The Resolutionist

I have been AWOL for over two weeks now. Holiday craziness and an urgent wisdom-teeth-removal adventure followed by a three-day Percoset-induced state of stupidity have kept me from my blog. (Count yourselves lucky that I did not attempt to write any stories under the influence of painkillers...those things make me so loopy.) However, I am back on the very last day of the year to discuss a subject about which I’m sure many other bloggers are certainly typing their little hearts out at this very moment. That’s right. New Year’s Resolutions.

I think the reason that I feel comfortable spilling my guts on this subject is because, last year, I actually kept a resolution. I vowed on January 1, 2007 that I would, at some point during the year, quit smoking, and I did it. I stuck to it for the first time ever, and honestly, can’t even imagine how I ever engaged in that nasty habit to start with. I feel really good about that. So, one down. On a different note, I was also supposed to lose 40 pounds last year. I was desperate to get back to my svelte age-23 weight, but alas, since realized that I am no longer 23; I am 31. While I did lose a quite a few pounds this past year, I also gained a couple here and there, resulting in a net weight loss of approximately 3 pounds for the year. Uh, yeah. Not so impressive. But wait!! I competed in my first-ever triathlon in August, finishing nowhere even remotely close to first, but actually finishing, and doing so without a trip to the Emergency Room to boot. One small step for me towards my goal.

This year, I am taking a different outlook. My past resolutions have always been about improvements in my health and in my looks. I am still resolving to lose weight this year, because it’s tradition; I resolve to lose weight every year. However, this year, I am resolving to improve my inside more than my outside. I need a new attitude and a new way to engage in and react to the world around me. I need to calm the hell down, not get so stressed, and really take time to enjoy my play and excel in my work. I resolve to think before I speak and to avoid getting angry unless it is absolutely warranted. I resolve to take the proverbial time to smell the roses. I resolve to, as Henry James would put it, be kind. Included within each of these resolutions is the resolve to exercise regularly and to write more because those are things that make me feel happy and fulfilled and useful. That’s it. Basically, I am resolving to give myself a psychological lobotomy. No big deal, right? We shall see.

There will be more stories to come this week, much more typical of my usual blogging than today’s post, but I figured I better put something up here before I lose momentum.

Some housekeeping items:

Happy 70th Birthday to my Dad today. He is an amazing man and my sisters and I are very, very lucky to have him as our dad.

…and many more, Dad!!

Also, sadly, this looks like the end of an era, if an era was indeed a period of time equivalent to approximately four months. After doing some brief internet research, it turns out that my very-not-so-creative blog name is taken. Oh, and copyrighted. Nice. I initially just threw a name on there and started my blog because a friend told me that all writers should have a blog, and so I suddenly felt very left out. I, being very similar to my father as far as technology is concerned, was unfamiliar with blogging until that point and did not realize that it was actually a really big thing. Now that I am addicted and love my blog and my fellow bloggers, I have come to realize that this is a real thing where real people and real writers express themselves as individuals and as a community and it is not cool to, as some of my favorite co-workers would say, bite someone’s steez. In other (real) words, I must change the name of my blog in order to avoid stealing from someone and breaking a law. Capisce? So, ok, I now have no name for my blog..... This blog shall heretofore remain nameless until I can think of something which will accurately capture what I do here. What do I do here? Well, I ask myself that all the time. This is the best explanation: I am a writer who is trying to get over the untimely loss of her mother whilst still attempting to crack people up with silly everyday stories. What do you call that? Oh crap. I feel a brainstorming session coming on.

Anyway, more to follow, and a Happy 2008 to everyone I love, and everyone out there in blog-world. I have a feeling it is going to be a great year!!

Now, I am finally going to go catch up on all of my fave blogs, this time with a slightly clearer head.