Resolutions
Though the New Year is thoroughly arbitrary to me, personally, I'm coming to terms with December as an enormous annual hurdle. I find that I no longer care for December, in practice, now that I'm in the private sector. Everyone's scrambling to be at a good place to grind almost to a complete halt for about two and a half weeks, and it's stupid. It's just a stupid, stupid design, made all the more so by its proximity to Thanksgiving. I realize the timing of the celebrations is really necessary to them; it's a harvest festival followed by the winter solstice and the calendar rolling over, and that's great and all, but you know what? I've got fucking work to do.
I've had jobs that were not ground to a halt for holiday festivities, and I quite miss the sensation. Of course, I was in travel or retail at those times, so being the guys open on Christmas Day was of extreme importance.
None of this is to say I won't be taking advantage of the time off. I just think December can be put to far more productive uses. This is a compelling reason to declare an actual war on Christmas. That, and Santa oppresses the proletariat. (That's right; I oppose Christmas both because it's anti-capitalist and anti-communist.)
That said, I've come to understand how this giant roadblock to productivity, slathered in gravy and tied with a bow (pretty picture, ain't it?) motivates some of us to resolve to change something about our lives in the coming year -- it's so that next year, when Christmas is sitting on our heads, we're not stuck thinking about doing these things for two and a half weeks while we wait for the holiday to end.
Thus, with no further ado, I present my resolutions for 2008:
Lose 50 lbs. I've already set this one in motion. January 7th, I will be taking a free trial Muay Thai class at an MMA gym in Palatine. If it works out, it meets twice a week, and there's exercise equipment here at my apartment that I'll hopefully be more inclined to use.
Buy some goddamn furniture. After buying my bed, my already inadequate other furniture only feels less adequate. I'm looking into the LoveSac. I know from experience that they're a revolution in furniture, and I think I'll be able to afford one very soon.
Travel. I'm doing some setup for this, as well. I'm already going out to Nebraska to visit polymorphism over New Year's, and I just started talking to my cousin and conejita_diabla about a tandem vacation next year (and I do mean "just." I sent out preliminary emails this evening). I also need to make my way out to see johnny_biglove, though there's absolutely nothing I can see stopping him from coming out this way, too. "Ooh, I'm a househusband, and I've never heard of dropping the kids off at grandma's for an evening!"
More Theatre Auditions. There's more than just the Elgin community theatre, and though I was for a while loathe to take on things to do that aren't less than a mile away from my apartment, I'm starting to open up to the idea.
Update My Social Calendar. The last several years have been filled with nothing but excuses to stay at home and not meet new people in addition to neglecting the people I already know, and as a result, most of the people I know are expecting or hoping to have left my vicinity within the next year. This is leaving a lot of positions open, including TV buddy, fellow bad movie fans and the persistently vacant "girlfriend" post. Tell your friends I'm accepting resumes. I need more people to neglect.
Seriously, I need to rejoin with those neglected folks, too.
There. I have resolved.
I've had jobs that were not ground to a halt for holiday festivities, and I quite miss the sensation. Of course, I was in travel or retail at those times, so being the guys open on Christmas Day was of extreme importance.
None of this is to say I won't be taking advantage of the time off. I just think December can be put to far more productive uses. This is a compelling reason to declare an actual war on Christmas. That, and Santa oppresses the proletariat. (That's right; I oppose Christmas both because it's anti-capitalist and anti-communist.)
That said, I've come to understand how this giant roadblock to productivity, slathered in gravy and tied with a bow (pretty picture, ain't it?) motivates some of us to resolve to change something about our lives in the coming year -- it's so that next year, when Christmas is sitting on our heads, we're not stuck thinking about doing these things for two and a half weeks while we wait for the holiday to end.
Thus, with no further ado, I present my resolutions for 2008:
Lose 50 lbs. I've already set this one in motion. January 7th, I will be taking a free trial Muay Thai class at an MMA gym in Palatine. If it works out, it meets twice a week, and there's exercise equipment here at my apartment that I'll hopefully be more inclined to use.
Buy some goddamn furniture. After buying my bed, my already inadequate other furniture only feels less adequate. I'm looking into the LoveSac. I know from experience that they're a revolution in furniture, and I think I'll be able to afford one very soon.
Travel. I'm doing some setup for this, as well. I'm already going out to Nebraska to visit polymorphism over New Year's, and I just started talking to my cousin and conejita_diabla about a tandem vacation next year (and I do mean "just." I sent out preliminary emails this evening). I also need to make my way out to see johnny_biglove, though there's absolutely nothing I can see stopping him from coming out this way, too. "Ooh, I'm a househusband, and I've never heard of dropping the kids off at grandma's for an evening!"
More Theatre Auditions. There's more than just the Elgin community theatre, and though I was for a while loathe to take on things to do that aren't less than a mile away from my apartment, I'm starting to open up to the idea.
Update My Social Calendar. The last several years have been filled with nothing but excuses to stay at home and not meet new people in addition to neglecting the people I already know, and as a result, most of the people I know are expecting or hoping to have left my vicinity within the next year. This is leaving a lot of positions open, including TV buddy, fellow bad movie fans and the persistently vacant "girlfriend" post. Tell your friends I'm accepting resumes. I need more people to neglect.
Seriously, I need to rejoin with those neglected folks, too.
There. I have resolved.