Monday, January 09, 2012

Talking About A Resolution


My friend Val from Faraway Hammer suggests that we "make promises not resolutions" for the upcoming year.  It's a nice idea, but a little too sweet and gentle for my sensibilities.  Also, it seems a little convoluted.  The promise should be written so that it's all soft and cuddly on the outside, but the kernel of the desired change should shine through.  Too easy to get tangled up in the dual skeins of syntax and semantics, so no promises for me.

Although I don't do a spectacular job of keeping them, I like the idea of resolutions, and I admire the other forms of the word:  Resolve, resolute.  It's thrilling to start the blank page that is January 1 and seriously, even frowningly think about what I want to accomplish.  There's a sternness that invigorates me.  I must have gotten it from some Puritan ancestor.  Of course, I'm also in favor of Lent lasting longer than 40 days.

First, I must examine my resolute state at this time last year and see how it held up:

1. Read for charity. I'll go a penny a page again. 
Almost $300 for someone.  Probably Cambodia.

2. Read for challenges:

100+ Challenge 
Yay, 112!

The Pulitzer Challenge 
I didn't neglect it, but not exactly balls to the wall, either.

The Newbery Challenge 
Ditto.

The Canadian Challenge - 4 down, 9 to go before July 1.
 Still pulling my toque down to hide my ashamed face.

The Support Your Local Library Challenge - I'll try for 20 this year.  
Only 9.

Mad Men Challenge - books from the late 50s and early 60s. 
A modest showing.  Enough to warrant an extra olive in my martini.

The TBR Dare   
LOL.  Lasted a mere 24 days before getting dazzled by the shelf of another.


Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge 
Only 5.  I wanted to do more.  Really, I did.

The Western Challenge - starts in May. 
Willa Cather and I galloped over the prairie together.  I discovered Buddies in the SaddleNot a bad year for this cowgirl; I'll have another helping of beans and cornbread.

3. Read internationally. 
It seems as though my passport gathered some dust on this one.

4. Participate in both the April and October 24-hour Readathons. 
Yes and Yes!!!

5. Read more books written before 1900.  
A mere 4 books. My snobbish inner bookworm is fanning herself while studiously ignoring me.

6. Read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The unsanitized version. 
I done it, as Huck would say.

7. Curtail book spending - this is going to hurt.
  I tried, but after I got the e-readers my resolve crumbled like a package of stale crackers.

8. Don't hesitate to DNF. Give it till page 49 then Zzzzzt! The Russian front! 
I still hesitated  to cast a book aside, but when I did, I was more upfront about my struggle.

PURPOSEFUL, STEELY-EYED RESOLUTIONS FOR 2012

1. Only TBR books until April 1.
2. Read 113 books in 2012
3. Read more Chunky Monkeys (500+ pages) and fewer Skinny Minnies (-100 pages)
4. Reduce the amount of books in my studio apartment (recent count: 500-600)
5. Read more internationally.  Not just English and Canadian books.  Get some exoticism going.
6. Find a new name for this blog.*
7. Participate in both Readathons.
8. Read for charity -- a penny a page.
9. More book/movie comparison/contrast posts **
10. Olden is golden (more books before 1900)

*I'm taking suggestions
** I'll get my moviehound son to hold me to this resolution.  It'll be fun.

8 comments:

Val Hamer said...

I 'promise' you will not regret throwing over the resolutions! (Though in this case they work fine like that as they are not about denial, as per.)

Anonymous said...

You could go for "The Steely-Eyed Reader" in keeping with your new tough stance on resolutions.

Teacher/Learner said...

I can't keep resolutions, either. I prefer to be flexible and go with the flow, but having a few challenges gives you some kind of direction when you need it. Best of luck with your "promises" :)

Sam Sattler said...

Love your charity idea of a penny-a-page contribution. I didn't really formalize my "resolutions" this year, but I'm adding that to my "informal, secret" list.

Care said...

What's wrong with Naked? too many spammers or other disappointed that you don't have sexy pictures?

Beth said...

You have a great blog name; maybe you just need a new tagline to feel all new again?

My son is considering reading the fourth Twilight book so I'll take him to the movie. I think he just wants the popcorn.

joemmama said...

What would I do without Naked?? As for resolutions, I am just trying not to break anything...so no res for me. (But yours are good)

Susan said...

Oh don't change the name of your blog! Unless you really want to....it's how we all really feel when we find ourselves without a book in public! Like some piece of us is missing....or at least I do. I feel naked without a book! lol

resolutions, promises, challenges, dares.....ha! made to be broken...but fun to sign up for! lol I achieve about 1 out of every 5 I join :-) not sure if that is a good average or not. I am reading more, though!