new year’s resolutions – commonplacebook.com

Woody Guthrie’s New Year’s Rulins

Post author:HFM
Post published:January 2, 2015
Post category:Art Music

Song writer Woody Guthrie’s new years resolutions as written in his journal for the year 1942. #19 is my particular favorite.

Transcript
NEW YEAR’S RULIN’S

WORK MORE AND BETTER
WORK BY A SCHEDULE
WASH TEETH IF ANY
SHAVE
TAKE BATH
EAT GOOD – FRUIT – VEGETABLES – MILK
DRINK VERY SCANT IF ANY
WRITE A SONG A DAY
WEAR CLEAN CLOTHES – LOOK GOOD
SHINE SHOES
CHANGE SOCKS
CHANGE BED CLOTHES OFTEN
READ LOTS GOOD BOOKS
LISTEN TO RADIO A LOT
LEARN PEOPLE BETTER
KEEP RANCHO CLEAN
DON’T GET LONESOME
STAY GLAD
KEEP HOPING MACHINE RUNNING
DREAM GOOD
BANK ALL EXTRA MONEY
SAVE DOUGH
HAVE COMPANY BUT DON’T WASTE TIME
SEND MARY AND KIDS MONEY
PLAY AND SING GOOD
DANCE BETTER
HELP WIN WAR – BEAT FASCISM
LOVE MAMA
LOVE PAPA
LOVE PETE
LOVE EVERYBODY
MAKE UP YOUR MIND
WAKE UP AND FIGHT

New Year’s Resolutions – 2015

Post author:HFM
Post published:January 1, 2015
Post category:Journal

My theme for 2015 will be “Simplicity.” My goal to shed clutter in all areas – streamlining, simplifying, focusing on the important and finding a state of zen. Some things I hope I can accomplish:

Be more active – painting, cleaning, organizing and discarding are activities that will help.
Finish writing and figure out how to market my novel
Do a lot of reading
Get siding repaired & house painted
Get the guest room organized
Rip ALL the CDs!
See my sister and her kids

Read 26 Indy Reading Challenge for 2014

Post author:HFM
Post published:June 15, 2014
Post category:Books Books I've Read

Early in January of 2014, Indy Star Reporter Michael Anthony Adams issued a challenge to Indiana residents for the new year:

New Year’s resolutions are rarely acted on. I’m guilty of it, and you’re guilty of it. The trick is to have support, which is exactly what #Read26Indy is. But instead of having a few friends hold you accountable for your vows, you have an entire city.

The pledge: I’m calling on every Hoosier to read 26 books in 2014. Think of it as your informal education, a collective challenge. One book every two weeks. That’s 20 pages a day (if you figure that the average novel is 280-300 pages long). When you start a book, let everyone know about it on Twitter by using the hashtag #Read26Indy. Feel like telling us what you’re drinking while you’re reading? Have at it, but use #Read26Indy. Can’t stand a character? Want to rant about it? #Read26Indy is your pedestal. The point is to read. Like Faulkner said, “Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad.”

Can’t decide what to read? Tweet it out. #Read26Indy has already gathered a large following, and people are eager to tell you about their favorite books. I’ll also be keeping this page up-to-date with what I’m reading and I urge you to join our Goodreads group, #Read26Indy, to discuss your picks with other readers.

Part way through January, they mentioned that comic books count! I could finish in a couple weeks if I include them. For my personal challenge, I’ll note comic books but not count them against my official total. I’m going to pin this post to my main page and update as I add titles throughout the year.

So far my finished titles are:

This Is How You Lose Her
Author: Junot Diaz
Rated: 4 stars. Very well written with strong characters. I just had a hard time identifying with the protagonist, because all of his problems came through his own self-absorption.

The Goldfinch
Author: Donna Tartt
Rated: 5 stars. Everything I love about reading – being so caught up that I forget the rest of the world exists, wanting to highlight whole passages and re-read whole sections, frantically looking up quotes and references to get at additional layers of meaning – all come together here. The book I set down after the I finished the last page is a completely different one than I thought I was reading after the first chapter, and winding up in a different place than I expected and yet feeling like it all made sense and could be true is, I think, a hallmark of a truly skilled author.

Hawkeye: Little Hits, Vol. 2
Author: Matt Fraction
Rated: 4 stars. Smart and sardonic, the story of a hapless hero who seems to swing and miss an awful lot. Beautifully drawn work.

The Social Justice Advocate’s Handbook: A Guide to Gender
Author: Sam Killermann
2022 update: – I’ve since come to understand that Sam Killerman is a cisgender man who co-opted the work of many transgender people to put together this guide, and unfortunately he makes money on it at the expense of the people who originally wrote the work. Rated: 4 stars. Available as a free ebook, so no reason not to pick up a copy. Worth reading for the discussion of the fallacies of The Golden Rule alone – Killermann suggest replacing “Do unto others as you would have them do to you” with the more thoughtful “do unto others as they would have you do to them” and his logic is impeccable; he challenged (and improved!) one of the basic principles I’ve always followed.

But the book really shines when it leads you through understanding of gender and especially how people who don’t conform to the male/female gender binary see themselves in the world. It’s eye-opening and will change your perspective in a healthy way for yourself and the people around you.

Veronica Mars: An Original Mystery by Rob Thomas: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Vintage)
Author: Rob Thomas
Rated: 3 stars. Iffy. It didn’t advance the story threads that were left open in the movie at all.

Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man
Author: Chaz Bono.
Rated: 3 stars. I understood Chaz’ story a lot better, and had a lot of sympathy for what he dealt with in coming to terms with his gender identity. I had trouble relating to some of the ways he spoke about transitioning, because he rejected completely and didn’t identify with any female experience from his life. I think in contemplating my own gender identity I feel an ownership of both feminine and masculine experiences and identities, so the way Chaz wrote about things seemed foreign to me. After reading this I watched the documentary “Becoming Chaz” and related a lot more to what Chaz was saying as he transitioned on screen. In some cases that seems hard to put into words, but when Chaz speaks with his own voice it’s easier to understand.

The Actor’s Guide To Murder
Author: Rick Copp
Rated: 1 star. This is a terrible book and I’m not going to link to a sales page for it. It’s incredibly transphobic – in fact it’s worth spoiling the “mystery” – the killer is a trans woman who commits murder to pay for her transitions. Because of course those crazy trans folks will go nuts and murder people in order to transition. Just a piece of crap writing all around.

The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel (P.S.)
Author: Helene Wecker
Rated: 5 stars. A delightful read by a first-time author. Very impressive.

The Woman Upstairs
Author: Claire Messud
Rated: 4 stars. I have a friend who disliked the ending, but I loved it. I was afraid it was going to be a tragic book throughout, but was happy to find that was not the case.

Tony’s Treasure Hunt
Author: Holly Peterson
Cute children’s book that I happened to buy a single framed page of several years ago. Tony finds a series of clues and follows them to find a treasure.

Seating Arrangements
Author: Maggie Shipstead
Rated: 4 stars.
Funny, exasperating, self-absorbed white people who behave outrageously while convinced they’re proper and upstanding. It seemed very realistic to me. Not sure why there are so many angry reviews about this book on goodreads. Certainly the characters were idiots, but they were engaging idiots.

Mrs Queen Takes the Train: A Novel
Author: William Kuhn
Rated: 3 stars.
An upcoming book club selection, so I’m bound by the first and second rules of book club – “Don’t discuss the book before book club” I’ll circle back and write a review after.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel
Author: Robin Sloan
Rated: 3 stars
Another fun light read. It prioritizes using technology and computers over doing the work yourself, and seems to promote the idea that reading is done strictly for data gathering purposes. A very google-like approach to books that entirely misses the point. As does Google, in general.

The Secret History
Author: Donna Tart
Rated: 4 stars. I enjoyed the storyline but didn’t really care for any of the characters, even the protagonist. A bunch of jackasses, all of them. It’s well-written and smart but I feel some impatience at stories where there are literally no sympathetic characters in sight. I supposed there are groups of utter jerks out there, but why bother with them? Do we need to hear their stories?

Miss Buncle’s Book
Author: D.E. Smith
Rated: 4 stars.
When I picked up this funny little book to read the back cover, I was dismayed to find that it was very like a story I was writing myself about a woman who writes about her neighbors in a smash hit book and then has to weather the storm of their consternation. I was a bit put out, actually, until I realized the story was originally published in 1936 and reprinted recently with a very charming cover. I suppose I can’t be too upset that someone had the same funny idea I did 32 years before I was born. And my story only starts there and then gets pretty racy, where this book remains charming and sweet throughout. The characters are sharply drawn and the controversies are small, the conceit of a book within a book is nicely recursed with yet another book being written by the characters of the book inside the book inside this one, and there is a rather outrageous denouement with a kidnapping that it’s fairly easy to forgive given that they satirize it themselves. They only think the didn’t tie up was whether the Mrs. Goldsmith’s dilemma with the bakery buns solved itself; they leave you to return to the beginning and work it out yourself.

New Year’s Resolutions – 2014

Post author:HFM
Post published:December 31, 2013
Post category:Journal

As I’ve done with years past, I’m going to put down some goals instead of resolutions. If I don’t make them because life intervenes, oh well. But

Work: those goals I’ll share with my boss. But I have high hopes and am working on a project I really like.

Health:
Eat healthier and be more active.
2012 was a great year for me activity-wise, but not on the food front. 2013 was not so much in either category. But I’m going to bring it back around in 2014.

Creative:
Create as much as I consume.
I’m counting work with this because that makes it an easy win, but also writing, knitting, blogging, photography, website design and t-shirt design fall into this category. As long as I’m doing something productive and satisfying, I’ll be happy.

Loved Ones:
Spend time with people I care about & go somewhere warm
This one should be easy; we’re going to a destination resort for my brother’s wedding. I’m excited; Stephanie and I have never done a beach vacation before.

Household:
Get siding repaired & house painted
Get the guest room organized
Rip all the CDs – we’ve had our music library in a state of limbo for years. It’s time to get this done.
Sell the scooter – we don’t use it and need the space in our garage
Simplify

Financial:
Put away money for a new vehicle
Save $6,000 above and beyond retirement savings
Set up a Roth IRA

Reading:
I’m participating in the Read 26 Indy challenge this year, where I pledge to read 26 books in 2014. So far, there are 17 books on my “2014 must read list” on goodreads. I want to leave the list open-ended, because there are bound to be some great books in the new year.

Rather pedestrian goals. Nothing about taking over the universe or moving mountains or curing cancer. Those are all on the secret, alternative list.

New Year’s Resolutions – 2013

Post author:HFM
Post published:January 1, 2013
Post category:Inspiration Journal

These are really more goals than resolutions; they are things I’d like to make priorities to focus my energy and money on. If I don’t get them done, it’s cool; this is a big pile of ambitious. But these are all areas I want to make progress in for the coming year.

750 words a day – more days of the week than not
Finish novel
Start new novel

[various work-related goals; not shared here]

Get insulation done
Get siding fixed
Get house painted
Get guest room organized
Get bed frame for our bed

Save 10,000 dollars
Get a new computer

Get split down to 2:00:00
Get an erg
learn sculling

Read more books I own
Buy new books on e-reader
Read first Proust book

Knit pillows
Knit hats – follow design
Learn color work

Photo scanning & organizing
Design 20 new shirts

2012 Resolutions Check In – January

Post author:HFM
Post published:January 23, 2012
Post category:Inspiration Writing

It’s not quite the end of January, but I thought I’d check in a bit early on my year’s goals because next weekend promises to be chaotic both “internally” (meaning: with my own writing plans) and “externally” (meaning: with the Super Bowl going on in the city and whatnot). So how am I doing?

1) Writing: January – I resolve to…schedule a regular writing time.
Crappy! I tried to schedule lunch time to write, but there’s too much going on at work to allow for it. I can’t manage to get out of a warm bed to sit in front of a cold computer in the mornings, and post-work has been filled with other rowing, knitting, reading and other household chores. I need to get it together.

My February plans should help get this one solidified: I’m going to write 25,000 words in February; approximately 1,000 words a day, on my novel to get it truly complete. That’s a pretty sedate pace compared to NaNoWriMo’s 1,667 words-per-day requirement, but it will get my novel really finished.

2) Rowing:
Eh. The first few weeks I did well and even went in to erg on the weekend outside of class, but I took last week off because I was sick, so I’m behind the curve here too. Gotta catch up this week.

3) Produce more than I consume:
Pretty damned good. I’ve been knitting up a storm, finishing a number of projects I had started and getting others moved along nicely. I edited lots of my photos, too. I do need to can some of the junk reading and redirect my attention to more important stuff, and I have watched a lot of TV, but I’ve cut way back on spending on clothes and entertaining items. We’ve been pretty good about eating at home instead of going out, limiting the restaurant visits to other people’s birthdays and such, for the most part. We could do better, but we haven’t been terrible, either.

4) General home organizing stuff
Pretty damned good. I have another “off the books” goal of building more structure and scheduling into some of our household organization/cleaning, and I’m really happy at how I’ve been able to keep up with some of those routine tasks.

New Year’s Resolutions – 2012

Post author:HFM
Post published:January 10, 2012
Post category:Inspiration Journal

Father Time A bit past the first of the year, but I had to spend some time working out what I want to do, and that took some time. This year I have three resolutions:

1) Follow the 12 month writing resolutions plan that I wrote about previously.

2) Keep up with rowing in the new year. I don’t anticipate that being a problem, given that I’m taking a class and there’s stuff I have to learn, so I can’t really opt out. And also I LOVE rowing. The endorphin high after practice is amazing.

3) And produce more than I consume – a goal I looked at in April of last year. I considered trying at least 1 day and preferably 2 days to produced more than I consumed. I promptly forgot that I made the goal, but I didn’t do to badly at it in November, at least. I do enjoy television, but I need to kick some shows off the roster. And for the past year, I knit while I watch TV, so I’m at least keeping the producing and consuming neck and neck there.

I always have the impulse to attempt New Year’s Resolutions, even though I often give them up part way into the year. And I’ve been plenty pragmatic about it in the past; attempting to take on funny goals, or to consider them as aspirations and things to strive for.

I’m going to do the same this year – I’m not going to beat myself up or give up in disgust if I don’t accomplish each task every day; this is about building new habits, and that takes trial and error, so I need to fail and retry to succeed. So if I miss a day, I’ll start over and try to get to a place where I’m doing the new thing most of the time.

Writing Resolutions

Post author:HFM
Post published:January 2, 2012
Post category:Writing

Wordplay has a nice list of 12 writing resolutions – 1 for each month of the year. Pretty good stuff, and I plan to adopt them.

In January, I resolve to…schedule a regular writing time.
In February, I resolve to… create a roadmap to publication.
In March, I resolve to… stop procrastinating.
In April, I resolve to… edit an old story.
In May, I resolve to… send my story out for critique.
In June, I resolve to… enforce my writing time.
In July, I resolve to… streamline my writing process.
In August, I resolve to… fact check my story.
In September, I resolve to… do one thing to build my author’s platform.
In October, I resolve to… interview my characters.
In November, I resolve to… get organized.
In December, I resolve to… exterminate clichés.

Bonus: Year-Long Resolution:
This year, I resolve to read at least one book on the craft every month.

Ringing out 2010

Post author:HFM
Post published:December 31, 2010
Post category:Inspiration Journal

Father Time Yesterday we had a mini earthquake here in Indiana and this time I actually felt it, because I was still lying in bed like a lazy person on vacation, because I was a lazy person on vacation. It felt like a harbinger, a bellwether.

I have been significantly lackadaisical lately about nearly everything except work. I’ve been focused there. And I have been focused on reading lately – a LOT. Particularly on writing that has a transporting effect on me. There’s something in particular I’m looking for, and I’ve been deconstructing and pulling apart what I’m reading to get at the heart of what has that transporting affect, and how I can bend, alter, focus and create that in my own writing. I feel like I’m poised to jump off a tall cliff and I’m waiting for the right moment; for the breeze to gather strength and help carry me off.

Today we need to get the house clean because we have a few friends coming over to play board games and watch the ball drop. Tomorrow; nothing to do. I have plans for the new year, I just don’t feel like sharing; they tend to falter when I do. And I’ve never been good at resolutions. So this year, a priority instead: transformation.

Farewell, 2009 (a year in pictures)

Post author:HFM
Post published:December 31, 2009
Post category:Funny Videos Journal My Knitting Projects My Photos Travel

We had a pretty calm but eventful year in 2009. I spend a chunk of January getting our staircase room painted, and we also stripped the wallpaper and painted a bedroom at Stephanie’s rental house. I also went back on a walk through of my former home at 2165 N. Penn. I discovered that although I love the house, I don’t miss it at all.

New paint at our house

At the end of February, we visited our friends Daniel and Melissa in Michigan while Stephanie competed in the Deborah Burgoyne North American Invitational 2009. We had a wonderful time with our hosts, and I discovered I had no idea how to take good photos of skating with my camera, as you can tell.

Stephanie on the ice.

In March, we planted lots of flowers in containers on the porch and in flowerbeds, and we built new bookshelves from Ikea for Stephanie’s books in the dining room — a much more pleasant space now that we’ve rescued all her books from boxes and organized them.

In April, I started taking more photo walks around Indianapolis, and began a much-needed photography class.

In May, I worked on my photography at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and by snapping lots of images of flowers and of friends.

In June, I turned 41 and we had a pizza picnic in our backyard to celebrate.

And at the end of the month, we joined the Eastern Caravan with other New Beetle owners to Roswell, New Mexico for the Return to Roswell car show. It was a nice long, fun trip and a a great time to see lots of Stephanie’s friends (both human and VW).

During the trip I took one of my all-time favorite photos of a ragged man with a three-legged dog:

In July, I got way behind in my photo editing because we were so active, and I still haven’t edited all the photos from Stephanie’s visit from her niece Raven, or from our trip to Moline, Illinois for my cousin Katie’s wedding. I participated in the Scott Kelby photo walk along the Canal in Indy, though, and took a few other nice photos:

in August, we bought a scooter, so we spent a lot of time studying for learners motorcycle permits and learning to ride it.

We also spent time with friends and visited the State Fair.

Stephanie and I both started a knitting class in mid-May of this 2009, but it wasn’t until August that I really had any pictures of projects to show off.

In September, I continued to lag behind on the photos. We had a Labor Day cookout, and spent more time with friends.

October was another busy, busy month. My sister had a new baby – Penelope – over in England, for one thing, so I have four nieces (Erika, Riley, Annabelle and now Penny).

We attended the IndieHandicraft Exchange:

Went to a friend’s solo photography show:

Went to a progressive mystery play at a mansion in our neighborhood:

Hosted a praying mantis on our porch:

‘

Went to see They Might be Giants at the Vogue:

Decorated for Halloween:

Took lots of walks around the neighborhood before it got too cold:

And then drove to Durham, North Carolina to see our friends Lisa and Jason get married:

Took lots of photos of Fall Color:

And attended our friend Garrett and David’s Halloween party:

November was equally busy. We attended Johnathan’s birthday:

And spend weekend after weekend raking leaves. And raking, and raking, and raking…

We went to a Naptown Roller Girls double-header bout:

And went out to eat a few times:

And at the end of November, we drove to Iowa to visit our family at my grandparent’s farm for Thanksgiving.

In December, we kicked off the holidays by baking cookies for a White Elephant gift exchange hosted at our house, after decorating.

We also did a lot more knitting:

Went to a birthday party:

And we went to several Christmas gatherings both here in town and up north with Stephanie’s family and friends.

2009 was a productive year for us. I learned some new skills and honed some old ones, and spent quality time with family and friends. I’ve done a lot less writing this year than in past ones, and taken a lot more photos instead. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad one – I’m fairly happy with what I’ve accomplished.

I also have about 10 years of photos on Flickr now. I took my first digital photos in 1999, bought my first digital camera in 2000, and have gone through three cameras since. I’d do a retrospective of the whole decade, but I’ve already made this post much longer than I ever intended to.

I think the first decade of this millennium was a really unfortunately one in many ways, and I have hope that the next will go much better. I plan to spend the next ten years writing about and photographing it as well.

And of all the photos I’ve taken this year, this is a gallery of my very favorite ones.