Gently used year’s resolutions
New year’s resolutions are probably as old as the idea of a new year itself. People are awful at being alive, and the transition to a new year is a perfect time to create the sense of a fresh slate, a new beginning with new goals and eventually old disappointments. I, too, am bad at being alive, and I decided to be fashionably late in my resolve.
So many resolutions are negative things, attempts to end old bad habits: don’t watch so much TV, quit freebasing cocaine, stop kicking the dog. I’m going to try to be positive in mine.
Get in shape
Specifically, I’d like to get back to where I was about a year ago, and maybe do some pushups once in a while this time around. Maybe that’s kind of a negative resolution, but I have a plan for action. I’ve already started riding my bike into work again, so I need to keep at that. Wii Fit might have a place in this plan, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Read more
I enjoy reading books but I don’t read very much. I would like to change that. This one is mainly a problem of starting a habit. I need to set aside some regular time to just chillax and read a couple of chapters. I’ve started with Grapes of Wrath, which seems appropriate to the times. I’m open to suggestions for what to read when I’m done with it.
Learn a new language
Like reading, this one is a matter of forming a new habit. I tried this for a while last year with Mandarin, and at least got a sort of beginner restaurant Chinese into my head, but my studies were irregular and eventually abandoned.
Find time for hobby programming
Again, what I need to do is do something productive with my free time. One of the awful things about my time at Autovin was stagnation. I wasn’t learning anything new, and I wasn’t doing anything that I’d want to use in another job. This hasn’t been a problem anymore, but there are some things that I’m really bad at. I have ideas for some learning adventures with web programming and GUI design. They’re probably too ambitious to ever be completed, but I at least need to take a shot and try to learn something.
Listen to more music
A quick glance at the music collection shows I bought about a dozen new albums in 2008. It doesn’t seem like very much. Wading through the sounds of yesteryear is ok, but I need to try out the sounds of today, too.
Eat better food
Not necessarily healthier food, just better. No more of that pre-grated Parmesan cheese; the real stuff is so much more delicious, and the extra work of grating is definitely worth it. Less fast food, and no more eating at any of those bland but sort-of convenient chains near the office.
Drink better
As with food, I’m looking to improve the little experiences of my life. If I’m drinking a beer or a wine, I should take to care about what it is and how it tastes. And I should experiment more with cocktails. For classic mixed drinks half the fun is figuring out the history of the drink, how it was originally made and how it might be improved, and, like cooking, history is a guide rather than an aspiration. Unlike cooking, mixing spirits often takes relatively little effort, making the cost of experimentation low. If something turns out bad, just pour it down the drain and try something else. All of us can get drunk on the shoulders of giants.
So here’s to a new year and new ambition.