Resolutions--I has them
I'm feeling...stuck. I think two weeks of vacation wherein I do almost nothing at all and barely leave the place I am residing have finally gotten to me. I'm not the type to get stir-crazy, not really--I could spend a weekend locked away at home and doing nothing and be utterly content. But two weeks? Is pushing it. I couldn't go anywhere in Oregon. I was so trashed from jet-lag from that trip that I couldn't barely leave the apartment in New York. (Hurrah! I have NO FOOD!) And when I went to my parents' place this weekend, I tended to park in places.
As a result, I'm feeling a need to start attacking my living environment, seeing as the weather is not exactly conducive to me running around outside much. Which brings me around to resolutions for the new year. I was fishing for others' resolutions this weekend, but no one had any great ones I could steal. I took a look at the last ones I made (two years ago, woo-hoo), and I rather like that they were productive yet not impossible. In keeping with that, I've decided on the following resolutions:
1. Clear out the bins under my bed
This is a huge project that will involve my, five years later, finally putting together a scrap book of photos from my trip to Australia. Better late than never. While the distance from the events means I'm almost sure to have forgotten every detail, I will be able to part with the junk I've stored up there, which is all for the good, really. I will also work on getting all my photos scanned in so I have digital backups. To think: if I'd been born only a few years later, I'd have had digital copies to begin with, which is really the most sensible thing for me, given how lazy I am about photographing shit in my life.
Huge project--projects, really, as I suspect the Australia trip isn't the only event collecting dust down there--but doable. Certainly doable within a freaking year.
2. Finish my sister's wedding present.
Only four years late on that one! I'm really, really close. I just need to go some place away from cats for a couple of weekends (i.e. upstate), queue up a hundred movies, and sit and sit and stitch and stitch. This one I'd like to have ready before her birthday in August (if I really push myself, I might have it done by her wedding anniversary in March). After I finish it, I then need to sit down with her and discuss what the shit she'd like me to do with them. I have chosen the most useless hobby, I swear. Cross-stitching is useful for two things: framing and making pillows. I wouldn't presume she wants these things framed (because then she's more or less obligated to hang them whether they're to her taste or not), and they're far too intricate for pillows. I was thinking, though, that working them in as panels in a quilt or a quillow (that's a one-square quilt block that is attached as the outside of a blanket pocket--it folds into a pillow with the nice design on the outside, and is used as a blanket with the nice design safely tucked away in the pouch). Must work on getting that done, first, and planning what to do with it, second.
3. Read twice as many books as last year.
I think I read about 20. That's pathetic. I have about six or seven that I've accumulated in the insanity of holiday busyness, so I can get off to a good running start. I just have to not let my time get shanghied by video games, TV, exercise, or movies too much. I think I can do it. I'd also be happy to just read about half again as many. So 30-40 books. Let's go team.
4. Lose 20 pounds.
This was the goal I set for myself when I first programmed my profile into the Wii Fit. I set a timeline of 6 months which is fastly coming to a close with all of about two pounds to show for it. (Which means zip-o given that you can fluctuate that much in any given day.) Whenever I fail at that resolution, I'll reprogram my goal to be for the year. The 20 isn't a number, it's a BMI thing. And while I have trouble with BMI standards, it is a useful benchmark even if it's an arbitrary one. We'll see.
5. Be a better person.
Ah, the vague one. I've actually been pondering this some time now, and a new year seems a perfect time to put into action some notions I've been entertaining. For one thing, I'd really like to pay a genuine compliment to someone every day. It's something I've considered a while now, sparked by a few genuine compliments I've received here and there. It would be so nice to be able to, without seeming like a crazy person (must work on delivery, delivery is key), tell someone (whether I know them or not) that they are particularly sharp, seem blissfully happy, or look especially well put together. I have to be careful not to just fish one out (i.e. avoid studied and saved compliments a la Mr. Collins), but to really mean it. I think that would really improve my mood, too.
This also covers vague life goals upon which I have no direction--career aspirations (hah!), personal fiscal responsibility, intellectual stimulation and enrichment, improved sociability--without making it seem like I've failed to accomplish anything if I have no specific incident I can furnish as proof.
As a result, I'm feeling a need to start attacking my living environment, seeing as the weather is not exactly conducive to me running around outside much. Which brings me around to resolutions for the new year. I was fishing for others' resolutions this weekend, but no one had any great ones I could steal. I took a look at the last ones I made (two years ago, woo-hoo), and I rather like that they were productive yet not impossible. In keeping with that, I've decided on the following resolutions:
1. Clear out the bins under my bed
This is a huge project that will involve my, five years later, finally putting together a scrap book of photos from my trip to Australia. Better late than never. While the distance from the events means I'm almost sure to have forgotten every detail, I will be able to part with the junk I've stored up there, which is all for the good, really. I will also work on getting all my photos scanned in so I have digital backups. To think: if I'd been born only a few years later, I'd have had digital copies to begin with, which is really the most sensible thing for me, given how lazy I am about photographing shit in my life.
Huge project--projects, really, as I suspect the Australia trip isn't the only event collecting dust down there--but doable. Certainly doable within a freaking year.
2. Finish my sister's wedding present.
Only four years late on that one! I'm really, really close. I just need to go some place away from cats for a couple of weekends (i.e. upstate), queue up a hundred movies, and sit and sit and stitch and stitch. This one I'd like to have ready before her birthday in August (if I really push myself, I might have it done by her wedding anniversary in March). After I finish it, I then need to sit down with her and discuss what the shit she'd like me to do with them. I have chosen the most useless hobby, I swear. Cross-stitching is useful for two things: framing and making pillows. I wouldn't presume she wants these things framed (because then she's more or less obligated to hang them whether they're to her taste or not), and they're far too intricate for pillows. I was thinking, though, that working them in as panels in a quilt or a quillow (that's a one-square quilt block that is attached as the outside of a blanket pocket--it folds into a pillow with the nice design on the outside, and is used as a blanket with the nice design safely tucked away in the pouch). Must work on getting that done, first, and planning what to do with it, second.
3. Read twice as many books as last year.
I think I read about 20. That's pathetic. I have about six or seven that I've accumulated in the insanity of holiday busyness, so I can get off to a good running start. I just have to not let my time get shanghied by video games, TV, exercise, or movies too much. I think I can do it. I'd also be happy to just read about half again as many. So 30-40 books. Let's go team.
4. Lose 20 pounds.
This was the goal I set for myself when I first programmed my profile into the Wii Fit. I set a timeline of 6 months which is fastly coming to a close with all of about two pounds to show for it. (Which means zip-o given that you can fluctuate that much in any given day.) Whenever I fail at that resolution, I'll reprogram my goal to be for the year. The 20 isn't a number, it's a BMI thing. And while I have trouble with BMI standards, it is a useful benchmark even if it's an arbitrary one. We'll see.
5. Be a better person.
Ah, the vague one. I've actually been pondering this some time now, and a new year seems a perfect time to put into action some notions I've been entertaining. For one thing, I'd really like to pay a genuine compliment to someone every day. It's something I've considered a while now, sparked by a few genuine compliments I've received here and there. It would be so nice to be able to, without seeming like a crazy person (must work on delivery, delivery is key), tell someone (whether I know them or not) that they are particularly sharp, seem blissfully happy, or look especially well put together. I have to be careful not to just fish one out (i.e. avoid studied and saved compliments a la Mr. Collins), but to really mean it. I think that would really improve my mood, too.
This also covers vague life goals upon which I have no direction--career aspirations (hah!), personal fiscal responsibility, intellectual stimulation and enrichment, improved sociability--without making it seem like I've failed to accomplish anything if I have no specific incident I can furnish as proof.