What happens when you were so caught up in things that you somehow forgot to make your New Year’s resolutions? I’ve been thinking about it throughout my long sabatical weekend and, given that there’s no rule that says there’s a window for said resolutions as well as opinions from several people I’ve asked, I think I have some stuff I want to got through with for the new year. Can I, though? What would they be called, if not “new year resolutions?” I don’t really know, but I liked how Jenny put it for me: “the month of January.” So, with that in mind, I think I’m going to set out and do a few things that I’ve been meaning to do.

I asked Wikipedia to see what was in there and this is what I found:

A New Year’s Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year’s Day and remain until the set goal has been achieved, although many resolutions go unachieved and are often broken fairly shortly after they are set.

Many New Year resolutions in the Western world involve maintaining peak vitality, physical fitness, or appearance. For example, one person’s goal might be to reduce or to eliminate intake of alcohol, tobacco, or recreational drugs. The most common new year’s resolution is weight loss. A student may make a resolution to stay focused in class or to complete all of his assignments. Resolutions to eat sensibly or increase exercise are also quite common.

More socio-centric examples include resolutions to donate to the poor more often, to become more assertive, or to become more economically or environmentally responsible. People may act similarly during the Christian fasting period of Lent, though the motive behind this holiday is more of sacrifice than of responsibility.

The new year resolution is one example of the rolling forecast-method of planning. According to this method, plans are established at regular short or medium-term time intervals, when only a rough long-term plan exists.

According to http://www.proactive-coach.com/resolutions/keeping.htm, while a lot of people who make new years resolutions do break them, research shows that making resolutions is useful. People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.

Sounds very “motivational speaker” to me, but it’s not particularly a bad thing… no mention of a time window, though. Somehow I feel like I should have set some time aside and adressed this “resolution” thing but I think I got caught up on how unexpectedly different, mellow and downright heartwarming my new year’s was. I remember that for 2005, I almost drowned because of drunken passengers in a cayuco… I was in Bocas del Toro getting shitfaced and taking care of Canadians as the locals were jumping at the chance to get in their knickers and at times it was quite exasperating for me… not in a bad way, but going out of my way and getting visibly upset over things like those felt very new to me. In contrast, this year’s end was a total calamity. A joyful one. I had some sort of a plan and was about to carry it out when I got a phone call that somehow threw my plans out for a loop and even though she was all up for going to where I originally wanted to go, somewhere along the line time stopped and I gotta tell you, all things put aside it felt genuinely great. Everything was different about that night and I felt almost delirious… very calm, very nice, very welcome. It’s the type of thing where everything clicks just right and you know that things will never mesh this well… the type of thing you leave alone for fear of ruining it. Time stopped, and it was great.

Of course, nothing lasts forever so I returned to the “same shit, different day” construct we all live by every waking moment… trying to pass the time with a smile and optimistic in that things will pick up. It’s a little difficult when when we rely on other people to validate our own feelings and perceptions, though; last night I was reminded of this house I used to go to when I was around 13. I was headstrong and naive (still am, but with more facial hair) and I used to go to this house that was down the street from my building… I’d always have this rat pack of neighborhood kids with me, most of them younger, kind of like the Lost Boys or something of the sort. Anyway, around that age I started to take an interest to girls and I didn’t know how to tackle it… up until that point, all I knew about what a girl was, was by looking at my mom. One given day, we were playing God-knows-what and these two girls skated by us… one of them called “that kid in the Muttley hat” and I walked over to her without really knowing what to do or say. Wow, I don’t know what she looked like to everyone else in that park that day, but to me she was beautiful: winning smile, long, jet-black hair and nice, firm body. I didn’t know why I liked it then, but somehow I found her chest delicious to my eyes. Anyway, I don’t remember much of our conversation but I do remember it resulted in me going over to her house after playing so I could have a glass of water… it was very odd for me, having a girl I had never met before give me this much attention; I thought I was in love. I kept going to her house day in and day out for a whole 2 weeks, and even though this whole courtship never amounted to anything due to the fact that she was 3 years older than me and probably saw me as a cute little buddy or whatever it is these days kids hate hearing when a girl they like gives them attention, it marked my M.O for not only the opposite sex, but also life itself: sometimes, being oblivious and naive lets you focus on the beauty that is the calamity of life, something most people take for granted. I am sure there are people who will say this reasoning is wrong when approaching things but then again, what is right or wrong? Who are you to tell me, and who am I to tell you otherwise? We all think we know the answers to everything but the truth is that each and every one of us is one calamity away from turning it all around. The turn of the tide. No matter what your philosophy is, there should always be room for others to share, compare and contrast with your own. My mind is just fool of philosophical “id”-type questions that the sort of determination a new year resolution can bring is very welcome, though. I feel in need of an interesting philosophical discussion.

My One Great Story needs attention, and I think I’ve garnered enough power to go ahead and do something about it. Porto Diao is looking healthy too, so I’ll give him the push he needs to be what I’ve always wanted him to be. Jane seems to be M.I.A for the timebeing so I’m not going to stress myself about that (or her) for the time-being as my hands are tied ’til she shows up (sad but true) even if I have the spine-tingling feeling of time and opportunities withering away because I could’ve done more than I have; it’s what I get for not being as abrasive as I usually am. Don’t you hate it when people who you care about take advantage of you in some way, shape or form? It’s a shame. A damn shame.

New year resolutions are a person’s excuse to start over, and yet I feel that all of my own are to finish things I started a long time ago. Stay tuned for tomorrow, because I will be talking about a certain ñeque that popped my “crazies in 2007″ cherry… this particular anonymous user will love it, I’m sure. In the meantime, I must say that I was having a rather blue and uneventful day, my mood as tough as a thin ice when news of Keeley Hazell’s sex tape leaking on to the world wide web broke out. I really don’t know why but I find it hilarious how genuinely happy this made me feel… sometimes it really does take a big pair of breasts to cheer a guy up. You can download the full Keeley Hazell sex tape by clicking here and I suppose I don’t need to tell you that the links are NSFW.

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