Metatalktail Hour: RESOLVED! December 30, 2017 8:00 PM   Subscribe

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! Tonight's topic: What are your New Year's Resolutions?

as always, talk about anything you like that's chatty, just avoid The Politics.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 8:00 PM (125 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite

Okay, I am totally reading Ulysses, because whenever there's a list of "how many of the best books in the English language have you read?" the one I'm reliably missing is Ulysses. I have downloaded it to my kindle tonight so IT IS ON.

Like 95% of the time when I've read a Great Classic of Literature that I managed to miss in high school and college, it's turned out to be AWESOME, so I have high hopes. (Notable winners: Picture of Dorian Grey, Moby Dick.) Maybe Vanity Fair after Ulysses, that's another I've never managed.

My other New Year's Resolution is to Meet Some Dang People in my new town!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:06 PM on December 30, 2017 [9 favorites]


Make sure you read Ulysses aloud.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:14 PM on December 30, 2017 [1 favorite]


Following last year's successes, I won't have any New Year's resolutions.

Instead, I implemented an improvement a month - on the basis that it takes about a month to cement a good habit.

So in January, I resolved to ensure the dining table is never used as temporary storage (it's a big table and just too tempting to use as a temporary staging area for things to be put away *sometime*, often weeks later).

February, I resolved never to leave the house with my bed unmade.

March, March, I forget what March was for.

But you get the idea.

I think January will be about applying email rules to snail mail: on a daily basis, every item must be either:
- actioned (or scheduled for actioning);
- filed; or
- discarded.

No more building up of piles of letters, statements etc to "look at later".
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:23 PM on December 30, 2017 [29 favorites]


PS I am in chat if anyone is looking for, you know, chatting.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:27 PM on December 30, 2017


I usually make resolutions, and then spend the rest of the year in a vague state of existential angst and guilt about them. Like, WHY can't I just do this one simple thing? It must be that I'm such a loser. Look, another failed resolution - just like the year before etc etc

So I'm trying a slightly different tack for 2018. Instead of making a resolution as such, I'm going to make an attitude readjustment. 2018 for me will be "Take no shit!"

Not sure how that's going to work for me when I sober up tomorrow, but hey - it's worth a go, right? :)
posted by ninazer0 at 8:32 PM on December 30, 2017 [6 favorites]


I don't do New Year's resolutions -- though I saw something today on Facebook that said something like, "Resolve to continue being you in 2018," which I liked -- but I'm dealing with major restructuring at work and I've been thinking a lot about how I want to be successful with the new team, which I'll be supervising. When I stepped into my current supervisory role a year and a half ago, the most helpful advice I got was from my therapist at the time, who said that I should focus on being authentic, and that helped me get through a lot of imposter-syndrome issues. So I'm resolving, with the new team, to continue being authentic and genuine and compassionate and otherwise a real human being, which are the qualities I want to cultivate in the new team and am worried are lacking in the new team, and I need to focus on patience and incremental progress and not get frustrated that everyone's not already where I want them to be. So, mantras are "authenticity" and "patience," I think.
posted by lazuli at 8:33 PM on December 30, 2017 [4 favorites]


WHY can't I just do this one simple thing? It must be that I'm such a loser. Look, another failed resolution - just like the year before etc etc

Gretchen Rubin's Obliger / Upholder / Questioner / Rebel quadrant model might help you understand that.

In fact, she explicitly uses an example of a woman who was diligent AA+ in her swim team, but useless at keeping her own fitness resolutions.

It has to do with how you prioritise & respond to inner expectations (self-imposed) vs outer expectations (imposed or perceived to be imposed, from others).

Here's a handy internet quiz for self diagnosis.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:39 PM on December 30, 2017 [16 favorites]


I am going to cook for friends/family at least once a month. Kind of fell off of that for Reasons last year (including moving away from everyone for six months) but am determined this year. >=O
posted by curious nu at 8:39 PM on December 30, 2017 [6 favorites]


Not really into resolutions, but after 3.5 months off I started running again today. My goal is to be able to run the ~8 miles to work 2-3 times/week by the time summer gets here.

Also, this seems like an appropriate anthem for this topic

Slow March, by K Flay

It’s been a slow, slow march
Waiting for the flowers to bloom
It’s been a slow, slow start
But I know I could be somebody new

posted by Gorgik at 9:21 PM on December 30, 2017 [2 favorites]


I don't really like doing resolutions. I feel the time to change a behavior is when you decide you need to change, and not some arbitrary position of the Earth around the sun. That said, I need to change a couple of my behaviors and I've decided the time to do it is when the Earth is in the same position around the sun that it was on January 1st of this year.

I need to get in better shape. I've known this for a while and I've been putting it off. I'm not super out-of-shape or overweight, but I don't get enough exercise and my diet is pretty bad. I'm not going to go nuts or anything, I just need to walk a bit more and maybe bring a sandwich for lunch rather than eating the buffet at Chinatown every other day.

This will be the third year in a row I'm going to do Drynuary, which is where you don't drink alcohol for the entire month of January. I don't drink a ton, but I am in the habit of having a scotch every night around 10:00 and a martini (or two) most Fridays. Even my doctor says this isn't a problem but I know it's not exactly good for me. So I won't drink a drop after the midnight champagne toast and then come February I'll probably slip back into my old habit again. It hasn't been too difficult in the past, but it's tough when you have a habit and suddenly you can't do that thing that you always do. It's like an itch you can't scratch. I once quit biting my nails and it was the same sort of thing. I'm really glad I never started smoking because quitting would be impossible.

I have some goals for 2018. I would like to sell a guitar, though that was my goal for last year and I didn't accomplish it. I did give a guitar away as a gift, something I'm pretty proud to have done. I'd like to sell one though because selling them is the only way I can keep building them. Wood and hardware is not cheap. I also want to build myself a Really Nice guitar, something I'll build using all the skills I've acquired these past two years. Something I'll be happy to play for the rest of my life. I'm also hoping to at least start building an acoustic guitar this year though I'm also thinking maybe I'll start with a ukulele which will teach me the same basic skills of bending sides and constructing a sound box but without being such a huge undertaking. We'll see.

Mostly I'm hoping to get through to the end of 2018, to the point where we can maybe see a light at the end of this shitty national tunnel we've all been in since last November.

Socially I... well, I want to be more social. I've finally made some friends these past couple of years, something I've had a real hard time doing as an adult. I want to strengthen those friendships and maybe make some new ones. It's difficult for me sometimes to think of "internet friends" as Friends but the truth is that's what they are. I need to be better at reaching out to people and complimenting them. Maybe send a MeMail or two. I dunno how to really do this. It's tough to reach out and say "let's be friends" when you're more than 12 years old.

As always, I'm grateful for this community and for these threads. Let's all hope 2018 is a good year because, man, things sure were shitty in 2017.
posted by bondcliff at 9:42 PM on December 30, 2017 [21 favorites]


Those Rubin quadrants are interesting; I am a little bit of an upholder and not at all any of the others.

I also don't 'do' resolutions, but I guess I have some goals -- I've been going to every city library, getting 4 fiction books without anything in mind; the rule is that I have to read at least three of the four and write a short note about it.

This incentivizes me to check out things I think I will enjoy reading, not things that I think I ought to be reading, which had been my problem previously: I've been reading a ton more since starting this. I'm starting to learn that there is such a thing as a book that is TOO fluffy for me, and that font / layout is super important to me.

If the library is in a neighborhood I don't know well, or otherwise wouldn't have occasion to visit, I'll also have a meal somewhere nearby, and make a note on that too. I still have quite a few libraries to go (and have exhausted almost all the 'convenient' ones -- ones close to home or work), but I am on track to finish sometime in 2018. Once I finish, I guess I'll queue up all the posts (on my ancient wordpress blog) for publishing!

I guess I should also start going to the gym again, now that my left wrist is almost 100% mobile.
posted by batter_my_heart at 11:01 PM on December 30, 2017 [5 favorites]


Oh, and I'd like to give more tech presentations -- I should just start with talking to my team, but maybe I should make a goal of 3 talks at local meetups in 2018. This will force me to really know some area and be able to tell others about it; I'm not particularly strong at either of these right now.
posted by batter_my_heart at 11:07 PM on December 30, 2017 [2 favorites]


#goals

1. Continue ongoing efforts to diagnose and address what's going wrong with me in terms of my health and relationships. Boy, I'm trying. I get to go to grand rounds in January, which is cool—basically a whole bunch of dermatologists are going to look at my scaly skin one morning to try to figure out why it is the way it is. I got diagnosed with 2 more contact dermatitis allergies this year, along with another chronic condition or two, so I feel like we're at least getting somewhere! (Also, my self-description of my skin as "scaly" turned out to be literally clinically accurate, so that's cool too.) Figuring out life and relationship stuff is much harder, but I'm definitely trying.

2. Finish the album cicadaverse and I started this year.

3. Record myself singing 183 more songs, averaging one every other day, to continue where I'm leaving off here at the end of 2017. This will be the second half of this year's 365 project, which ended up being a 182 project, which is good and fine. I recorded myself singing 182 songs this year, so it went well, especially considering how much I traveled and everything I was doing at work. I expanded my range to about 2 1/2 octaves, and playing back recordings is helping a lot in terms of precision—I'm definitely a stronger, more disciplined singer than I was at this time last year.

4. Post regularly to Instagram. I've been playing catch-up at the end of the year, and I want to post more steadily in the year to come. I want to make more of those shots into postcards, to accompany those that are already up in my shop, but I'm not sure I want to commit to a 365 photo project, because I want to...

5. Draw something every day. Post photos of good results to Instagram, or use them to design new pins. I want that to be my 365 project for the year to come, I think. We'll see how it goes! Shamefully, my beautiful tablet has been collecting dust in the corner since I moved last year, but I did get out my sketchbook for a while in October. I have so many comic ideas, but I'm going to start small.

6. Get around to making and mounting my new pinboard, as mentioned here. I um... I've been meaning to do that for more than a year at this point. Doing that will free up a lot of space and give me back bulletin-board space I very much need. Along with that, I want to get a new mattress for my futon and revamp that entire area of my office beneath and around the pinboard. I have so many prints and photos and other bric-a-brac from secret quonsar and pingame stuff to pin up and/or get framed...

7. Continue working on my tennis game, provided I'm not allergic to my racket grip. (I'm starting to think I'm probably not, since I haven't played for a while and I'm still having the same skin issues.)

8. Relearn archery. I ultimately ended up getting a target for free, after Dick's Sporting Goods totally, er, dicked up my order. And I got the other accoutrements—a glove, an arm guard, some nice poplar arrows, some glue to fix the fletching on the nice arrows as needed... As soon as it's tolerable outside again and my back heals from where they took some of my skin, I'm back in it.

9. Continue doing tarot readings and learning the cards. I've got 2 decks now; I bought an iridescent one recently, which unfortunately has cards that are a tad thick to shuffle comfortably (it works if I halve the deck). Picking this up has been fun and illuminating this year.

10. Continue catching up on shows in progress—new Black Mirror, new Magicians in January, season 4 of The Blacklist, ugh, Arrow and Supergirl, I guess. And yeah, finally watch the most recent Game of Thrones season finale. This isn't, like, a serious goal. But that's what's next, heh.

11. Keep trying to see friends regularly and travel. I want to get out of the country at some point if I can swing it, maybe with a friend or friends. I've got 2 coworkers in town now, who I like a lot, so I want to see them more. I want to actually try to get a St. Louis meetup going again, after way too long (hi guys). I want to have more game nights at my house. I'm ringing in the new year with a game night tomorrow night, so hopefully that sets a good precedent for the year to come. I want to continue trying to see the group of friends I've seen an average of once a month this year, and maybe do that with more groups of friends.

12. Continue progress toward professional goals that overlap with personal ones, like collaborating on more talks and workshops this year and hopefully working up some of that material for conference proposals. I'm a co-organizer of a local meetup group now, too, so I want to keep building on our success in the first event I co-organized for it this fall.

13. Head toward bed by around midnight every night. I'm failing that tonight, but I've been trying to make this a priority. Sleep has been a huge problem for me the past year, with everything else going on. I installed f.lux a while back, and the tawny light seems to maybe be helping a little? This book series I've gamely continued to work through over the course of this year has been great for putting me to sleep once I actually get into bed. Getting there is the hard part. That said...

14. I want to finish this freakin' book series and read all the other books I've let pile up in the past year. So many books. Ancillary goal: I'd love to finally resurrect my book list, get it updated with all the stuff I've read in the past 5 years, and get back into that habit.

When did I get so goddamned aspirational again?! What the hell. But that's some stuff.
posted by limeonaire at 11:12 PM on December 30, 2017 [7 favorites]


New Years = my 30th birthday. There are so many regrets I want to move past, mostly by picking up where I left off when I was too afraid to follow through on certain experiences and opportunities. I also want to make this the year where I stop shying away from personal or professional growth just because I can't get something "right" the first time. I struggle with being patient with myself but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when I am. :) #13goingon30
posted by Hermione Granger at 11:19 PM on December 30, 2017 [8 favorites]


I took the whole week off work between Christmas and New Year's, and stayed home for it - and oh god it was awesome. It ended up feeling like I hit a giant "time-out" on the world so I could take stock of where I was right now; the past 3 years (and then some, actually) were pretty rocky, both financially and with overall stability, but in that long slow grinding way where you have moments where things are okay but you know that some shit's gonna go down soon. In June I finally got a stable job that acutally paid more than the bare minimum I needed, and it's felt like the past few months have just been like a huge deep breath before I launch back on course.

I've realized that I've forgotten how to plan past more than the end of the month - the furthest ahead I'd been thinking for years was "do I have enough to cover the rent check". It's much better now - well, that is, it would have been if I hadn't swung all the way into "wheeeee I have money I can spend on goofy shit now - oh fuck, rent" for the past couple months. But I think I had to go through that.

So 2018 is going to be about "okay, now that i have the bank account and the headspace, what do I want to do with myself when I'm not at work?"

Getting better about managing food in the house is part of that; I want to both get better at meal planning and brown-bagging my lunches, and I also want to use the enormous backlog of fancy baking ingredients that have taken over my pantry. I bought them over the past couple years in a vague effort to treat myself, but never had the energy to use them - it is time to use them, and enjoy them for God's sake.

Same with making things. I also got a lot of craft shit, which was also in an effort to treat myself and make things with it - but I didn't have the headspace to do anything with it all. Well, I'm going to do more with it all - finish more knitting and papercraft, make beautiful things in my house to look at.

And I'm going to get out of the house more. There's an Irish band from the Bronx I ran into about 3 years back when they were at Best Bar In The World, and I signed up for their FAcebook page - and then proceeded to not do anything about that for the next 3 years. The other night they spontaneously announced they would be at a set here in Brooklyn - instead of way the hell up in the Bronx - so I went out, and it was great. But not only were THEY great - just the simple act of "I'm in a place and enjoying music" was a treat. And I realized I needed to do that more often as well. (Then the MC said something about how one of the guys in the band lived around the corner from the bar and was a regular at their Sunday Night Karaoke, so I pigeonholed him after and asked "tell me about this karaoke???")

The staying home all week just let me clean out a whole lot of crap that needed getting rid of, and let me sort out and organize what was left - I re-discovered things I'd forgotten about, largely becuase things were a disorganized mess - but now I know where it all is and so I actually can use those two packages of marzipan I forgot I had, say.

I also hung out with a friend today, and I'm realizing that he has a tendancy to encourage me to do more things - and I'm thinking that hanging out with him may be a good influence for that reason.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:21 PM on December 30, 2017 [8 favorites]


I'm gonna READ MORE BOOKS.
I have a two-foot-high (or more?) stack of unfinished and unread books that have piled up over the last handful of years.
I aim to demolish that stack.

This may mean less tv watching and less videogame playing, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 11:39 PM on December 30, 2017 [5 favorites]


mine's going to have something to do with endeavoring to impose a smarter, more emphatic separation betwixt the interwebs and, for lack of a better word, reality. The former I would hope to reserve for mucking around, playing, being creatively adventurous or whatever. The latter is where I would take care of business.
posted by philip-random at 12:07 AM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


My goals for 2018:

1. Address my anxiety. I don't know exactly what that means, but I need to take some steps to find out.

2. Stop doing the thing where I agree to do things that I don't want to do and then feel angry and resentful. I need to get better at saying no, and I need to own my choices. If I choose to do something, then I made a choice, and I shouldn't blame other people for my decisions.

3. Fix up my spare bedroom so I can have house guests. I've got some other small house-related projects and one big one.

4. I'm not taking a Computer Science class next semester. I think that's the right call, but I now have enough skills to make something, so I should make something.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:07 AM on December 31, 2017 [7 favorites]


- Stretch the boundaries of my comfort zone(s).
- Drink more water.
- Learn to recognize when I am truly hungry. Only eat when I am hungry, not because it is "dinner time" or because it is in the fridge, or because I am anxious about something, etc.
- Watch or listen to at least one inning of every regular season (and playoffs) Yankee game. (This will be my 3rd year in a row if I can accomplish it. I do allow for time shifting DVRing a game.)
- Call my mom more often.
- Do my back exercises EVERY DAY.
- Quit caffeine. (That requires me to quit the 5 cans of Diet Coke I drink daily.)
- Get at least 5.5 hours of sleep per night. (I average about 4:50 per night now.)
- Also, I cannot decide whether I need to eat more pizza or eat less pizza.
posted by AugustWest at 12:35 AM on December 31, 2017 [5 favorites]


These aren't resoltions so much as wanting to continue things already started.
Organize craft room and bedroom...possibly switch those rooms. The craft room is actually a sitting room in front of my bedroom. Due to layout differences and room shape, I think my bed might fit better in the craft room. I need to paint both rooms in the next couple of months.

(Actual NYE plans involve working on organizing craft stuffs. So much craft stuffs. Am going to need to go buy some containers and suchlike.)

I started lifting weights again in early December and plan to continue that. GETTIN' SWOLE. (I am not getting swole.) Trying to figure out a workout schedule that's workable and won't frustrate and/or bore me.

I also want to paint the staircase in the next couple of months. Possibly black treads/white risers (handrail will match treads/balusters will match risers.) The whole thing is white right now and I'm just sick of it.

I also want to get my cross stitch patterns up on etsy and wherever else.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:53 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


same as every year: try not to stab anyone
posted by poffin boffin at 12:53 AM on December 31, 2017 [47 favorites]


Resolved: Leave the apartment. Hmm ... this is going to take some doing.
I think I am well on my way to becoming agoraphobic.

Well ... I will probably be doing a question in AskMeFi about ... how to get out of the
apartment and ... do stuff. Also maybe ... how to write without ... ellipses? No,
one resolution at a time, eh?

Yeah, wait for it. One Ask, coming up. Sheesh. But not tonight.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 2:05 AM on December 31, 2017 [8 favorites]


I want to read and write more. Two things I have sort of distanced myself from because of lack of time and general busy-ness. So I'm going to carve out more time to do these things.

Also, eating like shit lately and I need to get back to eating more green things. So that too.
posted by Fizz at 2:25 AM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm going to make my plans for the year tomorrow morning, though I think they will involve tackling my TBR pile. But my niece, aged 10, has made her resolutions - eat more toast and be more positive (changed after advice from be less negative). I'm pondering an Ask question about how to support her to do the latter. I think she's got the former covered.
posted by paduasoy at 3:47 AM on December 31, 2017 [8 favorites]


My resolution last year was to eat more cheese. I did pretty well at that. I'm all about the achievable goals, me. Not sure about this year. More cocktails, maybe.
posted by lollusc at 4:07 AM on December 31, 2017 [11 favorites]


Eyebrows: Vanity Fair is really good! Definitely recommend!

I like the way everybody had matching towels does resolutions which is to pick something she can definitely do (a straightforward "I would like to have done this thing" or whatever) and then make sure she does it. One year it was "be on a horse". It means she's setting herself up for success and doing something about which she's excited and I think it's a really neat idea!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 4:42 AM on December 31, 2017 [6 favorites]


My life is pretty much as good as I can reasonably expect it to be, so I don't really have any resolutions. It is an ongoing project to try and be better with my kids, but they are young and drive me crazy, so it is more likely that they will age out of it than I will suddenly undergo some spiritual parenting enlightenment.

I had a good year running in 2017 and then pulled my groin in the beginning of November. It has been two months now and it still isn't back to 100%, so I would like to deal with that. I turn 40 in October, and feel like 2018 is going to be my year (once I get my groin fully healed, ugh).
posted by Literaryhero at 4:49 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


1. Restart my meditation practice
2. Ditto running
3. Eat better
4. Get enough sleep (aiming for 7 hours, as opposed to 5-6)
5. Be appreciative
6. Start writing again
7. Make more art (especially drawings)

I am slightly paniced by the above as I don't feel I have enough time already, but I am hoping that 1-4 will bring me a to a better place/improve my focus so that 5-7 happen almost naturally!
posted by Chairboy at 4:52 AM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I have a bit of an anti-resolution. Every December I tend to get ambitious ideas about how much more I'll cook in the new year, and how many books I'll read that I've always wanted to read, and my resolution is to not take on any ambitious self-improvement, but double down on letting the small animal of my body love what it loves.

I don't need more hedonism; but I do need more joy, wherever I can find it.

Also I started trying to get my psych meds figured out in October after years of telling myself (and being told by otherwise great therapists) that my mental health issues were not serious enough that I should be thinking about meds, and it would be great if I could be in a better place by this time next year.
posted by Jeanne at 5:07 AM on December 31, 2017 [8 favorites]


I'm turning 40 this April and I want to have six pack abs and a pair of guns (actual arms not bearing arms) by then. I develop muscle pretty fast and the 200 sit-up/100 push-up challenges have done me well in the past. I think by April I could reach my goal and then promptly drop it for my usual gluttony, as I get pretty sick and tired of exercise after a few months.

Also want to be more active of MetaFilter in the new year. I have taken a several-year unintentional break, mainly because my life has taken some really stressful turns and I've reassessed online involvement in general. I also haven't had the motivation or energy to post regularly, despite missing this community so much (and reading daily still).

I'd also like to pay off the smallest of one of my many student loans, one less thing yay.

Not so much a goal, but I'm really looking forward to being free of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, Netflix and seeing what life brings without them. I'm mostly there; Amazon Prime expires next month and that should do it. Books and games ahead!
posted by iamkimiam at 5:27 AM on December 31, 2017 [4 favorites]


I will try not to post as much about video games in 2018. I'm sorry.

Not sorry.
posted by Fizz at 5:36 AM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


In 2018 I'm going to eat more submarine sandwiches.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 5:40 AM on December 31, 2017 [11 favorites]


I'm trying to be more productive in 2018 by approaching the concept of making NY resolutions as less nebulous ("I will lose 20 pounds!" or "I will podcast more!") and more concrete actionable objectives. Okay, I want to change and keep resolutions, right? So create a week by week game plan, month by month game plan, etc. That way the smaller goals can be used to reach the big goals. Nebulous sets you up to fail and feel bad; smaller actions that accrete to the end goal will not. (Well, we'll see.)

F'rex, one of my goals is to cultivate the amazing female friendships I luckily gained in 2017. It's one thing to say, "We will totally get together more in the New Year!" and actually figure out how to do it. "Hey, friend, would you like to meet for coffee once a week and chat? Yes? Great! Let's put a recurring appointment in our shared calendars that way we do the thing!"

(Edited to add: Heh, I'm reading the Four Tendencies and oh boy, I am an Obliger married to an Obliger.)
posted by Kitteh at 5:45 AM on December 31, 2017 [4 favorites]


I want to move more this year - I have a six km round trip walking commute and I do tap dance, so I'm not exactly sedentary but I live on the edge of the South Downs so I want to get out and do more walks in 2018, preferably with friends and family. It would also be good to get back to doing weights and 16/8 intermittent fasting.

T'husband and I are just about at the point of trying to grab onto the property ladder so we are definitely going to start that process, even if it is just speaking to people and seeing what our options are. Fingers crossed and all because I am so tired of living underneath/on top of other people. And I want cats. Caaaaaaaaats. Waaaaaaant.

There's various other small goals, mostly involving finishing some craft WiPs and other such projects. And I am going to sit down just now and make a 18 things to do/try in 2018 list.
posted by halcyonday at 6:21 AM on December 31, 2017 [4 favorites]


Halcyonday, I am home for Christmas and next to the South Downs, still beautiful. Went for a walk in Petworth Park yesterday.

I have had a really difficult 2017 so don't want to set myself up to fail with New Years resolutions, but I want to try and see my lovely friends more, and go back to weighing myself daily as it does help me be more conscious of what I'm eating.
posted by ellieBOA at 6:29 AM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


I have pretty ordinary goals. I need to exercise more, which actually is already happening, so that's good. Then I want to eat a bit better, or at least get out of the "cook the large package of ravioli and eat that and pesto for the next four days" habit.

I would like to read more, and spend less time (but not no time) wandering around youtube.

I want to get better at the ukulele. Who knows, I may even take up the guitar. Bondcliff, how much for a guitar?
posted by JanetLand at 6:30 AM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


Oh, I want to only move house ONCE this year … I'm moving again next week and it'll be my 11th move in 7 years. I think (hope!) I am done for a while.
posted by iamkimiam at 6:38 AM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


Treat myself well. Drink the good tea, buy the ebooks and music and games that I want. Wear the shirts I like, take the breaks I need. Get what I want for the house, and if when I'm uncomfortable with spending "our" money on stuff, just pay for it myself. Quit yelling at myself for mistakes and bad decisions. Quit yelling at myself at all.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 6:57 AM on December 31, 2017 [8 favorites]


I'm gonna build a car from scratch. No kit, just plans, steel, and fibreglass. I don't expect it to be done by the end of the year, but... you know what they say; aim for the stars and if you miss, you may still hit the moon. The *real* challenge in this endeavor is going to be making enough room in the garage for this project, which will involve unpacking and sorting many many boxes of tools and materials.
posted by some loser at 7:02 AM on December 31, 2017 [6 favorites]


My MetaFilter Resolutions are as follows:

1. RTFA
2. Give out favorites more often, it's friendly and it's fun.
posted by Elly Vortex at 7:02 AM on December 31, 2017 [15 favorites]


I’m going to say ‘No’ more often. In the sense of “I’m sorry, but even though you’re someone who is asking me to be involved in your project and for the last ten years I have needed every cent of profit share that might possibly have been intended to go to me and sometimes I actually got it, for reasons of needing to not be fucking exhausted and paralysed with creative overwhelm I am unable to take on projects that aren’t completely focussed on my self-care and safety. Thanks, though.”

This is a big deal for me.
posted by prismatic7 at 7:07 AM on December 31, 2017 [5 favorites]


Last year I had 7 resolutions.

1. Exercise more
2. Eat better
3. Drink less
4. Read more
5. Downsize my possessions
6. Write more
7. Learn more

I was 7/7 through the Fall, then the move came and some other stuff came up and I got distracted. We went from 4200 finished square feet to 1600 in early November, so we totally nailed the downsizing thing.

In 2018 I'm going to make those things habits, part of who I am, so they don't have to be resolutions next year.
posted by COD at 7:07 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


First I have to make it to the new year. Anyone have any tips for how a middle aged married with an unforgiving circadian rhythm can stay awake until midnight? If you are celebrating amateur night in the safety of your own home, what do you do?
posted by mumblelard at 7:21 AM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


I have a one-year calendar that hangs over my computer which is where I spend a lot of my work time at home. Every year I have a word or two on the top of it.

2017: SEIZE FREEDOM (calendar is called Seize the Day so sometimes I just cover up that last part)
2016: ANTIRACIST
2015: LET THIS DAY BE GOOD

2018 will have something to do with not letting people colonize my mind. My sister and I talked a lot over the holidays, we had a LOT of downtime to just chill which was so desperately needed after this ridiculous year. Both of us acknowledge that we've got a deep streak of "You can't tell me what to do!"/"You're not the boss of me!" oppositional approaches to life. Which I guess is fine if you are in high school and your French teacher calls you a bitch (actual story!) but it's less appropriate if you're a fairly well-off white lady whose largest problem is too much stuff (after the death of both parents in the last six years and some deferred decisions regarding their things).

I need to not act like other things or people are keeping me down. I have agency. It's scary to own it. I've always been reasonably confident, but I need to also maybe not be my own underdog where other people are concerned. I've seen where that's gone politically with people with different backgrounds from my own and I want no part of that. Elevate other voices. Use my weird platform for even more good.

So I want/need to find ways both to own this embarrassment (for I am truly embarrassed) of riches and find ways to continue to social justice work and civic engagement that brings meaning to my life. Take fewer shitty or irritating jobs, spend more time with Jim and my friends and family. Work on my health and my nerves about my health. Exercise like it's my job. Be a little critical of my self-care downtime which was important for last year but maybe now a need a nudge back into care for others. Get more comfortable with giving it all away.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 7:21 AM on December 31, 2017 [33 favorites]


I need to stop hating myself. So I guess that's my resolution.
posted by cooker girl at 7:27 AM on December 31, 2017 [22 favorites]


First I have to make it to the new year. Anyone have any tips for how a middle aged married with an unforgiving circadian rhythm can stay awake until midnight? If you are celebrating amateur night in the safety of your own home, what do you do?

I choose another time zone and celebrate their midnight. (I'm on the west coast of the US, so east coast US works for me.) I make myself a nice dinner and listen to music I like and I read a book, then go on Facebook at 9pm and say "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" to all my east coast friends, and to the cats out loud, then I go to bed by 10pm. It makes me happy. (And I have to leave my house at 7:30 tomorrow morning to go on a 9-mile hike I somewhat inadvertently agreed to, so early bed is good!)
posted by lazuli at 8:00 AM on December 31, 2017 [15 favorites]


Until a little while ago I believed this would be my Third Time's the Charm starting painting in January goal. But it is in fact the fourth. HOLY COW THE TIME IT GOES. Anyway. I have done some painting over the past four years but there is no way I will know if I want to do it for reals until I force myself through 10+ more hours. So. Thanks in part to the recent blog thread and related goals, I have a good feeling about this fourth time.

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD WISHES TO ALL the people making positive plans. You are all welcome to pm me during this year to ask about my progress and/or if you like, I shall ask you about yours.

Perhaps at the end of the year (pony) we could pin this thread back to the top, and we could come back here and update our answers in purple font for posterity, congratulations and/or humiliation.
posted by Glinn at 8:27 AM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I need to lose weight and Ralph needs to quit bringing me chocolate. So I am making him take a picture of me tomorrow as a baseline.

I wish he would resolve to like more vegetables as that would really HELP.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 9:00 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'd like to eat better (healthier food, less meat, more local ingredients, more scratch cooking, more workday lunches with people and fewer workday lunches where I just go to the grocery store and buy some random thing), exercise more (more regular stretching and yoga, more hiking and bicycling, some attempt at tracking and gamifying and stuff), have all my bikes in good working condition at the same time, drink less, take better care of my skin, improve my Spanish, and be better at correspondence.

In my working life, I'd like to spend time giving advice and mentoring, working on ways to connect my ideas about information literacy and social justice and stuff to the things I do at work, and do more professional writing and presenting.

I'd also like to read more books (and do better at tracking and reviewing the books I read), and to do better at keeping up with podcasts (and unsubscribing from ones I don't keep up with) and seeking out new music, tv, and movies, especially ones created by people that aren't cis white men.

Full disclosure, I also have some goals related to Animal Crossing Pocket Camp.
posted by box at 9:08 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


I guess I mostly want to continue what I've been doing. Stay employed. Keep swimming. Keep losing weight. Keep at my photography. Keep working on the neverending story that is our house restoration.

I'm continuing my photography education for the fourth year this year taking a non-silver printing class (cyanotypes and such) in the Spring and an experimental camera class in the summer which both sound like a lot of fun.
posted by octothorpe at 9:11 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


You are all so inspiring!* Internet high-fives to all of you.

I want to go to the gym more regularly (I LOVE my gym but have a hard time getting back into the habit of going when I fall off the wagon), use my fancy camera more, read more, and listen to more diverse music (see my latestAskMe). We'll see what happens.

*Story about being an inspiration : I was telling a consultant I work with about my new gym, and how they send you an email with your workout stats (heart rate zones, cals burned, etc), and that I regularly burn more than 500 cal/hour. He didn't believe that was possible, so I showed him a few of the reports. Fast forward a few months to his next visit, and he told me that I was an inspiration, and that he now shoots for 500 cal/hr in his workouts, and showed me pictures of treadmill displays to prove it. I was so heartwarmed by this unexpected impact I had on someone. Y'all have the same effect on someone else , whether you know it or not. All the best for 2018!
posted by Fig at 9:21 AM on December 31, 2017 [5 favorites]


Keeping it simple: watch less TV.
posted by Lorin at 9:43 AM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


1. Find weed.
2. Get high without annoying neighbors.

Sounds simple but this is the eqivalent of finding bigfoot for me.
posted by jojo and the benjamins at 10:11 AM on December 31, 2017 [9 favorites]


My resolution is to find a new goal. I have projects and needs, but I would like to be aiming for something a little bigger. I am probably going to skip what sounds like an excellent party because it's hella cold and I don't like going out on New Year's. I might buy a little bottle of bubbly. I'm making chili. Those of us being quieter, let's hang out on MeFi chat this evening.

I also resolve to make 2018 better than 2017.
posted by theora55 at 10:17 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


My resolution for this year is, broadly, to do the things that scare me. This includes getting a job as an EMT, recommitting to roller derby and exercise in general, becoming more politically active, being better about keeping in touch with family and friends, etc. I guess all of those things mean getting my social anxiety in check.
posted by coppermoss at 10:23 AM on December 31, 2017 [4 favorites]


2. Get high without annoying neighbors.

Totally, dude. At the very least tell them that if they want to get high with you they have to bring their own weed.

For my own part, I seem to have signed up to YNAB, which can only be good. I've even filled the budget in and already had that spark of realisation that only things that can be quantified can be controlled, but anything that can be quantified can be controlled. Let's see how that goes. The only thing that works for me in controlling my weight is keeping a record of it all (and it's the record-keeping rather than any limit I might put on it that does the trick - like biscuits don't have any calorific value until I write it down).

I need to play guitar a lot more, especially live.

I'd very much like to record the songs I've been performing for the last few years, get them out of the way to open things up for more songs, and to provide me with a simple, positive answer whenever anyone asks me whether I have any CDs (or modern equivalent).

And I need to sell/dispose of a lot of this teetering pile of stuff I only half-ironically call a home.

And I'd very much like to be less of a git.
posted by Grangousier at 10:39 AM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I am going to cook more things!

I am going to keep calling my congresspeople!

I am going to find more effective ways of political engagement than calling my congresspeople, and do them!

I am going to keep using my accountability spreadsheet (that you are welcome to join in on) and submit at least three papers this year!
posted by ChuraChura at 10:48 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


Hmm. We're first doing one round of whole30 because jeez, Christmas food (and drinks)! Also I need to finish my second book, it's one chapter (and some major cleanup) away and it begins to get silly.
Otherwise, survive I guess...
posted by Namlit at 10:52 AM on December 31, 2017


I’m hoping to exercise more days than not this year.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:54 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


1. Read more. I'd been averaging 22-25 books / year for the last 4-5 years, but only managed 15 this year. I still have a massive number of books that I accumulated while working in the media (probably 75+), and I'd like to not be distracted by shiny new books so I can wear that stack down. I could easily do this by reading before bed instead of mindlessly scrolling through garbage internet.

2. Less cycling, more running / cross training. I rode my bike a lot this year (over 5000 miles). My legs are strong, my cardio health is solid, but I'm weak from the waist up. So it's time to have a more diverse world of exercise. This will hopefully have the benefit of fewer 2.5 hour days in the saddle, and more days when I'm doing 30-40 minutes of running. Having more time is good.

3. Make more art. I've managed to screen print our holiday cards for 2 consecutive holiday seasons, but I'd like to design more prints this year, and start selling them, if only on Etsy.
posted by god hates math at 11:13 AM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm at a farm in the highlands of Lower Bavaria at the moment, and it's "cold" and "snowy" here, which means about 5°C and up to 5 cm snow. I've been out to see the village bonfire, and the weather was such that while the valleys are filled with fog, above that, you can see all the way to the alps.

We've watched Dinner for One and are now watching random German TV. I'm not nearly integrated enough to be watching the Vierschanzentournee, the big German/Austrian ski jumping tournament.

My resolution, insofar as it is one, and not just something that I started working on at the time, is that I'm trying to practice better email hygiene, especially in terms of sorting contact form emails immediately into "my problem" and "not my problem". "My problem" now gets added immediately to my todo list, rather than me looking the mail up again when I sit down to deal with things.
posted by frimble (staff) at 11:24 AM on December 31, 2017 [7 favorites]


My new year's resolution is to do more fun things and to get out of the house more. My boyfriend and I both work from home and this year I had some health issues. So being sickly and working 45 hours a week...I sort of just stopped leaving the house except for groceries and using the weekends to recover. Ugh.

So I have signed up for a mixed media art class that starts in February for four weeks. After I signed up I was emailed a list of supplies. I don't even know what half of them are. Gesso? Matte Gel Medium? These things are mysteries to me. So that should be fun figuring that out.

I made reservations for two nights at the airbnb hobbit house that's three hours away.

And my 5 year old niece is coming to visit me the day after she turns 6. She somehow got it in her head that I'm throwing her a tea party at a fancy tea shop where we will wear fancy hats. So I have a fancy tea party to plan. And hats to look for. lol

2018 already has more fun things going on than all of 2017.
posted by ilovewinter at 11:31 AM on December 31, 2017 [7 favorites]


I think this is my first time posting in a Metatalktail Hour! I love New Year's - I think it might be my favorite holiday. I always think Christmas is my favorite and then the pressure gets to me and I implode (this year was especially spectacular), but I've always worked for companies that close between Christmas and New Year's and so I'm relaxed and happy again by NYE. I also don't have any family-of-origin traditions associated with it so I'm free to make up my own and/or borrow from my heritage.

For the past five or six years now I've made a point of going on a long, contemplative walk with friends or my boyfriend on New Year's Day. I've tried out various walking spots, but we've finally settled on San Bruno Mountain as our spot of choice, and I've really come to love it and look forward to it every year. Last year I also made ozoni (Japanese New Year soup with toasted mochi) for the first time, and I'm making it again this year! This one is definitely in the early-years, working-out-the-kinks stage of tradition-making - last year I used round mochi and put in stuff like fish cake that I don't actually like because I felt like I was "supposed to." This year I'm using square mochi and only things I like - carrot, mushroom, nappa cabbage, spinach, and chicken. I'm intrigued by the Niigata ozoni with salmon on this page, but still new enough to this that I'm hesitant to mess with the classic version. Probably next year I'll try adding salmon though. What I would really love to know is how my grandma made it (since she apparently made it every year when my mom was a child), but since that recipe is probably lost to the winds of time, I think I can fairly lay claim to a generic Niigata one.

I also have soba noodles and pink champagne for tonight, yay!

As far as resolutions... I want to put my time and energy toward the things and people who deserve it (so more for myself, my long-suffering boyfriend, and my volunteer group; less for my family and only as much as is necessary for my job). I really want to start exercising regularly - I'm going to start with Zumba and yoga and maybe walking more and go from there. And I want to really start reading in Japanese - I don't care if it's social media posts or Animal Crossing or manga, I just want to be literate!

My New Year's resolution in 2016 was to really get involved with this Japanese American community group that I'd been sort of hovering around for a long time. I did it, and I've made some wonderful friendships and had amazing experiences thanks to them (most notably traveling to Japan with some of the group this past summer). Their first volunteer event of the year (and the one I started with in 2016) is always a New Year's festival where we do crafts with kids, and that's next weekend and it always reminds me of when I made the commitment to start spending time with these people and how very lucky I am to have them in my life. So yeah, I love New Year's.
posted by sunset in snow country at 11:59 AM on December 31, 2017 [6 favorites]


In 2018 I'm going to get separated for sure, and divorced almost for sure, from someone I really love because of problems I didn't handle well. Usually at the beginning of a year I set a bunch of specific goals, from small and tangible to aspirational, and see how it goes with them. This works well for the way I think (I'm highly motivated by checking things off on a to-do list). This year I can't really picture doing anything but dismantling the last ten years of my life and grieving. A list of things like deciding who gets which kitchen appliances and buying a mattress for the place I'm moving to isn't fun. So my goal is to get through this year and this shit with minimal damage to our child and our community and come out the other side with the capacity for imagining something better.

I'm spending the night at home alone with my three-year-old. We'll play and read and watch the insane fireworks our neighbors set off for every occasion. I'm going to teach her how to make ice cream, then celebrate an earlier new year than the USA west coast's and have terrible feelings after she sleeps. Tomorrow morning we're going to the beach (a family tradition I'm keeping for myself, damn it). I'm trying to give her some magic and fun. A step toward a goal.
posted by centrifugal at 12:03 PM on December 31, 2017 [13 favorites]


Watch more television, not Doctor Who or Sherlock Holmes adaptations.

In 2017, I met most of my goals (moved to New York, read 100 books, worked full-time while maintaining my gpa, wrote more, lost the post-election sadness weight), but it’s highly possible that the next time I visit fanfare will be when the new Doctor starts in November, or if Moriarty the Patriot gets an anime. At this point, scrolling through Amazon Video feels like a chore.
posted by betweenthebars at 12:17 PM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


1. Work on getting my anxiety under control, which has become more pronounced this past year—not sure if that’s due to menopause or the general state of the world or something else. I do think that working through the rest of this list will help!

2. Exercise more regularly by getting outside and walking/hiking. I started walking at a local preserve this fall and absolutely loved it—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

3. At work, keep in mind that it’s not my job to fix everything, and my job is what I DO but it’s not who I AM. I really let events at my job affect way too much of my not-at-work time this year. I’m going to try to do a big reset on that and I have some strategies in place (partially due to some AskMe answers I got earlier this year!).

4. Continue to work on finding a balance between being informed about what is going on in the world and knowing when I need to unplug. This will most likely mean setting up some specific rules about when I am and am not looking at screens. Anybody else doing this? What does it look like for you? Memail me if you want an accountability partner!

5. Read more! I only read about 70 books this year which may sound like a lot but is actually low for me. Working on #4 above should make this easy!

Happy 2018 to all! May the new year be all you wish it to be, and more!
posted by bookmammal at 12:27 PM on December 31, 2017 [7 favorites]


After I signed up I was emailed a list of supplies. I don't even know what half of them are. Gesso? Matte Gel Medium? These things are mysteries to me. So that should be fun figuring that out.

I think many of those things might even be at your average Michael's, or failing that, at an art supply shop near you. You could get away with just thrusting the list at someone who works there and saying "Help!" (I think Gesso is a primer paint or something akin to that.)

And my 5 year old niece is coming to visit me the day after she turns 6. She somehow got it in her head that I'm throwing her a tea party at a fancy tea shop where we will wear fancy hats. So I have a fancy tea party to plan. And hats to look for. lol

If you don't want to go the route where you dress up and go to a tea shop where someone else does all the cooking for you, then maybe turn it into a DIY thing where you've made some dainty cookies and little sandwiches up and have a couple kinds of tea ready, and then when she gets there you first have a craft session where you make your own fancy hats.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:28 PM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


So I have signed up for a mixed media art class that starts in February for four weeks. After I signed up I was emailed a list of supplies. I don't even know what half of them are. Gesso? Matte Gel Medium? These things are mysteries to me. So that should be fun figuring that out.


*raises hand* I used to work in an art supply store back when dinosaurs roamed in Sarasota. Gesso and Matte Gel Medium are supplies you use with acrylics. IIRC gesso can prime a canvas or other surface and matte gel medium is used to mix with acrylic paint to give a matte surface -they also sell gloss medium for a glossier surface.

You are gonna have SO much fun!
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 12:42 PM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


I will drink no alcohol until Janurary 20. But on that day I will drink all the alcohol. (Delayed office Christmas party.)
posted by Dumsnill at 1:01 PM on December 31, 2017


2018 is the year that I learn to properly Olympic lift - I've powerlifted for a couple of years and 2017 was the year of mobilizing my shoulders to the point of being able to properly overhead squat. I did my first Olympic lifting session with a coach and it was humbling but also hella exciting. I'm also aiming to maybe get to 425lbs on the deadlift this year or 2.3x bodyweight.

2018 is also the year that I'm going to finally build furniture with mortise and tenons - in 2017 I built a ton of furniture (a queen-size bed, walnut dining room table, knotty pine coffee table, three bedside tables and an outfeed table for my table saw) and each project saw improvements in accuracy and method but I still haven't fully mastered the mortise and tenon.

2018 may also be the year that everything changes as my wife and I are going to try to conceive for the first time. Which is to say, 2019's list of goals will almost assuredly be to accumulate a mass amount of dad jokes quickly.
posted by notorious medium at 1:05 PM on December 31, 2017 [4 favorites]


Keep swimming

Oh I forgot, one goal for me is to swim a mile in one session. I started a "0 - 1 Mile in Six Weeks" program in September that might be doable for a much younger and fitter person but after three months I'm only at Week 2. Nonetheless, it's progress and I can at least swim 1/2 a mile and I'm going to keep at it until I can hit that mile marker (44 laps in a 20 yard pool). I'm restarting lessons next month to work on my form and re-learn the breast stroke.

I had to quit running a few years ago after back surgery and have struggled to find a workout that would replace it and swimming is starting to work for me. Having gone from couch to 1/2 marathon in running helps me to keep my spirits up when a swim kicks my ass but at the age of 53 a new workout is tough to start. On the other hand, I'm usually the youngest person in the pool at the Y.
posted by octothorpe at 2:11 PM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


My cat had his annual checkup yesterday and the vet said he's doing great (active, alert, a good weight for his size) so my goal going in to 2018 is to keep doing the best I can to care for my furry creature.

Also I would like to go camping.
posted by janepanic at 2:44 PM on December 31, 2017 [6 favorites]


2018:
> Eat less, move more
> Learn to juggle
> Lean to bake bread
> Learn to use my new sewing machine and make cushions/pillows for the house because the price of cute throw pillows in stores is criminal.

And this sounds ridiculous, but I need to either make some local friends or quit caring about not having friends altogether. I'm going to a brunch with former coworkers in January. I should try to set up a Philly/South Jersey IRL event, but having only one person coming to my birthday happy hour in September has really got in my head and I'm not sure I could deal with 2 of those. Urgh. This is harder than it should be.

Happy 2018, lovelies, and may it be gentle on us all! <3
posted by kimberussell at 2:52 PM on December 31, 2017 [8 favorites]


Well, happy new year everyone!
posted by Dumsnill at 3:04 PM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


Hell, I don't know. We're now at about 3 years since my excessively stressful 7 year long period of life dealing with other people's issues turned around and I need to finally move from recovering my brain and stepping away from hyperfocus hyperstress and get my own house in order. I'm not one for resolutions, but I think a theme for my 2018 should be DO MORE THINGS.
posted by rmd1023 at 3:04 PM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


My new year's resolution is to get some aerobic exercise regularly and meditate, even though it seems like every single time I start I immediately get a cold. *snuffles loudly*
posted by selfnoise at 3:12 PM on December 31, 2017


I feel like i'm getting a little set in my ways, so i'm going to try to face this by doing 18* things that i've never done in 2018. Not necessarily hard things or things that i find inherently terrifying, but things that will move me out of my very routine routines.
1. Take a trapeze class.
2. Ride a fat bike.
3. Cook 1 heretofore untried vegan recipe every month.
4. Run 100 km in one month.
5. Take a ballroom dance class.
6. Sew a skirt.
7. Attend a gymnastics competition as a spectator.
8. Go to an AHL game.
9. Plant and maintain an indoor herb garden.
10. Try rock climbing on an actual cliff.
11. Stay in a yurt.
12. Hike in a national/provincial park that i've never been to.
13. Canoe on a lake.
14. Paint a frame-worthy watercolour.
15. Read a book of fiction, a book of non-fiction, a cookbook, and a book by an immigrant from one place i have no plans to travel to.
16. Grow sweet potatoes, radishes, and beets.
17. Go to 6 live music shows that feature a band i've never heard live before. Bonus if these shows take place at venues i've never been to either.
18. Go to a winery.

Have a warm, safe, and happy new year!

*Why 18? Because it's 2018, so it seems like it would be easy to remember.
posted by platitudipus at 3:21 PM on December 31, 2017 [17 favorites]


Fizz, I don't want to tell you your plan is a bad one, so I'll just say your posts (about video games or other things) are a big reason I'm happy to keep reading MeFi right now.

As for myself, there's so much unhelpful stuff going on in my head that it's incredibly clear I need to restart and keep up with my meditation practice.
posted by cardioid at 3:36 PM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


1. Enjoy life as a free bitch aka no longer a student
2. Read more books
3. Spend more time with family
4. Learn to be a mum
5. Bash the fash
posted by supercrayon at 3:50 PM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


I think I need to add "blog more" to my list of goals for the year, since this other MeTa sent 49 new regular followers my way and gaaaaaaaaah.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:54 PM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I read of a fun New Year's tradition: doing in miniature things that you want to do successfully during the year. Apparently millers would carry a handful of grain and grind it with their fingers in church.

So, tomorrow I'm going to do one pushup, write one email, clean a plate, do one trivial bit of bureaucracy, read one line of a difficult book...and do it without being stressed about it.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 3:59 PM on December 31, 2017 [16 favorites]


I don't do New Year's resolutions. Well, I do, but on my birthday, not on 1/1. Because my birthday is the start of my own personal new year, and it feels more meaningful to me that way.

But anyway, today is Kid Ruki's 16th birthday!!!! She finished up driver's ed on Friday, we go get her permit and enroll in driving lessons on Tuesday, and due to Rhode Island's weird graduated license requirements, I think she gets her full license when she's 27. I don't know.

When I was teenager, my mom would curse me with "I hope you have a daughter just like you." Boy howdy, is she ever (aside from not identifying as female but using female pronouns out of lazy convenience). I didn't think she looked like me until I face swapped us on Instagram and, uh, it was still a photo of me. We've moved on from finishing each other's sentences and just speak in stereo now. We share clothes and go to shows together because we like the same music. I was relatively young when I had her, so we kinda grew up together. I look young for my age and she looks old for her age so we get the sister thing a lot.

My mom recently said something about the daughter just like you thing, and I said, yeah, she's just like me, but better. And it's true. She's kinder than me, and kindness is sorta my thing. People are naturally drawn to her. Children especially love her. She's a natural healer. She always roots for the underdog and fights for what she believes in. She still has a childlike innocence, but also a wisdom beyond her years. Other people's words, not mine. She's really something special. One of my friends told me today that she's what our dreams are made of.

So while I'm not making my resolutions for another few months, if anyone is looking for a resolution, I say, Be like Kid Ruki.
posted by Ruki at 3:59 PM on December 31, 2017 [15 favorites]


Me, I’m going to continue to simplify my digital footprint. Last year, I deleted over 30 online accounts. My goal this year is to get off some of the big spaces, especially Facebook. There is still a lot of content on there that I’ve developed over the years that I want to save, so I’m trying to find a way to archive that in other, more sustainable spaces.
posted by johnxlibris at 4:03 PM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


Do more: read, write, exercise, spend time with family & friends.

Do less: time in front of screens; eating crap food.

Stretch goal: learning to draw

Happy 2018 everyone. I'll be staying up more to make sure the old year leaves than to welcome the new, but I always feel a bit of hope for the possibilities ahead.
posted by nubs at 4:20 PM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I really like platitudipus's idea of doing 18 new things! I'm going to make my list.

Other than that, in 2018 I'm going to look for a new job, and I'm going to finally get my driver's license (I won't even tell you how old I am, but I've always lived in cities so never a real need for one).
posted by maggiemaggie at 5:43 PM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I also love the 18 new things!! Stealing that promptly :)

Complementary to that, I've been thinking about how there's this handful of scary challenges, possible hobbies, etc. that have come back to me again and again in my twenties. My own little group of tenacious ghosts haunting me until I acknowledge them. Some ghosts:

- Try a form of martial art and/or dance (aikido splits the difference nicely)
- Shake myself out of Harmless First Date routine and challenge myself to do the hard, vulnerable, unfiltered things. Ask men out.
- Write/research thing about computing

I like the idea of mixing totally new experiences with acknowledging these persistent but unrealized hauntings head-on. Also, less of the ego/narrative work of goal-pursuing, more of the just literally putting myself into situations. I generally don't set resolutions, but this is nice to think about!
posted by elephantsvanish at 7:20 PM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


My geranium is blooming on the back porch. This March the geranium, my two cats, and my grandson will all be 11 years old. Go forward!
posted by Oyéah at 8:47 PM on December 31, 2017 [6 favorites]


I'm not doing resolutions this year, as themes. Themes that will shape my actions in a vegetal way this coming year.
2018:
Productivity
Fitness

While not being definite, I know what will have made me happy this time next year.
posted by happyroach at 11:39 PM on December 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


As I fuzzily lay in bed last night, I started a sleepy mental catalogue of how I'd tracked to my resolutions last year. To my somnolent delight, I couldn't believe it, but I had actually done them all!!

Most of my resolutions last year were "do more of" and "do less of" kind if things - the journey is not over - but my delight at following through, and more importantly seeing the results of doing so, were a lovely lullaby.

I will have to continue doing all those things in 2018, so that I don't repeat 2016, of course. But they have brought me such goodness this year.

So what of 2018? Well, keeping my last year's ongoing list will keep me active, but there is one thing I really want to make more of a priority: focusing more on connecting with my wife as a partner, romantic and otherwise.

With two young kids and the same number of corporate jobs, I sometimes feel our wellbeing as a couple takes a back seat to comanaging logistics. Part of that is inescapable but I want to consciously make an effort to get beyond it with more regularity. If I can achieve that this year, I would be very happy.
posted by smoke at 12:19 AM on January 1, 2018 [3 favorites]


oops
posted by poffin boffin at 1:04 AM on January 1, 2018 [4 favorites]


Sock / Underwear apocalypse actually competed yesterday.
Now that it's legal... start smoking weed again. Every introspection yields the same end, the 20 years I was smoking a bit of weed I was a much more stable decent human being than the 10 years I haven't been smoking a bit of weed. I totally wish I hadn't stopped.
Maybe try to get rid of the middle-age spread before it's too late.
posted by zengargoyle at 2:11 AM on January 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


After 3.5 years of unemployment I start my new job on Wednesday. Almost twice as much money as I’ve ever made.

I’m trying to progress from “how does one wake up before 10AM?” to “hurray!!”.
posted by bendy at 2:14 AM on January 1, 2018 [21 favorites]


Resolution? I’m going to clean my house until I’m not embarrassed to invite people in and then I’m going to throw a damn party.
posted by bendy at 2:15 AM on January 1, 2018 [9 favorites]


Let's see. Some of these are likely to spill over beyond 2018...
Call my mom at least once a week. I love talking to her when I do call her, so I need to get off my butt and do it.
Keep learning how to be a good partner and have a good partnership, amid the specifics of who I am and who he is.
Try to not gain weight and maybe even eat less chocolate, although I ain't betting on that one.
Get the spousal visa, and either make the leap to freelance or lay some concrete plans for it, hopefully while retaining good personal and business relations with my current workplace.
Write more. Translate more (of the stuff I don't get paid for).
Try to put in some work on another foreign language.
Be better about writing letters and email.
jeez, that's enough!
posted by huimangm at 5:14 AM on January 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


Now that it's legal... start smoking weed again. ...
Maybe try to get rid of the middle-age spread before it's too late.


The munchies suggest that those two resolutions might be in tension (albeit a very relaxed tension).

I have never really done New Years resolutions. But this year there are a couple of big-picture things (work, where we live, etc) that I want to change between now and the end of the year, and the new year seems like a good marker for holding myself accountable on those goals.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:47 AM on January 1, 2018


drylongso, the podcast
posted by y2karl at 8:00 AM on January 1, 2018


Use less single-use plastic. This means picking groceries that come in cardboard or metal containers where possible (assuming that option isn't wildly more expensive) and doing my best to remember to ask for no straw in bars and restaurants.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:55 AM on January 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


I'd like a new job and a new baby and a new attitude in 2018. We'll see what happens.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:10 AM on January 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


Many years ago I resolved to never make another resolution again. It is the only one that I have ever kept.
posted by Splunge at 9:46 AM on January 1, 2018 [2 favorites]


Tomorrow I start my very first "real" grown-up job, with no-shit benefits and a pension and everything! Never before have I been so thrilled to fill out forms (god damn there are a lot of forms)
posted by btfreek at 10:26 AM on January 1, 2018 [17 favorites]


My housemates/friends had a friend and her awful husband over for New Year's Eve last night (apparently nobody realized the awful husband was coming over until he was already there being awful). A few highlights included when he asked if anyone was interested in a murder swap so he could finally get his ex-wife killed, when he tried to convince me that the Biafran Civil War took place in Ethiopia, and when he complained that his father sold off his car dealership to become a minister so he didn't get to inherit millions.

I ended up drinking a lot more beer last night than I intended to.
posted by ChuraChura at 3:36 PM on January 1, 2018 [4 favorites]


Because of ChuraChura's housemates' friend's awful husband, I just learned about the Biafran War.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 3:47 PM on January 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


Chimamanda Adichie wrote an excellent book about it, Half of a Yellow Sun (I'd say you can skip the movie, though John Boyega is great in it), and Kurt Vonnegut wrote an excellent, wrenching essay about it. Jello Biafra is so named because of the hilarious juxtaposition of substanceless food and mass starvation.
posted by ChuraChura at 3:57 PM on January 1, 2018 [3 favorites]


It's not really a resolution, but this year I'm on track to graduate from college, fully 10 years after I would have if I'd done the normal thing and gone to college after graduating from high school (I did neither). No regrets! This time ten years ago, I thought "I'm just not college material," and if nothing else, I think I've happily proven myself wrong. That might sound like a minor thing, but it's not.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 4:30 PM on January 1, 2018 [13 favorites]


- To stop talking about and do the blog and the (unrelated) digital history project.

- To kill myself trying to get a job. I need to get a job soon. Sooner than soon.

- To find out why my swimming is going so poorly.
posted by jgirl at 4:49 PM on January 1, 2018 [3 favorites]


ChuraChura, I enjoyed getting a glimpse of your accountability worksheet but I am bemused that your projects include ingesting oragutans and chewing paper.
posted by kristi at 5:43 PM on January 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


In the spirit of accountability:

1. Write two articles
2. Give money to local people of color led political organizing
3. Buy art by living trans and POC artists
4. Exercise 3 days a week
5. Be less reflexively disagreeable with family and coworkers
6. Post how I did here on Metatalk in one year.

I think that's about as much as I can handle. Wish me luck!
posted by latkes at 7:11 PM on January 1, 2018 [1 favorite]


I have a secret goal that I'm scared to mention publicly for fear that it'll somehow lead to my brain marking the task as "complete." Or for fear that I won't follow through. Maybe my resolution this year should be to stop being so neurotic about this sort of thing, and stop worrying that I'll jinx stuff by saying it'll happen. It's getting kind of old to always be like "well, if I graduate..." etc.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 7:20 PM on January 1, 2018 [5 favorites]


Shave my head.
posted by fullerine at 12:54 AM on January 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Congratulations, shapes!

FYI: pay attention to dates on your resume* and that 10 year delay could prove to be a serious career-enhancing benefit, i.e., it's a hedge against age-discrimination in the job market.

*Don't lie, of course, just omit info re high school graduation and work history details for the years before college graduation (info that's not likely to be relevant in terms of your career) and your "resume age" is 10 years younger than your birth certificate age.

(I also graduated 10 years "late".)
posted by she's not there at 2:29 AM on January 2, 2018 [5 favorites]


I graduated 12 years late and no one has ever cared or questioned it. I also know people who took even longer and started careers in midlife successfully.
posted by octothorpe at 3:35 AM on January 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


My 2018 resolution is to find a home, i.e. a place where I can be with like-minded people and make friends who will see me to the end of this vale of tears. A growing list of variables and preferences (e.g., where my adult kids live, weather-related deal breakers) will be factors in the decision.

Backstory: although I've become increasingly socially isolated over the past few years while preoccupied with family-related issues, I'm such an introvert I wasn't particularly upset about the situation. While in Chicago I felt like I was surrounded by like-minded people and that once the crisis passed, it would be relatively easy to re-engage/establish new friendships.

Loneliness wasn't an issue until I left the city in 2014 and returned (temporarily) to the hometown I left in 1972. While I love my family and we get along just fine, this town has never/will never be home for me and living here has taken a toll in terms of depression and growing doubts about my ability to make new friends. (The overall character of this town, inc the state of the local economy and cultural and recreational options, as well as pop demographics re education and income, may be inferred from this single data point: in the 2016 presidential election, Trump received 65% of local votes.)

Fortunately, the family-related issue that's been keeping me here is wrapping up this year and I should be ready to relocate ~mid 2019. My excitement is seriously tempered by above-mentioned concerns. Further, I've been haunted by an October post on the blue, Less "Me Time," more "We Time", regarding negative implication re life expectancy for people who lack close relationships and by multiple comments noting that making new friends after college is very difficult.

With this comment, I'm officially (to the best of my ability, anyway) putting aside these concerns and going forward with the assumption that everything's going to be fine and that next year's resolution will concern move related details.
posted by she's not there at 4:02 AM on January 2, 2018 [7 favorites]


Most of mine are to keep doing small positive things that I already started doing in 2017 - floss more often, commit to physio/stretching every day (helps that I saw a new PT recently who thinks the problem is my legs rather than my back and stretching the legs rather than the back has been super helpful since I started doing it), try to do a small bit of exercise & piano practice every day (even if it's just 5-10mins). Still no mainstream news media and very limited social media, 'cause it turns out to be a thousand times easier to live in this world when I don't have to hear about all the crap that is happening in it constantly.

I want to make some more progress on the fiction thing I'm writing without abusing myself in the process - my old method involved a full day of work at my job, then no food or other comforts once I got home until I'd written around 1200 words every day until the manuscript was done. It was a great way to finish novel-length projects in ~six months but it was also torture and madness. I will be very happy if I get this thing done in 2018 but I'm not prepared to commit to breaking myself in the process this time round.

I also need to apply for Irish citizenship, which shouldn't be contentious (I already know I qualify and my mother and sister are already citizens) but it's a big pile of tedious life admin with lots of fiddly steps and I hate tedious life admin and fiddly steps with a burning passion. And right now I have all of the important documentation for three generations of my family in an envelope next to my desk and the responsibility of not losing it all is gently crushing. Anything to remain an EU citizen, though.

Some of my most positive life choices were made around this time of year; even though I broadly agree that it's arbitrary, it can be useful to have a forcing device for change. It's twelve years since I last ate meat and five since I last drank alcohol and those are some of the best decisions I ever made.
posted by terretu at 5:43 AM on January 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


I did a really great job at cleaning out clutter last year. I got rid of so much stuff and I am going to finish that job this year. So many empty spaces makes me very, very happy.

This year, no really, I am going to get my eating in order. I am absolutely TERRIBLE at feeding myself like an adult (despite being 47 years old). A combination of the environment in which I grew up which led to an eating disorder which led to my body being FUBAR and I don't eat like an adult. Almost ever. I am completely resolved to get that in order this year by eating 3 meals a day like a grown up and not grabbing whatever seems closest and least effort whenever the mood strikes me at whatever hour or level of hunger. I have no need for perfect "clean" or "healthy", just 3 meals a day. By this time next year, I hope that will be a no-brainer because it never ever has been.
posted by Sophie1 at 8:49 AM on January 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


I don’t usually make resolutions but in a way I have to this year. I’m 4-ish months pregnant; therefore, my biggest resolution is to figure out this parenting thing and be a way better mom than my mother ever was to me. I’ve also been forced into diet changes for baby and while I like eating healthier I really miss the occasional glass of wine, and I could really go for some damn sushi. I’m also going to continue working on making my new apartment a clean and organized space, and continue to strengthen my relationship with my husband. I hope 2018 is a good year for us all.
posted by FireFountain at 9:05 AM on January 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


Shapes, that is no small thing. Congrats!!!!! (I also graduated 10 years "late", but then I got my masters and now I'm working on my phd... :) )

I am feeling ambitious this year, and I know a lot of folks knock resolutions, but I'd rather at least try to start the year with some intention. So:

Fitness goals:

1. Get under 200 pounds, which is about a 30 pound loss.

2. Complete Run the Year with my bestie. :). [It's going to be more like gamely walking, but hey.]

3. Get 100 ounces of water a day.

4. Keep up my successful Stepbeting.

Non-fitness goals:
1. Read at least two books a month. Which is low for me normally, but my doc program is eating my brain and it sucks.

2. Go for an outdoor hike a month, weather be damned. (I was managing one a week during the summer for awhile! This one is filed under mental health, not fitness).

3. Figure out how to have an adult relationship with my father without my mother as a mediating force. It's been a year and a half, it's time to get our stuff together.
posted by joycehealy at 10:39 AM on January 2, 2018 [4 favorites]


Last year's resolutions went pretty well, but they're not coming naturally, so I'm just continuing them and maybe trying to go a little further. So more visits to doctors and dentists this year (I'm really bad at arranging time to take care of myself after work and parenting). As long as I'm spending these professionals' time on taking care of me I might as well do a little exercise, too.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:29 AM on January 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


1. Write things once. Develop a workflow that goes from pocket notebook to idea pile, to essay. If I post something online, write it in my daily journal first, then paste it into whatever forum I'm visiting so I have a single archive of everything I've written for the year.

2. Spend a lot of time at Justin Guitar

3. Constantly ask myself, "Am I the Asshole?"

4. Forgive myself for everything I haven't done
posted by mecran01 at 6:04 PM on January 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


Ugh, according to the doctor's scales I gained about 10 pounds over last year (which I already kind of knew because of clothes). So, instead of Just Trying To Eat Better, I am now officially On A Diet. Lots of veggies for me and not much pizza and alcohol.
posted by JanetLand at 7:49 AM on January 3, 2018


Sophie: I've made a similar "i'm going to get food under control" vow, albeit for vastly different reasons; with me, the food purchasing and cooking planning habits are completely haywire. One day I'll be feeling ambitious and be all "ooh, I know I'm going to make this fancy Hungarian recipe that will take three hours and only make one serving!" and the next day I'll be all "uggggggh, I'm too tired to cook, what can I just eat that's ready....uh, okay, a block of cheese it is." And I also have a bad habit of purchasing random exotic ingredients when i'm at fancy shops because "hey, I could try cooking with chick pea flour" and then I get home and put it in my pantry and forget about it.

I've got a plan for meal planning in place that is going to utilize a) more of the food items I own, b) my crock pot and batch-cooking on the weekend options, and c) create single-serve-portioned leftovers I can take as a bag lunch to work. If you ever want to compare notes about what does or doesn't work, hit me up.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:38 AM on January 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


My stealth resolution seems to have been "schedule all the things." It wasn't an overt idea going into the year, but after looking at the loads o' stuff I'm busy with, actually blocking my pre- and post-workday into half-hour chunks and allocating that time (with plenty of blocks for "goofing off", it's not all work-work-work) seems to be something I get a lot of satisfaction from.
posted by Shepherd at 12:56 PM on January 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


I can't just do "more" or "less." I'll cheat. So I've got:

-- don't buy anything unless it's an actual need, as in, I need to buy a gift for someone or I need an extension cord.
-- don't buy prepared food unless it's a true convenience food (frozen vegetables; baked goods in the summer; instant oatmeal vs. cooking oats) or I really can't make it myself (can make myself: pickles, jam, crackers, bread, soda; can't make myself: ice cream, aged cheese, liquor, chocolate for filling/dipping bonbons.)
--don't go out to eat unless I'm going with someone else.

This is all do-able to me whereas "less sugar" or "less packaged food" isn't, because I get into games with like "well it's less than I COULD HAVE eaten" or "less than WAS AVAILABLE."
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:02 PM on January 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


This blog post helped me frame my resolutions a lot better. In particular, I found the idea of a moving window useful—e.g., instead of "I will do this x times per week," use "I will do this x times over every seven-day window." When possible, I'm also trying to use time measurements—so "I will do this for x minutes total over some time period" instead of "I will do this x times over a time period." The upshot is that I have a bunch of small but achievable-looking resolutions, like "I will practice guitar for 60 minutes total over every seven-day window."

Whether they're achievable or just achievable-looking remains to be seen, I guess. :-)
posted by danb at 9:54 PM on January 3, 2018


I’ve been traveling off the grid and away from internet since December 30, so I’m late to the discussion. I am currently 2 martinis in at a bar in Hanoi, so I guess my New Years resolution is “Do more of this.” Also, stop drinking.

More seriously, my goal is to reconcile “I don’t give a fuck” with “I live with purpose and determination” all the while not being an asshole. All you youngsters, this is the essence of midlife crisis. I’m like 80% through it now, and holy shit it’s been a bitch. On the plus side, I’m finally an adult.

Also, I’m gonna exercise more, meditate more, eat fewer chicken wings, drive under the influence less, bike under the influence more, and probably stab more people because they fucking deserve it.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 3:19 AM on January 4, 2018


I think the path to that reconciliation is to conserve your fucks so you only give them where appropriate.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:15 AM on January 4, 2018


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