New Year's Resolutions

So we’ve reached the end of another year and that means that I need to take some time to think through some New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve been a little lax with these in the past, mainly because I tend to think of tying yourself to an arbitrary date on a calendar is kind of silly. I am more of a continual improvement kind of guy. But, I have a lot of things that I feel like I need to improve in my life and by writing them down I think I’ll have a better chance at being successful. Here they are…

Resolution #1: Learn how to juggle: Still haven’t done this and I would like to have one skill that would be useful only in impressing my nieces and nephews.

Resolution #2: Learn how to ride a unicycleResolution #3: Learn how to juggle while riding a unicycle: I’m pretty sure that my next career will involve the circus.

Resolution #4: Visit at least three cities that I have never been to before: This one has been on my mind a lot recently as I’m this strange combination of being very well traveled and not having traveled at all. I’ve been to London three times but I’ve never been to New York and I’ve never been to California. So one of the things that I want to do this year is expand my horizons and travel to places I’ve never been.

Resolution #5: Tour with The Frames for a portion of their U.S. tour: I assume they’ll be doing a full tour once The Cost is released in the states and I want to spend a week on the road following the band. I can’t say enough about how incredible these guys are live and I think it will be a way to see the country, enjoy some good music, and have a number of excellent adventures.

Resolution #6: Have breakfast every day: Yeah, a pretty boring but important one. I’m sick of my breakfast consisting of coffee and an energy bar eaten at ten in the morning. It’s probably one of the reasons why I’m still fighting to lose weight, I’ve just never been a breakfast person. A little structure should go a long way here.

Resolution #7: Make a legitimate effort at writing my book/novel: Whatever I end up writing (fiction, memoir, essays, a combination of the three) I just want to try to put together one major piece of my writing and have it be the best that it can be. I love the blog but this is just meant to be what is on my mind at the moment with no editing or sanity checks. I have a book in me and I better write it quickly.

Resolution #8: Be less of a cynical bastard: This is more in relation to my view of myself than my view of the world. I’ve been getting down on myself a lot recently and while this has been something that I have been battling my entire life it has gotten steadily worse over the past few years. I keep on thinking back to Warren Zevon’s advice on life: “Enjoy every sandwich.” I haven’t been and that is an absolute shame. It’s time to fix that one.

Resolution #9: Bench press my weight: This is really a goal to move my workouts from cardio to actually building muscle. I’m proud of myself for reaching a huge goal today on the treadmill (my fastest three miles since a severe leg injury a few years ago) so I finally feel that I have my cardio to a level that I can work from. So now I have to start lifting weights and gain muscle, which at my age might be a bit of a challenge but I’m up to the task. Also, I should add in my pledge to never take the elevator at the office, which is probably the best easy workout option that I have.

Resolution #10: Have one perfect moment in the year: You can’t plan for perfect moments. In fact, planning guarantees that they will never happen. It’s like trying to manage a relationship with a flow chart, as great an idea it is in theory it just falls apart in practice. But you can make yourself open to these moments and I haven’t for a while. Well, time to open myself up to the universe and see what happens. I know that means I might fail (which I hate so much) but it’s the only way to learn. And I want another perfect moment.

That’s it for 2006, a year of ups and downs for me but probably more ups than downs. Next year will be a lot of big ups. I’ve just got a feeling…

The five random CDs for the week:
1) The Iguanas “Super Ball”
2) Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys “Your Favorite Fool”
3) Sally Timms and Jon Langford “Songs of False Hope and High Values”
4) Midnight Oil “Blue Sky Mining”
5) R.E.M. “Green”