tirsdag, januar 02, 2007

1st Annual Official Year of Improvement Day

Also known as, New Year's Resolutions. Which I haven't made any of in a number of years, because, what is the point of making a resolution knowing that you couldn't possibly carry it through for more than 2 hours?

This year, however, I feel much more ready for the challenge, and much more able to set measurable goals. And what better way to ensure resolution completion than by opening myself up to nagging from the blogosphere? Gentle, loving, constructive nagging preferred, thanks. Then, it will be your turn. What are your resolutions? I'd love to be inspired to borrow from your list, too!

But first, here are my official New Year's Resolutions:

1) Complete and blog about the 2007 TBR Challenge: Things are always better packaged as challenges; I'm competitive that way. Here, I will get to read 12 of those books that have been on my list of things to read for, on average, too long. My list is as follows:



I realize it's a bit heavy, but, well, that's the stuff that's on my list. Anyone wanting to read along and chat about any of these, let me know. I can't imagine I'll follow the challenge totally to the letter, which is to say, that I'll start and finish each of these books in a month. Some, like Philosophical Investigations, for example, will probably take more than a month, and several others will take much less...for example, Beatrice Letters shouldn't take more than part of a lazy afternoon. My goal then is to finish one of these each month. I also pledge to write at least one post inspired by each of the books on the list. I'll read them in whatever order strikes my fancy, and am starting January with #5, A Natural History of the Senses. Nothing too heavy this month so that I will still have time to focus on...

2) MyTheWriMo: First there was NaNoWriMo, or 'National Novel Writing Month', where crazy people write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November (I plan to be one of those crazy people this year, too.) Then, my brother decided to do a practice run, or MyNoWriMo (well, HisNoWriMo to you and me), in January. That got me thinking about my writing behemoths, and I thought, forced marathon writing...thesis...MyTheWriMo! Yep, a rough draft of my thesis in the month of January. 25,000 words or more (the maximum for the assignment is 28,000). I still haven't totally worked out my problem statement, but have some ideas that are really drawing me in. This is the resolution I most want to keep. I'll try not to post too much thesis angst in this space, but some will be unavoidable. (Gentle, loving, constructive) nagging is especially welcome here.

3) 10 kilos begone: is there a single person who makes resolutions who doesn't have at least one about body shape? Some of this is from my holidays, and will go pretty fast. The rest will involve lots more attention to diet and lots more exercise. I don't plan to blog about this one at all.

4) Fun, fun, fun: I need to have more fun. I have forgotten how to have pure, unmitigated, fun. I vow to go out more, laugh more, but I refuse to post photos.

5) Work, work, work: This is the one I'm most unsure of how to go about completing, but I'm determined to get a job which reflects my interests. Which first means getting accepted into a PhD program and getting funding. Anyone have any idea about this? Not so much the getting in (though that too), but the funding. I hope to blog about all my successes and chosing between lots of cool programs. My virtual fingers are crossed for the foreseeable future.

I'd say that's enough. And now, let the games begin.

18 kommentarer:

i'm marion sagde ...

Happy, joyful and exciting new year and good luck on keeping your resolutions which sound challenging (my utmost respect to anyone who reads more than 30 pages of Ulysses!!) but totally worth it! Thanks for the idea, I shall post mine shortly (since I'm obsessed with lists...).

Anonym sagde ...

Sounds like an action packed year for you! Pride & Prejudice is on my list this year too. Am sending good thesis vibes your way!

Anonym sagde ...

Fantastic idea - it made me think and I'm not sure this is the final list, but here goes:

Sandalmagernes gade - Nis Petersen
Silmarillion - J.R.R Tolkien
Nero Wolfe (just one of them) - Rex Stout
Decameron - Boccaccio
Canterbury Tales - Chauser
The Divine Comedy - Dante
Don Quijote - Cervantes
Macbeth - Shakespeare
Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige - Selma Lagerlöf
The name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
Dystopia - Dennis Jürgensen

Some of these I have actually started on earlier, but just never finished..

Beckalicious sagde ...

I couldn't even come up with ONE (officially), and here you have 6 totally attainable resolutions. Good for you!

Unknown sagde ...

Happy New Year Kim!
I can connect with atleast one of your resolutions. See my post 'NYR' to learn abt my "bodily" intentions :)

Unknown sagde ...

I admire you for the TBR challenge. I have not finished a novel in such a long time--well I wrote one for NaNo, and now I am reading and revising it...

...I would love to know what you think of the Ackerman book which is on my eternal TBR list...

Devil Mood sagde ...

There seems to be a lot of people in the blog world that feel readier to make resolutions. Not me. I'd say making realistic resolutions is a sign of maturity. Not me, no no ;)

I plan (one day...) to read something by Wittgenstein and also Foucault (I read a few things for a paper in college but it was just...too much for a freshman). I haven't read any of those. Shame on me.
I should get into that writing marathon, good to kill any blockage one might have.
Good luck with those!

Lotus Reads sagde ...

First off, a very happy new year to you, Kimananda, may 2007 be a fun-filled, happy and healthy year for you! And wow, your list for the TBR reading challenge is most impressive and I'm THRILLED to see you picked not one, but two Diane Ackermans. I have all her books here- she's just brilliant! I can wait to read your thoughts on the books!

Good luck and I'm excited we're going to be challenge buddies! :)

madelyn sagde ...

to be brave -
to be passionate -
to be alive.

to be curious.

Anonym sagde ...

Just got home and something nice in the mail from Denmark. Thank you so much. Big hugs!!!

The mini ninja sagde ...

I was in the mall during lunch today to look at books (in the bargain aisle, where else) and I saw a "501 Must Read Books". I flipped through it. Pretty fascinating. I might go back to get that, because it's a great guide to the greatest books of all time.

Greg Mills sagde ...

Borges is good, because the stories are wee. You can crank out five day, no sweat, concurrent to whatever else you're reading.

I know a chap who took three Wittgenstein course back to back at Cal and went insane. Not sure if it was because of our Ludwig, but still...let's be careful out there.
This guy tried to get the voices out of his head with a steak knife.

I've taken it upon myself to go completely the other way from Ludwig: Karl Popper and other Pragmatist descended type people. Most are dead old men with large eyebrows. Since I will probably be one of those unfortunate people someday, I'm getting prepared for it now.

Also, I'm going to read more comic books.

jdbauer sagde ...

Fun is key. I'm with you on that one. I'm in the process of building my fun tunnel. It's a mental escape route I'm devising. ETA is early February so I can go on pretend trips to warm places and have a blast.

James Medhurst sagde ...

I have ordered Wittgenstein and Monk from Amazon so I will be reading them with you soon. Happy New Year.

Admin sagde ...

rad. you have foucault on there. rad. ;)

Anonym sagde ...

Wow that is some reading list. But not one Harold Robbins book?

Admin sagde ...

thanks so much for the card, calendar, and treats! the fudge and chocolates were AMAZINGLY delicious!!!!! mmmmmmmmm!!!! ;) SO SWEET OF YOU!!!!

i'm preparing a package for you!

kimananda sagde ...

Marion, same to you. I look forward to seeing your list, too! And to complaining about my sea monkeys, who decided not to hatch (I assume my apartment is too cold....)

Roro, when are you reading P&P? And thanks for the good thesis vibes. I can use them! :-o

Kirstine, welcome! Your list is very cool...I hope you read all of them and enjoy them as much as you can.

Becky, well, totally attainable except for the thesis one at the rate I'm going. And happy New Year!

Siri, cool post...I must stop by more often. And Happy New Year!

Novel Nymph, I'm impressed by anyone who can do NaNoWriMo. And so far the one Ackerman that I'm on (the senses one) is awesome.

Ms. Mood, yes, the marathon can kill blockages, but only if you actually follow it. I'm having some problems with that...thought trying to write it out has actually gotten me to come up with what I'm going to write about. Which is nice. And I've tried Foucault reading a few times, but it's only now that it seems to be making some semblance of sense!

Lotus, thanks and Happy New Year to you! So far the Ackerman is brilliant, and I'll be by soon to see how your reading is going too.

Mr. American, a job researching and writing. Yep, that's the ticket...here's to writing! And I'm glad the package made it to you...I cadged the addy off of an old site, I hope that's o.k.

Sophie, those are lovely resolutions. :-)

Leslie, I am hooked on books of lists...I never buy them, by the way, but I love looking at them and seeing which ones work for me (so which of the top books I've read, which of the top films I've seen, etc.)

Day, I'm not sure why I did it, as it isn't something that I normally do. It just seemed like a good idea.

Greg, hmmm...that's good to know about Wittgenstein. I'll be very, very careful. And I totally know what you mean about Borges, and that's exactly how I plan to read it.

Jonathan, I'm intrigued...I am guessing you'll post more info over at your blog?

James, cool, let me know when they arrive (or have they already?), and we'll Skype.

Vesper, yep, Foucault has been on my list (D&P, which is on the official list, but also Archaeology of Knowledge and the Order of Things) for ages. And I'm so glad you got and enjoyed the package!

Neil, you know, I don't think I've ever read any of his stuff. Is there any that you'd recommend first? Carpetbaggers is the most famous, isn't it?