product Review: Aura Paint by Benjamin Moore (because it is STILL the post that gets the most visits)

5. Progressive Insurance: Making the Micro-Interactions Work.

I forgot about some of these!

Cooper at Christmas. Cooper is my brother's dog.

I haven’t written a post here since April.  I have been busy with writing at Not So Basic Black (formerly The Daily Wishlist), and I ended up watching 95 of the 100 planned films in 2011.  Not too shabby.

Of course, I am having a bit of a crisis now with Not So Basic Black.  Things haven’t gone as I expected and I’m not as excited about it as I once was.  I took away the daily requirement but still feel like posting is important, and it isn’t holding the same appeal.  I have considered moving a lot of the content over to this blog and shutting NSBB down altogether.

Naturally, I have a new project in mind, and I am more excited about it than I’ve been about anything else I’ve done online in a long time. It isn’t ready for a debut yet, but it’s coming.  I hope to get a little more active over here too, if I bring over the movie content, all hell is going to break loose with any sort of content direction.

I’ve got a number of things cooking right now so I’m hoping they will all work themselves out. Happy New Year!

This site continues to have activity, largely because of the Benjamin Moore post.  However, my energy is focused on The Daily Wishlist, which I’m more excited about than ever because I’m having fun over there.  I watch movies and write about them, I watch TV and write about it, and I still shop online and write about that too.  Lots of fun.

Anyway, this post is just to put something new at the top, and to share this picture I took a while back after one of our big snowpocalypse storms.

I hope everyone is well!  Come visit The Daily Wishlist!

Photo of the week, my sneaky photo from the Trent Reznor interview for the New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend. Trent just won a Golden Globe!

Famous Literary Drunks & Addicts and their poisons of choice. (Life)

30 Best Ever Collections of Website Design Tutorials. (Smashing Buzz)

What Font Should I Use? Five Principles for Choosing and Using Typefaces. (Smashing Magazine)

Intel sponsored a short film about Scott Schuman, aka The Sartorialist.

All of my cameras are Sony – so I’m sort of obligated to give this story about 3D cameras some love. (Pop Photo)

51 Films from 2010 That  You Really Shouldn’t Have Missed. (Bleeding Cool)

Another photo, this from the collection of Vivian Maier:

…and an article on Ms. Maier. (Pop Photo)

Chloe makes cookiemaking look like way more fun than I’ve ever seen it. (Shoplifting in a Ghost Town)

Let’s close it out with the gorgeous Christina Hendricks, who should make every girl on earth love her curves.

Found this at the cemetery. Was confused as to why this single stone said "endowed."

You could put up this Christmas tree alternative now and use it all year. (Apartment Therapy)

Wow, my winter gloves are not nearly this cool. (Swagger 360)

I love this – this living room is just beautiful. (Apartment Therapy)

30 Etsy Shops for Cooks. (The Kitchn)

On Friday night, I went to see Trent Reznor get interviewed live for the New York Times’ Arts and Leisure Weekend.  It was fantastic, and most of the interview has made it to YouTube.  Here’s one of the videos. (Click here if you can’t see the video.)

Help with stopping excessive phone checking during a dinner out.

Great explanation of how much sun you need. (Lifehacker)

People getting puppies – so cute.  (Click here if you can’t see the puppy video.)

Miss Nubby Twiglet has a fabulous closet and wrote a great post about her organization.

I’m cutting this one off for now – see you all next week!

This image is a bit messy but I can live with it.  Here’s a big selection of my 2010 tweets.

Technology
Obsession with Twitter and Facebook continued and deepened. Enjoyed other things like Manage Flitter, FourSquare and MailChimp.

Twitter Profile 12-31-10

Food & Drink
Arizona Diet Green Tea, Noodles, White Russians, Mom’s Eggplant Parm, Stove Top Stuffing, Thanksgiving x 2. Meal of the year goes to dinner at Bern’s in Tampa, in September. Had 2 disappointing meals to celebrate milestones at restaurants that were great in the past but now sort of suck.

Terrible Blackberry photo of my New Year's Eve White Russian.

The 2010 recap posts continue!  This one is video-heavy, I suggest visiting the original post for ease in watching the videos if you’re reading the feed.

Music
Kanye West – no one is denying how great his new album is. My favorite song from the album is “Monster” and here’s an unedited version of the video. NSFW!

Civil Twilight – a recent discovery, here’s the video for “Letters From The Sky” which I really like.

How To Destroy Angels – Trent Reznor’s new band with his wife Mariqueen Reznor and previous collaborator Atticus Ross. This is the video for “The Space In Between,” which is really fantastic.

Lady Gaga – she killed it all year. I love her because I dig the music, I love how she is running her own show the whole way. Here’s the “Telephone” video with Beyonce.

80s pop – I’m always in the mood for 80s pop. You know you want to watch the “Take On Me” video.

Nine Inch Nails – 2010 was the first year in a while that I didn’t attend at least one NIN show, since the big “Wave Goodbye” tour of 2009. NIN.com gave us this video from that last set of shows on Christmas. I can’t wait to see more.

Florence + The Machine is another 2010 creation. Here’s the video for “Heavy in Your Arms” from the Eclipse soundtrack.

David Usher – who brought out a fantastic acoustic album this year. I’m still hoping to find my way up to Canada to see a show in 2011. Here’s a video of “Black Black Heart” from a recent live performance in Toronto.

Barcelona – I was introduced to this band with that video of the giant aquarium, and the song from that video is so good. Here is that video featuring “Please Don’t Go.”

Japanese Aquarium

Had a bit of an obsession with Cream more recently. Here’s an audio-only video of “White Room.”

Movies
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Big Lebowski, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Whip It, Clerks 2, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Jaws. I watch random movies that are old and don’t go to the movie theatre very often.

Here’s one of the opening scenes from The Big Lebowski. Very NSFW!

Television
Vampire Diaries, Mythbusters, Dancing With The Stars, 30 Rock, Hoarders. Also had massive marathons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Bones.

The Vampire Diaries - Is It Bad To Want All Three?

Hot, right?  This show is so good – and is currently one of the only things my husband and I sit together on the couch to watch together, faithfully.  They don’t mess around at all, people show up and kill people and die on a regular basis.  There are no throwaway episodes.  I want to watch less TV in 2011, but I won’t be giving up this show.

Next post coming soon.

Let’s get into some 2010 recap business!  3 hours left this year!

Work
Quit my previous job after 8 years, found a new job I really enjoy and that actually uses a large majority of my skill set. This made an enormous impact on my life, I am much happier than I was in that job and I had no idea how being unfulfilled by my job was affecting me so much until it wasn’t anymore. I miss the people I used to work with, but I can’t really say I miss the job at all.

Travel

• January – Las Vegas for work.

• April – Flew to Florida and then solo road-tripped for 8 days in a hot rented Mustang.  I also met my new nephew, Cooper the Boston Terrier.

Cooper and his towel - April 2010.

• May – Weekend trip to Provincetown, MA – stayed in a bed & breakfast and had an amazing whale-watching experience.

Humpback Whale - Provincetown, MA.

Here is a video from that whale-watching trip that my husband took.  You can hear my shutter in the background taking tons of pictures.

• August – Short trip to Savannah, GA in (super steamy) for my new job.
• September – Crazy weekend in St. Louis, MO. Saw 2 friends from high school, which was amazing, and made some new friends too.

Mike, Jamie, David in the elevator - September 2010.

• September – Less than 2 days after getting back from St. Louis, Will and I were on a plane to FL. Rented another car, this time a brand-new 2011 yellow Camaro. We visited various locations again to see friends, go to Kennedy Space Center, check out The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal, and attend my nephew’s confirmation.

Collage from Trip to Kennedy Space Center - September 2010.

I didn’t travel nearly as much in 2010 as I did in years prior. The new job and related lack of paid vacation days put a damper on the traveling.

To be continued….