New Year, New Blog

Well, it's the same blog, but now it looks different.

Well, it actually looks like it used to in the beginning. It's kind of a repeat. But it's a change, which is what I'm looking for this new year.

I think I've mentioned before that I am slavishly devoted to temporal markers in my life. Being able to pinpoint particular times for the beginnings of things, durations that they last, and the like are something of an obsession. (This might explain why, once upon a time, I actually kind of liked science.) My difficulty is that I let those temporal parameters define my action. If I have work, I'd much rather start it on the hour than twenty-two minutes before. I time how long it takes to grade individual student papers. And I've always been a sucker for New Year's resolutions because it seems so profound to be able to look back and say, "There. January 1, 2008. That was the beginning of my new life."

That also means that if I trip up on one of those resolutions, I tend to toss the whole thing out. If it can't be perfectly pinpointed to the start of the new year, what's the point? This is both ludicrous and absurd, I know.

All that said, I do have some goals for this coming year. The good news is, almost all of them involve an activity/action/mindset I already accomplished for some duration in 2007, so they aren't new resolves so much as renewed devotion to existing ones. In only slightly particular order, they are as follows:

1. Don't Despair If I Flake Out on One of the Other Resolutions: Very important.


2. Write Every Day: For about four months there, I managed this, and the novel rolled forward apace. Then the end of the semester, holidays, evacuations, and other madness all ganged up on me. (Upon me up ganged? Hmm... have to think about that one.) Yet I'm pleased to find Leaf and her pals are still living in my head, and the break may even have reignited some of my interest in their lives, so I'm looking forward to getting back to them.


3. Finish the Novel: If #2 goes as it ought, I should be done with the first complete draft of the monster sometime in the first half of the year. Sir Slater continues to bug me (in the best possible way) to get that thing written. (At least, he did before suddenly having a house for his family to live in became more important than my needs—sheesh.)


4. Pray and Read the Good Book Every Day: This is another activity at which I was increasingly successful last year. I actually read the entire Old Testament from beginning to end for the first time, and I'm moving through the New now. (I'm closing in on the end of Acts—Paul has just been arrested and is about to give his big speech.) This has made a huge difference in my life, my work, my attitude, and my just about everything else. As with other things, the holidays throw off my routine and this has suffered somewhat. So I have to get back on that horse.


5. Lose Some Weight: I know, I know—this is the quintessential New Year's resolution that 89% of all humans make and approximately 2% actually achieve for more than six days. But last year I did lose quite a bit of weight, and I'm going back on that diet beginning today. (It, too, took a break during the holidays. But I'm okay with that.) Joanna has actually slimmed down amazingly in the last nine months, and following her lead I lost nearly 40 pounds. I've gained about half of it back, but it really is a "lifestyle change" kind of thing, so I'm looking forward to my more svelte self, and then getting even svelter than that.


6. No More Fast Food: To that end, I'm swearing off Carl's and Jack-in-the-Box and all the other friendly purveyors of salty, unctuous temptation-curses. Surely, I'll go with my family when we occasionally go, but I've been in the bad habit of stopping in before or after work, and both dietarily and monetarily that needs to stop. Oh—this in no way applies to coffee, just for the record. Must keep the furnace fueled with something...


7. Keep Up with Grading: This is a heavy load to shoulder. I have an extra class this semester, as well as three online courses (one of which is a nine-week intensive course). I did relatively well at the opening of last semester, but much of it fell apart by the end. If I'm to survive, this one is essential. To that end, I also need to be more organized in my planning. Technically, that's what I'll be doing once this post is done.


8. Blog Every Day: Well, every weekday, at any rate. Yes, I know you've been clamoring for it, so here it is. I do intend to put up something every day here, minor as it might be. I realize that I look forward to the posts of my friends, and the occasional passer-by has mentioned wanting new posts (thanks for the impetus, Ornery's Wife...), so that seems like a useful thing.

There may be others, but this seems like plenty for the moment, and eight is a good number. I pray that all of you find God's blessings and glory in this new year, which looks to be a year of transitions and changes, of completions and new beginnings.