Resolutions 2011

I don't usually do New Year's resolutions. In general I'm not a fan of to do list and new year's resoulutions are just a big year long to do list. But for some reason I felt like doing them this year and actually trying to stick to them (Gray Dillard will be so proud).


1. Finish at least 1 or 2 projects that I've started. This one might be the hardest for me since I suffer from completion anxiety disorder (self-diagnosed of course). Once I start a project and get far enough into it that I've figured out that what I'm doing will work, I'm finished and ready to move on to something else. I can think of 5 or 6 unfinished projects off the top of my head, some being years old (Dianna could probably come up with a few more). What I've decided I really need is some minions to finish up stuff for me. If you'd like to volunteer to be one of my minions I promise to be a kind and benevolent master.


2. Lose 40 pounds. I know losing weight and getting into better shape isn't a very original resolution but it needs to be done. This will be a continuation and tweaking of my Lazy Man's Diet & Exercise program that I kind of started back before Thanksgiving. The diet part was pretty simple and easy and was working while I was doing it, but with all the Thanksgiving and Christmas eating it ended up being a wash for November and December (at least I didn't gain weight). I also had started a very simple and easy workout program but apparently not convenient enough since I didn't do it very many times, so it was back to the drawing board and an even simpler and easier workout plan to start the new year. I'll be back with details at the end of the month to report whether it's working or not.


3. Read More. I love to read, but with the invention of the DVR, TV series on DVD, Facebook, blogs and the tendency to stay up til 4 in the morning when I'm reading, I haven't read as much as I'd like the last few years. My goal is a modest 24 books this year (no where near the 200+ that Scott Freeman read last year), but 2 a month seems like a reasonable goal.

Here are the books that I already have or are downloaded on my Kindle that I plan on reading:
Classics Mutilated - anthology - already started
The Sandman vol 2: The Doll's House - Neil Gaiman - already started (graphic novels count)
Radical - David Platt
Against All Things Ending - Stephen Donaldson
The Hole in Our Gospel - Richard Stearns
Under the Dome - Stephen King
Alas Babylon - Pat Frank
Full Dark No Stars - Stephen King
God's Tomorrow (Ghost Targets) - Aaron Pogue

I plan on rereading a few of my favorite books
The Winter of Our Discontent - John Steinbeck (my favorite book by my favorite author)
Of Human Bondage - W.Somerset.Maugham (I've read this book more times than any other)
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

I also want to read these books by my friend Jim Murphy
A View From a Height
The God Virus
The Next Buddha

So that leaves at least 5 more books, any suggestions?

4. Try a New Bible Reading Plan. There are numerous read the Bible in a year programs, I've tried some of them with varying degrees of success. This year I'm going to do something different. Instead of reading the New Testament, I'm going to listen to it. A few years ago I bought The Bible Experience New Testament mp3 discs. It's a reading of the Bible by a cast of over 200 actors with musical score and background sounds. Some of the background sound loops get kind of annoying after awhile and I don't really need the few gospel songs thrown in between some of the books but overall it's an enjoyable way to travel thru the New Testament. And I've downloaded the Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures - The New JPS Translation (for those that don't know the Tanakh is the Written Torah (The Law, The Prophets, & The Writings) and am going to try to follow the weekly readings used in the synagogue. I've got some catching up to do since the new cycle of reading started back in October I believe.


So there you go, my 2011 resolutions. I'll try to keep you posted on how I'm doing through out the year.