Happy New Year!

It's that time again.  I have mixed feelings about this holiday.  I like to make lists to remind myself of things of which I should be aware and I get excited for a "fresh start" as much as the next person, but I don't understand why many people wait until the 365th (or 366th) day of the year to set goals and work on improving themselves.  Oh well.  On that note, I love new planners/calendars and am excited to open mine!

Resolutions:

• Manage my time better and procrastinate less - this includes not being late anymore.
• Be gentler with myself.  I get really angry with myself sometimes, and more often than not, there's no call for me to beat myself up about anything or the issue is something small.
• Be present.  
• Keep in touch with people I care about - reach out more in general.  Snail mail is one of my favorite things, but I have to send it to receive it.  It would also help to find more people who are as fascinated with snail mail as I am.  Remember pen pals?  There's a certain appeal to communicating with a stranger.  I think I might look into getting one: http://www.friendship-by-mail.com/
• Spend less of my free time on the computer.  It's brainwashing, induces depression, and I firmly believe that dependence on technology has has become, if not a substitution, a crutch for human interaction and authentic experiences. 
• I want to take more pictures (with my new camera!).

Joint Resolutions (with Dante):

• Start to plan meals for the week and shop accordingly. 
• Cook more.  When we feel tired after work/school, we veg and end up eating something that is unbalanced, or just straight-up junk.
• Go for a walk outside every day (thanks Ada).  Encourage each other to exercise more.
• Go DO things.

Now for my Inverse Resolutions:

• I WON'T lose my sense of wonder.  I love to love, and will do whatever I can to shield myself from the world-weariness that is all too abundant in our society. 
• I WON'T retreat back into the shell I built for myself in college.  I can be pretty cool and fun, but I have to continue to shake off the anxiety I sometimes feel when entering social situations. 
• I WON'T stop standing up for myself if I am wronged.  Recently, I experienced for the first time at my job someone of consequence try to push me around and take advantage of me.  I didn't run away from the problem, but rather faced it and dealt with it maturely (thanks to lots of advice and encouragement).  The end result was that I not only ended up in better overall shape at work than I started, but more importantly, I grew and became more confident in my ability to take care of and handle myself.  Rawk.
• I WON'T let myself go, health-wise.  I'm going on 16 months without a major flare, and I plan to do whatever it takes to continue this streak indefinitely!

I just watched Shopgirl.  My expectations were not high, but I was really pleased with it and have been left feeling...thoughtful.  Steve Martin did well in an uncharacteristic role and Claire Danes is always a delight.  Another redeeming quality of the film: I enjoyed Jason Schwartzman's character.  Why is this remarkable, you ask?  In general, I'm not a fan of his as I don't like his roles and don't understand why he's always dirty and barefoot in films, but this was great. 

The dictionary.com word of the day is "ultimate."  Errnh?  I can't say that I feel enlightened, but I do believe that from time to time, it's very important to re-examine the things we use without a second thought in day-to-day interactions.  Words like "ultimate" "love" and "hate" are very powerful, but tend to get thrown around which invariably weakens and cheapens them.  Now that I think of it..."ultimate" is a fine word for the day.

I just realized I forgot to buy champagne.

Have a safe and happy New Year!