Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2014

You know it's the New Year when I blow the dust off this ole blog... I started The Tome of J.S. Lewis back in 2011 and made sure to post to it each New Year's Day since (see 2012 and 2013). So here's 2014. 

Yesterday I Tweeted this:



It's a joke but it's truth. It seems like I have the tendency to write about this collective idea of New Year's Resolutions instead of actually sharing any of my own in these posts. It certainly ain't through a lack of having any. Last year Nancy and I did a joint post over her blog, The Perfect Blog (which she has since all but abandoned for another domain), wherein we each shared five. The problem with that is now we have a (admittedly small) public accounting of those. The fact that all of mine could be copied and pasted here to aim for in 2014 is discouraging but challenging (in a good way). I'd rather not get into details, but as far as the daily exercise goes... does walking count?

I had another goal, not documented here, to watch 365 movies last year. I came, I SAW, I conquered. I've done another year in review post over on my main street, The Film Tome, entitled "My 2013 In Film." There you can read about achieving that goal, my ode to theaters, meeting my hero (a highlight of the year entire) and thoughts going into 2014. As movies are pretty much my life, that's as detail-filled and personal post as any.

As I discussed over there, I want to spend my time "blogging" about things that are unique to me. Covering the film news, while something I'm extremely interested in, is something a thousand other places are doing a far better job at. Focusing more on my experiences with films and other specific posts are where my priorities ought lie. This is applicable to the documenting of my own life in general, it's something nobody else is really going to do (though my mother has done a pretty remarkable job at it in my first 25 years in life in her religious scrapbooking).

I stumbled upon these "New Year's Resolutions for Filmmakers" and found plenty to work on myself in 2014. The fact that this was published in 2011 around this time proves that every year we go into this mind set, it's datedness matters nothing to someone seeing it for the first time now. I will share with you some of my Resolutions generally, the specifics of which I'm keeping tabs on and will track, adjust and re-resolute as needed. My Tweet from before still applies.

In 2014 I resolute to (in no particular order)

read more
watch, give or take, the same amount of film/TV (a film a day keeps the cinephile okay)
finish more of my current endeavors than starting new ones (but still start a few new ones!)
patronize museums more often
try new restaurants
continue my morning rituals, add some sweating to the mix
rekindle fading relationships
study Chinese daily
document what I watch, read and play
document what I do and see
make random acts of kindness to strangers a daily occurrence instead of an occasional bother
swear less when driving
take less pictures (don't photograph the same thing twice)
take more pictures (photograph something else instead)
don't take up golf
don't eat any McDonald's
write more
all of the above with Nancy

Happy New Year!