goals for 2005

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

I don't like making New Year's Resolutions. To me, they don't really mean much, since they apparently don't mean that much to the majority of people. It's a worldwide 2-week phase, before one forgets what he/she had resolved to do and slips back into the comfortable earlier version of himself/herself. I think -- speaking from experience, since I've tried the whole New Year's Resolution Experience myself -- that the problem is, most people (myself included, unfortunately), make incredible resolutions ("I am going to drop 4 dress sizes") and lose hope and motivation when they mess up or don't see results immediately. Goals, on the other hand, aren't supposed to be reached immediately. Goals can take a heck of a long time to reach, but we expect that. So, this list isn't a list of my New Year's resolutions; instead, they're my goals for 2005.

• I'm moving to a university, and I am going to continue to recycle. I don't here at home, because the nearest recycling drop-off place is 11 miles away. I always recycle at school, though, and I'm going to when I live in the dorms, too. Deal with it, roomie.
• I am going to keep my water bottle with me, because I know I need to, and I know I feel better when I'm fully hydrated.
• I will take advantage of the brand new Health and Wellness Center just down the block, because it's spiffy and free. Free is good, and so is their rock-climing wall. I'll take advantage of it, and see what happens (note to all I haven't fooled: yes. this is a sneaky way of writing "I will drop 4 dress sizes").
• Let's keep the notebook with us this year too, ä. Don't waste those thoughts. Write them down; take those ideas and fly with them. Sure it'd be easier with a laptop, but the smooth paper and a ballpoint pen are magic.
• I won't forget what I learned in astronomy. There actually are brilliant, kind, h-ha-handsome single men out there. I don't need to settle for a jerk, or someone who isn't what I really wanted.

Oh, and the stars are pretty cool, too.

• Be inspired.
• I will set things in motion for studying abroad in Scotland. I want to, I can, and I should take advantage of this amazing opportunity. Great Britain. Learning. History. Three of my favorite things, and I can have them all at the same time.
• I will work on being a better communicator, a better friend. Sending a letter to someone only costs $0.37.
• Save to disk all the stories I have partly done. Take them to school, and add to them whenever I have ideas.
• Write a story for children.

Who has inspired you this year?

• Élena, FrenchToastGirl, has added light to my world with her amazing paintings and her beautiful spirit. She is a mother of three children under the age of three, and her creativity, kindness, and faith are wonderful. She sees the beauty in the world around her, and adds even more to it.
• Heather B. Armstrong, dooce.com, makes me cry a lot -- either at her great talent for taking normal events and making them rib-crackingly hilarious, or for touching my heart with her love for her daughter, husband, and dog (note: I'll give this blog an R-rating for Language and Thematic Elements. It doesn't bother me, but if it bothers you, you might want to just skip this site -- except for the daughter, husband, and dog links. those are great).
• My professors. Some of them were greater than others, and one was the greatest of all, but all of them inspired me by their knowledge.
• One of my friends on campus. He challenged me to think outside the box, to research, to make my own decisions, and I love him for that (and for his beard).

Note:
New look for 2005. Actually, it was a coincidence that I changed the template on 1/1/05; I'd been wanting to monkey with it for awhile, and I just happened to do it tonight.

In addition to the stuff about me, I also added another item to the sidebar; just under the Archives is a link to my flickr photostream. They're all photos of London from my Thanksgiving trip. I tried to center the picture/link, and I can't. I'm trying to forget about it, because if I don't, the fact that the link doesn't line up with the other text in the sidebar will drive me crazy (see text under: Obsessive-compulsive).