New Year's Resolutions

I'm not really big on making New Year's resolutions. I figure if you're going to change something about yourself, you should just go ahead and do it rather than waiting on some arbitrary date. Instead, I tend to make new resolutions multiple times throughout the year and as I tend to break them anyway (oh, like you don't!), this means the failure is spread out across the calendar, rather than in a rush mid-January. And as January tends to be a depressing enough month in the first place, every little bit helps.

Having said that…I decided that this year I would at least set out certain goals for myself as we head into 2008. Not only that; I'm declaring them here. I figure this will result in one of two things.

Either the fear of public humiliation will encourage me to achieve all of them all or you'll be able to have a good laugh at my failure. It's all good.

Whichever it turns out to be, you'll be forced to keep reading The Gunsmoke Files throughout the year if you want to find out how I did.

So without further ado (drum roll please) my New Year's Resolutions for 2008.

1. I will update The Gunsmoke Files frequently.
Yeah, I know you've heard this before but this time I mean it. I mean it, you hear? I still have a few stories I'd like to tell before I get too senile to remember them.

2. I will go to the gym regularly.
I'm sure this is on everybody's list but my problem isn't going to the gym, it's going back a 2nd or a 3rd time. If I'm going to be mistaken for Brad Pitt by the time summer comes around, I'll need to go more than 2 or 3 times a month.

3. I will take more photographs.
Thanks to Santa and with a little help from e-Bay, I now have a very nice Nikon N90s film camera. (Yeah, I said film - wanna make something of it?) The trick is to carry it with me and get into the habit of using it.

4. I will work on my drumming.
As in, several times a week. Not just the night before band practice.

5. I will climb a 14'er.
Colorado has 54 (or is it 55?) mountains above 14,000 feet but despite living here for almost 6 years now, I've yet to hike above 12,000 feet. I almost got started on my first 14'er this summer but was turned back by the road being washed out. I'll do at least one this year.

6. I will memorize some knots.
Back in my Boy Scout days, the troop leaders despaired over my inability to remember how to tie knots from one session to the next. Even as an adult with super-human intelligence the only knot I can ever remember how to tie is a reef knot and useful though that is, it doesn't cover every eventuality. And if I'm ever shanghaied and forced to serve on a Royal Navy sailing ship, I'll need to know how to tie knots.

7. I will push on along the Colorado Trail.
Despite the first segment being one of the less pleasant hiking experiences of my life, there's a long way to go before I'm done. I just need to pack a little more strategically and cover shorter distances each day.

8. I will continue my policy of never watching a movie starring anybody who used to be on Saturday Night Live.
Hey c'mon, I need one achievable goal.

OK, that's enough to be going on with. Not a huge list considering how many different ways I need to improve myself, but it's a start.

I'll let you know how I get on.