Resolved: Not Just a Carpet Cleaner

Last year, I was proud of my good New Year's Resolution: Be. Here. Now.

I followed through on my resolution until about the first week of March, when it suddenly turned into: Get. Out. Of. Here. Immediately. If. Not. Sooner.

My revised resolution for 2011 didn't work out as well as the original one. I'm thinking about what my resolution should be for 2012, the year when the world might supposedly end.

It's something I've been walking around trying to do since around the first week of March, and now I'll make it official by putting it in writing: Be. Useful.

And I'll end with a "pithy quote" from George Bernard Shaw on the topic:

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."

Good luck with those resolutions, loyal readers!

Notes on Misc.

That's Buddy with the Abominable Snowman, Rudolph, and... ...ahem... an anonymous lumberjack?

Merry Christmas.

I don't remember when or where I heard the following story, or whether it's true, but I'm reminded of it today: Once upon a time, a man wanted to convert to Judaism. He went to the synagogue and asked the rabbi to give him instructions on how to convert. The rabbi refused him and told him that conversion was too hard, that he would never really do it, and that he should go home. The man stayed outside the synagogue gate for three or four days in the elements. Finally, the rabbi let him in, saying that the first step in conversion is to prove your seriousness/sincerity. Most people give up and go home. They don't really want to convert.

It's silly of me to think of this story because a very simple web form that I should be able to fill in quickly as I court a certain potential employer WILL NOT let me finish. It freezes, therefore disabling my whole machine. Like the successful convert, though, I will prevail. After all, in exactly a week, the year that is supposed to end the world will begin.

Now is no time to be a wuss.

Santa brought me lots of tools to use to prepare myself for impending doom, but that's another story for a different blog.

Patience, perseverance, and the Panama Canal.

Those are the lessons that 2011 has delivered to me, mostly via ABC-CLIO.

I will be back to expound on other lessons as the week unfolds. Perhaps after I have finished some more fruitcake.

Attack of the Gigantor Ornament Women!!!

I only wish the camera on my phone was slightly better...

Attack of the Gingerpeople!

Me, looking irrationally thrilled about cookie decorating...

1st gingerperson ever! Ugly, but delicious!

Oh no! A maiming accident!