the_gneech | Dec. 31st, 2007

Sometimes I make new year's resolutions, and sometimes I don't; it usually depends on how the previous year has gone. I once had an argument (short and one-sided, perhaps, but still an argument) with

hantamouse about the nature of resolutions; I had made a resolution of the fairly typical "exercise X times per week" variety and had lived up to that more often than not, but had missed a few times.

hantamouse's assertion was that resolutions were strictly binary -- i.e., having gone one week without exercising X number of times, the resolution had been broken, and that was it. It didn't matter how many times I exercised X number of times in a week after missing it, I was not "keeping my resolutions" because they'd already been broken. I pooh-poohed this assertion because I felt then, and I still feel now, that a) it misses the point entirely, and b) it's too easy an "out."

A resolution, when done properly, is a goal to be met, not some kind of law to be laid down. It's a statement of intent, a roadmap for where you plan to focus your energies in the upcoming year. And they can be made at any time, really, the only reason to pick new year's is because it's a handy marker. But the biggest thing is that you don't need to have some kind of neurotic guilt-trippy "improve yourself you waste of skin" resolution, particularly if it's one that you're never going to keep. Why make drama?

To that end, here are my resolutions for 2008:

Make some new merchandise to have at the dealer tables. I'm hoping to crank a bit on this in the upcoming week in order to make Further Confusion, in fact.

Finish Suburban Jungle in strip form.

Publish another book each for SJ and NN.

Get NN rolling again sometime by the end of spring.

Start doing birthday posts again. Crunch time at work knocked me off of that and I've just had trouble getting back to it.

Get new windows on the house.

Get back on the Bowflex. Various crises and time-crunching projects have conspired to leave it covered up with boxes of stuff that had no where else to go -- those need to be taken out and shot. I am feeling my muscles atrophy, and I don't like it.

Do more DDR. Now that we've got the new pad, this should be easier to accommodate.

Learn at least three new good dinner recipes.

Make significant progress on a novel written with intent to publish. Finish and shop it around if possible, but at least have a first draft manuscript done by the end of the year.