Making New Year's resolutions is important. It's a great way to get in order what is important in your life, and reflect on ways you can improve. As I found out in 2009, dismissing your resolutions is a good way to ruin a year. I like to think about New Year's resolutions as guideposts, or helpful reminders of where I want to be. They shouldn't be a test or impossible challenge. They are goals, able to be met.
Here are my 2018 New Year's resolutions, listed roughly in order from least important to most important, in the general scope of things.
Here are my 2018 New Year's resolutions, listed roughly in order from least important to most important, in the general scope of things.
Various music resolutions
My music goals are the most frivolous resolutions for my year, but they are probably the resolutions I will take most seriously. There are many sub-resolutions in this category.
1) My iPod is great, but the worst part about it is that it doesn't automatically adjust volumes on songs. That means that, inevitably, when I have a playlist going at a party, certain songs are really quiet, but you can't turn the iPod up too much at that point, because then the next song is going to be really loud. Fixing the volume on a song is easy—you just right click the song on the computer, and go to Options, and the volume adjuster is there. Fixing the volume on thousands of songs, though? That's going to be a tedious project, but one that I want to complete by the end of the year.
2) I want to really tighten up my iPod a bit this year. There are plenty of albums on there that I actively dislike and would like to get rid of. Deleting music is has been practically sacrilege up to this point, and sure, I'm going to have strict protocols as far as what gets deleted, but I'm going to try to get to the point when I can put my iPod on shuffle and enjoy 99% of what pops up (I'm probably at 90% now). I currently have 12,500 songs on my iPod exactly. After all the new music I'll be adding this year, I still want to delete enough to have no more than 14,000 songs by the year's end. Very doable.
3) Here's the big one: For the last few years, I've listened to pretty much nothing besides albums that came out that year. For the past twelve months, the only music I've added to my iPod was music that was released in 2017. In 2018, I'm going to calm down with all that shit. I'm still going to listen to new music, obviously, but I'm going to focus more on older music. I want to fill in gaps in my musical experience.
I already made a list of around 60 classic albums that I'm going to dive into next year. These albums probably fall into one of two categories. The first type are albums from artists that I already love, but older albums that fell through the cracks, and I have never listened to. E.g., Bright Eyes' Lifted..., the Mountain Goats' Life of the World to Come, the Rolling Stones' Aftermath, etc. The second type are albums from artists I've never listened to seriously, but probably should, as they are part of the classic rock canon. E.g., George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, Paul Simon's Graceland, The Stooges' Funhouse, etc.
So I imagine my year will be roughly divided equally between albums that come out in 2018 and albums that did not come out in 2018. I'm really excited to get back into exploring music's back catalogues.
4) I don't foresee changing my listening habits in terms of quantity this year, even with a baby on the way. I listen to most of my music on the way to work, at work, and coming home from work, and I will still have the same job next year, baby or no. So it's worth writing, even though it's not different than 2017: My goal should be around 3-4 albums uploaded to my iPod weekly. That equated to becoming familiar with about 170 new albums this year, and that will probably be what I shoot for next year as well, unless anything major changes in my life.
Though... I was inspired by Vince Staples, a rapper whom I do not listen to, but whom seems eloquent both in music and in speech: "With the internet, everyone's so knowledgeable, everyone knows so much about music, everybody got a top five. But a lot of people don't really digest the music and just be personal with it." He's right. I burned through a lot of music this year, and there was a lot that I didn't give its proper due. I want to be less strict with how much music I consume this year. If I need more time to digest, for instance, an old Peter Gabriel album, then I'm gonna put everything else on the back-burner, and make sure I get the gist of the thing I'm listening to now (not the thing I'm listening to next).
So we'll see.
1) My iPod is great, but the worst part about it is that it doesn't automatically adjust volumes on songs. That means that, inevitably, when I have a playlist going at a party, certain songs are really quiet, but you can't turn the iPod up too much at that point, because then the next song is going to be really loud. Fixing the volume on a song is easy—you just right click the song on the computer, and go to Options, and the volume adjuster is there. Fixing the volume on thousands of songs, though? That's going to be a tedious project, but one that I want to complete by the end of the year.
2) I want to really tighten up my iPod a bit this year. There are plenty of albums on there that I actively dislike and would like to get rid of. Deleting music is has been practically sacrilege up to this point, and sure, I'm going to have strict protocols as far as what gets deleted, but I'm going to try to get to the point when I can put my iPod on shuffle and enjoy 99% of what pops up (I'm probably at 90% now). I currently have 12,500 songs on my iPod exactly. After all the new music I'll be adding this year, I still want to delete enough to have no more than 14,000 songs by the year's end. Very doable.
3) Here's the big one: For the last few years, I've listened to pretty much nothing besides albums that came out that year. For the past twelve months, the only music I've added to my iPod was music that was released in 2017. In 2018, I'm going to calm down with all that shit. I'm still going to listen to new music, obviously, but I'm going to focus more on older music. I want to fill in gaps in my musical experience.
I already made a list of around 60 classic albums that I'm going to dive into next year. These albums probably fall into one of two categories. The first type are albums from artists that I already love, but older albums that fell through the cracks, and I have never listened to. E.g., Bright Eyes' Lifted..., the Mountain Goats' Life of the World to Come, the Rolling Stones' Aftermath, etc. The second type are albums from artists I've never listened to seriously, but probably should, as they are part of the classic rock canon. E.g., George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, Paul Simon's Graceland, The Stooges' Funhouse, etc.
So I imagine my year will be roughly divided equally between albums that come out in 2018 and albums that did not come out in 2018. I'm really excited to get back into exploring music's back catalogues.
4) I don't foresee changing my listening habits in terms of quantity this year, even with a baby on the way. I listen to most of my music on the way to work, at work, and coming home from work, and I will still have the same job next year, baby or no. So it's worth writing, even though it's not different than 2017: My goal should be around 3-4 albums uploaded to my iPod weekly. That equated to becoming familiar with about 170 new albums this year, and that will probably be what I shoot for next year as well, unless anything major changes in my life.
Though... I was inspired by Vince Staples, a rapper whom I do not listen to, but whom seems eloquent both in music and in speech: "With the internet, everyone's so knowledgeable, everyone knows so much about music, everybody got a top five. But a lot of people don't really digest the music and just be personal with it." He's right. I burned through a lot of music this year, and there was a lot that I didn't give its proper due. I want to be less strict with how much music I consume this year. If I need more time to digest, for instance, an old Peter Gabriel album, then I'm gonna put everything else on the back-burner, and make sure I get the gist of the thing I'm listening to now (not the thing I'm listening to next).
So we'll see.
Run 730 miles
As reported the other day, I ran about 350 miles in 2017. Let's double that. I want to run an average of two miles a day. Two miles is fucking nothing; it's the doing-it-every-day part that's going to be tough. Note, however, that my resolution is run two miles/day on average, so look for me to be trying to juke the numbers early in the year, before the baby comes. Even when the baby is here, though, I'll still have time during my lunch break at work to go for a three-miler when I need to (or, when I'm not sound asleep at my desk).
No jerking off.
No need to elaborate.
Various financial resolutions
1) I want to save all my paper receipts this year. This isn't in reaction to, like, being burned recently or anything. I dunno, I've just been anxious lately about not being as careful with my finances as I used to be. This will be the first step.
2) I'm only going to allow myself to order out for breakfast or lunch ONCE a month. Again, see my previous post; eating at Wawa 85 times in one year is fucking unacceptable. I'll give myself one day every four weeks to order out, and I know there's going to be occasions when my coworkers are buying pizza or sandwiches as a group to celebrate something (usually also about once a month), but other than that, I'm going to pack a lunch every fucking day, and either pack a breakfast too or eat before leaving for work. Sell your Wawa stock now, boys and girls, because it's gonna be plummeting soon.
3) I want to be serious about week-to-week budgeting this year, and I want Pam to be my partner in this goal. Every newly expecting parent questions him/herself at some point: "How the FUCK are we going to afford all this?" I want to budget our finances and stop having to ask myself that question.
2) I'm only going to allow myself to order out for breakfast or lunch ONCE a month. Again, see my previous post; eating at Wawa 85 times in one year is fucking unacceptable. I'll give myself one day every four weeks to order out, and I know there's going to be occasions when my coworkers are buying pizza or sandwiches as a group to celebrate something (usually also about once a month), but other than that, I'm going to pack a lunch every fucking day, and either pack a breakfast too or eat before leaving for work. Sell your Wawa stock now, boys and girls, because it's gonna be plummeting soon.
3) I want to be serious about week-to-week budgeting this year, and I want Pam to be my partner in this goal. Every newly expecting parent questions him/herself at some point: "How the FUCK are we going to afford all this?" I want to budget our finances and stop having to ask myself that question.
Figure out political goals
The fact that I don't want to write about the state of our country right now is a problem unto itself. I shouldn't be this depressed about America. It's one thing to be sad about it. It's another thing to take action and try to fix this as best as one single private citizen can. I need to figure this year where my place is in this country when it comes to politics. Obviously, I'm liberal, that's not what I'm saying. I guess... I just need to find more tangible ways to help the cause. The midterm elections are at the end of 2018, so I plan on doing some door-to-door canvassing for the local D nominees. I plan on educating myself with FACTS and LOGIC, as always. I plan on budgeting some money toward worthy causes. I just need to feel useful in the resistance. Blogging the words "fuck trump" is no longer enough.
Start making some home videos
I asked for a very "Dad gift" for Christmas, a video camcorder. It's nothing fancy, just a lightweight little thing that takes two hours of video at a time, and connects to a computer. I've always loved watching family home movies, and I want to be able to give that same experience to my kids when they are older. I want to start documenting some moments in our lives and make some home movies. Since as long as I can remember, I've always told myself, "when I start having kids, I'm gonna get a camcorder just like my Dad." Whelp, it's time. Get ready, folks.
Be responsible about drinking
Thought you could get through a whole PoYB blog post without hearing me bitch about my sobriety? Think again!! Let's be real though: I've made big strides here in the final quarter of 2017. I haven't had a sip of alcohol in 97 days. That's big. And let's be real again: that streak is probably going to end sometime in 2018. I don't want to be sober for another 365 days.
However, I also do not, under any circumstances, want it to just go back to business as usual. This whole sobriety thing has to serve some fucking purpose, ya know? What I hope, and what I am striving toward in 2018, is that when I finally do fall off the wagon, that it will be slowly. The first time I get drunk in 2018, I want it to be just being tipsy. And there's going to be times maybe that it goes beyond tipsy, and that will be okay too in certain circumstances!
But I can't get like how I used to get—blackout, sloppy, a shitty husband and a shitty friend. I just can't. And I won't. I just have to be careful is all. I have confidence that I will be able to meet that challenge and succeed, just like I met the challenge of total sobriety and have so far succeeded.
However, I also do not, under any circumstances, want it to just go back to business as usual. This whole sobriety thing has to serve some fucking purpose, ya know? What I hope, and what I am striving toward in 2018, is that when I finally do fall off the wagon, that it will be slowly. The first time I get drunk in 2018, I want it to be just being tipsy. And there's going to be times maybe that it goes beyond tipsy, and that will be okay too in certain circumstances!
But I can't get like how I used to get—blackout, sloppy, a shitty husband and a shitty friend. I just can't. And I won't. I just have to be careful is all. I have confidence that I will be able to meet that challenge and succeed, just like I met the challenge of total sobriety and have so far succeeded.
Continue to cultivate my marriage
2017 was a year of ups and downs for me and Pammy, as I have annoyingly, vaguely alluded to here on this blog more than a few times. But ya know what? Those "downs"? Ultimately, we came out on top. We're in a great place now. No one said marriage was easy, but the hard work is worth it. I love Pam. I want to keep doing what we're doing in 2018, keep that love strong.
Be the best dad I can be
Holy christ, I'm gonna be a dad this time next year. I have no idea what to write in this paragraph. What does it mean to be a "good dad"? Am I going to have to find out when it happens? I am, ain't I? Whelp, let's do this shit, folks. I'm ready. 2018 is going to be a great fucking year. I'm ready to be a dad.
No comments:
Post a Comment