New Year's Resolutions (I know, I know)

I know what you're thinking, and you're right: new year's resolutions can be pretty lame. Personally, I think what makes them lame is that, if you're not careful, they can really set you up to fail. And who needs that?

Still, there's something to be said for the symbolic attempt to consciously vector one's life in positive directions....even if it IS doomed! And in a public forum, no less. Wait--who thought this was a good idea?

Of the New Year's resolutions I made this year, at least three are applicable here:

1) I hereby resolve to regularly blog once again. I figure if I can write 3x/week here, that's pretty good. Not coincidentally, my father is on a similar 3x/week kind of schedule, albeit not exactly of his own choosing. So if I can manage to have a new post for him every time he logs on for a post-Nadine's read, I'd be a happy camper. And if I'm blogging more, it puts me in a better spot to cajole my students to do the same (are you listening, gang?)....

2) I hereby resolve to get that darned book proposal out. My advisors in graduate school always framed our dissertations as "the first draft of your first book." Ok, then. I love the fact that BSC values teaching so highly, but both myself and the college would like to see some action on the research front beyond conferences and such. Fair enough. For the book to fly, the book proposal has to sing--how's that for a mixed metaphor? So that needs to happen asap, if not sooner. No pressure....

3) I hereby resolve to weed, prune, and ultimately drastically reduce my email inboxes. I'll track the progress of what I lovingly refer to as the "Inbox Reduction Resolution of 2008" (hereafter "IRR'08") through the spring semester....or at least until it gets annoying and/or boring. I'd love to hear your strategies on this--or if you even think this is a problem. For the record, I'm going into this with 365 emails in my Yahoo a/c, and an even 100 in my BSC a/c.

Item last: found two Rainer discs I didn't have, thanks to my friend Ryan who has succeeded in transplanting himself from Bloomie to the Old Pueblo this past year. Maybe more on that next week, but in the meantime here's a clip of him doing "Life Is Fine" on British TV....Enjoy.