new year

The first couple of days 2010 have come and almost gone, so, I thought it would be fitting to comment on my new resolutions.

Oh, wait, I didn't make any.  I suppose that means I have been sticking to them quite well.  How have you been doing with your resolutions?  I was wondering where resolutions came from.  I did a quick search and this is what I could find:

A New Years Resolution is often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect from New Year's Day. Some examples include resolutions to donate to the poor more often, to become more assertive, or to become more environmentally responsible.

I think that about covers is.  Thoughts about your resolutions for 2010?  Are "new decade" resolutions more important?  I think they may be since it is clean slate for everyone.

I woke up this morning and realized it was December 28th.  December 28th is one of those days I consider to be a day meant for sleeping, watching television or movies, and doing very little.  I have held this belief for years.  Every year, for as long as I can remember, my energy levels seem to crash on this day.  As a result, I have considered this day to be a useless day.  Today, this year, I decided to check out what value December 28th may have had in the past.  Here is what I found:

• Westminster Abbey was consecrated back in 1065.
• Toronto's Yonge Street construction begins in 1795.
• The Lumiere Brothers perform to their first paying audience marking the birth of the cinema in 1895.
• Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States in 1973.

It looks like quite a few important things happened on this day.  I mean, really, how often does something as important as the Endangered Species act get passed?  How that happened on December 28th, I will never know.  Doesn't everyone stop on this day?  I thought this was true since everyone I know seems to also stop on this day.  So, when I was asked to go cross country skiing, I was stuck.  I wanted to rest but, I suppose that due to this knowledge, I decided to take some people up on their offer to go outside and enjoy the sunshine.  This left me with one other problem, I hadn't been cross country skiing for at least 25 years.  Quite an odd memory to come up with on a day like today.

The last time I went cross country skiing, it was around 1984 on the Cedar Hill Golf Course.  I must have been about ten years old then.  I went with my friend David and his family and I don't think I was very good at it.  My parents weren't much for skiing and I never learned.  It wasn't until I was in my mid-twenties when I finally learned (not very well, though).  I learned to fall down, anyway.  I remember that I was run over with a large inner tube at some point. 

There you go.  The weird memory of the day.  I won't go into much detail since there isn't much to describe about skiing.  I put some wood on my feet and moved my feet forward and backward.  I did have fun.

It is that time of year again and I have decided not to do any resolutions this year.  I have come to this conclusion because over the last few years, many of the New Years resolutions I have made rarely get accomplished.  I don't know why but that seems to be the "way I roll".  Last year, I was able to accomplish a a bunch of my resolutions but many of them were only "half assed" and I was never 100% happy with how they turned out.  2009 seems to be the year where everything has changed. 

On a personal level, I took my health much more seriously this year and commited to losing some weight and getting my body into a much better position to start off on some extreme sports or some kind of program where I am getting to do things I never thought I would ever do.  So, in June, I was able to settle on an eating program (which is currently being put to the test because of Christmas cheer) and continue with my morning workout routine.  This has made my ever so happy.  I never really thought I would be able to look at my body in such a way where even I go: "Hey, not looking too bad, my man."  I think I want to slap my own ass just like all the sports greats but I have resisted so far.  I hear that Sham Wow guy already.  Bam!  Bam!

Professionally, we've done very well this year at the old day job and I can't be prouder of the group we've got.  There have been some ups and downs of course (how could there not be, if everything was even keel I would be suspicious) but we've weathered them as a group and it has made us stronger.  2010 promises to be an awesome year for Left Right Minds and it looks like our careful planning over the last few years has been paying off in spades.  Yah, I don't know what that means either.

As for blogging, I am a little shamed since I have fallen off the radar again and again this year.  Many starts and stops have come and gone but - wow - talk about slacking.  I suppose what happened (at least, for me) is I helped to re-write a bunch of the Blogging for Dummies book and the 3rd edition is coming out in January of 2010.  Head on down to your local book shop and pick up another copy.  There are some great tidbits about social networking and how you can combine your daily activities into your blog.  I suppose I could write about this kind of thing more often but I won't until January.  And if you don't pick up a copy soon, it will make me cry like a little girl with a skinned knee.  No, really.  Go buy one now.

I guess this is me saying that I am not dead and I am still around but I have been hiding a bit due to schedules, being busy, and also making sure I remain sane and get some offline time in here and there.  It is one of the most important lessons I have learned and share with every group I talk to about blogging: if you don't like writing or find yourself without enough time to dedicate to it, you may need to rethink your blogging strategy.  Participation is the key.

I think I will leave it at that because I need to return to the party.  If I don't see you, enjoy the rest of your holidays and I will blog like a mad thing in 2010.