In my 2019 resolutions post, I wrote that I wasn’t sure what my 2018 resolutions were. Thanks to this blog I know exactly what my 2019 resolutions were (see below).

My 2019 resolutions were:

• Finish my Ph.D.!
• Release five singles of video game music
• Release “The Golden Sun Set” album
• Read seven books

My biggest 2019 resolution was to finish my Ph.D in mechanical engineering - engineering mechanics at Michigan Tech. I can proudly say that I was successful! I am now the third Dr. Pisani.

I only released one VGM single: “Secret of the Forest” from Chrono Trigger. It’s available on all of the major music distribution platforms under the name Will Pisani. Here are a few links: Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Youtube Music, Deezer. I do have several singles ready to go, enough for an EP, actually. They are “Main Theme” from Mass Effect, “City Trial” from Kirby Air Ride, “Title Theme” from Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, “Title Theme” from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and “Title Theme” from Jet Force Gemini.

I didn’t release “The Golden Sun Set” album, but I made good progress. This album probably won’t be released any time soon because I had to cancel my Composer Cloud subscription. The cost was doubling to $20/month which is too much to justify at this time (this is a hobby for me). Since the Golden Sun games have a great Oriental influence on the music, I would need to re-subscribe to get access to the Oriental sound libraries. I’ll finish it someday.

My book reading goal for 2019 was seven books….and I read seven books. They were “Wishful Drinking” by Carrie Fisher, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ransom Riggs, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling (a re-read), “Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight” by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, “Queer Eye: Love Yourself. Love Your Life” by The Fab 5, “Running with the Demon” by Terry Brooks (another re-read), and, my favorite of the year, “Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch.

My 2020 Resolutions

• Read 10 books
• Cook more often
• Work on music more often, at least one hour per month

Since I read seven books this past year, I’m shooting for 10 books this year. I also want to work on my music more often, at least one hour per month.

In our household, Leila is usually the chef. I help out with most meals, but I rarely cook meals for the two of us on my own. My main 2020 resolution is to cook more often. I’ve made some good bread in our bread machine in the past, but I’d like to do more of that (and make Nisu bread, a local favorite in Houghton, MI).

I want to get into meal prepping my lunches for work (ORISE postdoc at a US Army Corps of Engineers laboratory). Thankfully there are many, many resources for this (Pinterest, Reddit, New York Times, the Internet in general). I also want to cut back on my carbon footprint by eating largely vegetarian lunches. The New York Times published a piece on how the meat and dairy industries contribute to climate change (“14.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions — as much each year as from all cars, trucks, airplanes and ships combined” - yikes!!). They also have a good guide on how to cut down on your meat and dairy consumption without cutting it out entirely. A good way to go vegetarian from what I’ve read is by including a lot of beans. The New York Times has a good guide on cooking beans that I plan on trying at least once. I’ve never cooked dried beans before so this will be interesting. I love eating Chinese cuisine so a lot of my lunches will probably be Chinese in nature. I was introduced to delicious Indian cuisine by my awesome friends at Michigan Tech during my Ph.D. Whether homemade by friends or eaten at restaurants with friends on our research trips, I loved it all. Butter chicken, chicken biryani, egg curry, and mango lassi are just a few of the dishes and drinks I plan on making for myself and Leila.

These goals are definitely more doable than last year’s, but the biggest challenge will be adapting to my first post-university job and to life in Mississippi. 2020 will be the first year in about 18 years that I won’t be living somewhere in the great state of Michigan. Leila and I both really loved the movie Frozen 2 (probably more than Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), especially the song “Into the Unknown” sung by Idina Menzel and Aurora. I think the reason Frozen 2 and “Into the Unknown” resonated with us so much is that we, like Elsa, are heading into the unknown. Nearly 1000 miles from both sides of the family, this is the furthest we’ve ever lived from our immediate families. From the cold, extremely snowy, but intimately familiar Keweenaw Peninsula to the hot, rainy, and unknown of Mississippi. 2020 will be the year of new beginnings and new adventures!