Last year I wrote down New Years Resolutions for the first time ever. I had never really thought about them too much before at that point, and I thought that they were basically pointless things that people did anyway, without any real intentions of following through on what they had set out to do in the first place.

Even though I sort of chuckled at the thought of doing it, I went ahead and wrote up a list of things that I wanted to do, just for the hell of it. Although it never became a guiding force, it did come to mind several times over the course of the year and I found myself wondering whether I would accomplish my goals (I never really went back and read the entire piece I had written, but had simply kept rough ideas in my head).

At the end of the year, I found that I had accomplished some tasks while others I hadn't quite achieved. Although my goals weren't outrageously lofty, they were all moderately high and I was surprised to see how close I had come to meeting all of them. So, while I still don't believe wholeheartedly in Resolutions, I'm still going to make them this year because I think they can act as a good simple-structure to what I can get done this year.

Instead of worrying about what I want to change in my personal or social life like I did last year, I'm going to limit myself to only two categories; Input/Output and Other. While it was interesting for me to write down Social and more Personal goals last year, they just aren't very easy things to change. Mainly, this is due to the fact that I simply can't change what kind of person I am. It's nice to say that I want to be more extroverted, but when I'm an intovert by nature, it's probably not going to happen. So, let's get to the list, shall we?

Output / Input
While I did fairly well in this category last year, I feel like I need to juggle a few things around. This site will still be a priority of mine in 1999 and I plan to keep on updating it once a week with three new pieces of writing (one for each section). Dealing with writing more specifically, I would like to write at least 600 pages (just under 2 a day) worth of material in the next year. Even more specifically, I want to try to finally start writing down some screenplay ideas that have been floating around in my head for some time now. Probably nothing will ever come of them, but I need to at least try it.

One thing that will probably affect my output a lot during the course of the year is a new computer. Right now, I'm planning on purchasing a new machine in just over a month and hopefully I can get a pretty nice setup. If all goes as planned, I would like to either re-design a majority of this current site, or create a couple other sites (more graphic oriented) that would be combined with this one. Also on the list of "to do" things once I get the new computer is trying my hand with creating some electronic music of my own. I've been an avid listener for quite some time, now I need to produce. Maybe I can even continue to produce some drawings by hand on the side and possibly even snap a few photos.

On the input side of things, I want to keep up with my knowledge of current events by continuing to read a newspaper almost every day, as well as some online news sites. I managed to keep a fairly good handle on things in the news even over the course of the past chaotic year, so hopefully I can manage to do the same in the crazy pre-millenial haze. While it was nice to read so much last year, I'm going to cut down my amount that I want to get read to a more manageable 7,000 pages (just under 20 a day).

Other
One thing that will be cause for a large celebration this year is when I pay off my student loans. I'm one of those people who really dislikes being in debt, and once I write that final check, I'll be feeling a lot lighter than before.

Another really dorky thing that I'd like to do in the next year is become a bit more articulate. It's not that I'm horrible at speaking to people, but I'd just like to gain a bit more prowess in my delivery and use a larger vocabulary of words. Although I've cut down on it's use, I still feel as if I use the word, "like" too often for comfort, and sometimes even when I know what I'm speaking about (not that I only sometimes know what I'm talking about, but "on occassion") I tend to stumble over words. Blah.

Another very small thing that I want to do more in the next year is write more actual letters to people. Over the course of the past year, I've mainly kept up with friends by e-mail, but I think that there's something very nice in receiving an actual hand-written letter. There's something more tactile and human in it, and I know that after a long day of work, it's always a nice surprise to find a piece (no matter how short) of mail from someone who has taken the time to write it out and send it to me.

Last year I listed it under the health category, but I have a feeling I won't be doing as much biking this year due to other interests. Still, I'd like to put 1000 miles on still-shiny bicycle and keep playing Ultimate frisbee, basketball, and racquetball on a semi-regular basis. I also wouldn't mind getting back into doing some stretches again and starting to do a bit of yoga.

And so that's about all for this installment. I'm sure that I'll think of some again soon and add them to the list in my head. If this site is still around (and I plan for it to be in some form or another), I'll probably give a rundown again and subject myself to further abuse. Stay tuned, as the most interesting things usually also end up being the most unexpected.

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