Rhymes With Foam.

Resolutions
January
February

Read at least 2 books each month
The Girls with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson) 
(I read 3 last month, and this one took a long time for me to get into.)

Movies (AFI list)
None

Movies (recent list)
Into the Wild
Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Cook a new recipe every 2 weeks
Fail. No new recipes that weren’t just made up.

Beat my half marathon time
March 19- 2:21:33, which is 7:29 off my first half marathon time.
 

Do at least one cultural or educational thing in NYC each month
Peter and the Starcatcher invited dress rehearsal 

Crafts/Sewing
Painted my canvases (still have to hang them…but the hard part is over. Also, these are a lot bigger than they look in this picture- each canvas is 24” x 30”)
 

Resolutions
January

Read at least 2 books each month

1. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Haruki Murakami)
2. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Jonathan Safran Foer)
3. Bossypants (Tina Fey)

Movies (AFI list)

1. E.T.

Movies (recent list)

1. The Help
2. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
3. Hugo
4. Midnight In Paris
5. The Descendants
6. The Artist
7. Pirate Radio
8. Amelie

Cook a new recipe every 2 weeks

1. Mexican Lasagna
    

(I’m one short but I did 3 last month so that’s okay.)

Get better at soccer
I scored a goal a couple weeks ago, but it was a penalty shot on an open goal so I’m still working on this one. Current skill level is “Run around enthusiastically and kick the ball in the general direction of play, ideally to a member of my own team.” It’s cool, it’s only my 5th season of soccer in a year.

Crafts/Sewing
Valentine’s day dress
 

At least one educational/cultural event or thing each month
NYPL’s Treasures exhibit (Declaration of Independence, Gutenberg bible, the original Winnie the Pooh, other things. Also it’s weird to type that as though those things are all of equal importance.) 
 

This was a good month!

I like to make resolutions, but I worry about getting too ambitious on January 1st and setting goals that I’ll never accomplish. This past year some of my resolutions were to move, get a kitten, and run a half marathon. I didn’t actually get a kitten, but I did move into an apartment with one, so I’m calling it a win.

I’ve given it a couple weeks of thought and here are my 2012 resolutions, by category.

Culture

1. Listen to more new music, even if it’s just new to me and not new new anymore (basically, don’t let the “I’ve missed the boat on this band” feeling stop me from listening.)
2. Find a list of 100 movies everyone needs to see, and watch at least 10 this year. (update: I combined 2 of AFI’s “100 Best American Movies” and once I deleted duplicates I am left with 120something. List here.)
   2a. I added a second list of more recent movies that I’ve missed out on. It’s part movies that people say “You haven’t SEEN ________?!?” and part movies that ended up on Best of 20__ lists. I’m still adding to it but that list is here. Goal is to watch 20 of those this year. Feel free to suggest things.
3. Find a list of 100 books everyone needs to read, and read at least 5 this year.
4. Read at least 2 books per month.
5. Do at least one educational/cultural thing in NYC each month.

Money & Being a Grown-up

1. Open a savings account.
2. Figure out what I want to do with my life, career-wise.
3. Start buying fewer, nicer items of clothing (instead of buying every shitty sundress from Forever 21 and H&M.)

Health, Food & Fitness

1. Beat my half marathon time at least once.
2. Be able to do real pushups.
3. Get better at soccer.
4. Try more new vegetables.
5. Make sure I’m getting enough iron.
6. Cook a new recipe once every 2 weeks.

Bucket List

1. Assess how many states I’ve visited/figure out what my rules will be for what “counts” (i.e. does driving through count?)
2. Visit at least 1/3 of the states I have not been to yet.

Other

1. Volunteer at an animal shelter OR find/start a nonprofit like Monster Milers.
2. Keep my room generally clean on a regular basis.
3. Sew more.