361 Days To Go

The new year has begun, and everyone's doing it, so I will too. My resolutions for 2009:

1. Per last year's utterly failed resolution: Read at least a book a month. I'm a slow reader. Plus, the last 12 months have been ridiculous for election fans, so I grant myself amnesty for 2008. But this year, I have no excuse. (Wait, aren't Obama's First 100 Days beginning soon?)

2. Call my family more. It's easy to lose track of mom, dad, and siblings when I don't see them - I'll never not be family, so what's the harm in losing touch for days or weeks at a time? Well, the harm is this: I miss their lives. And, while I'm at it, call my grandmother too. Not only does she miss us bad out there in California, I'd give my pidgin Chinese a workout too. ;)

3. Give. When I first graduated and started pulling in paychecks, I gave a bit of money here and there. March of Dimes, St. Jude's. But now, no longer. This year, find something worthy to give to. And volunteer.

4. Become a solid 5.0 tennis player. I've been hovering at around a 4.5 NTRP rating for much of the last decade or so. It's time to bump it up to an indisputable 5.0. Get match tough; and regain that confidence I had with on-the-rise shots that I had in 2003, back when I used my 95-square-inch Prince Precision Equipe frames (since bequeathed to my father).

5. Acknowledge when I understand something, and acknowledge when I don't. Otherwise, I just make a fool of myself, and in the process fool myself into thinking I'm smarter than I am.

Happy New Year!

+ photo from blr60 @ flickr +