A New Year

I awoke this morning to a blissfully 'warm' January morning with temperatures hovering around 20 degrees, and plenty of sunshine to accompany the balmy conditions. Although last night I remarked that the new year and decade wouldn't feel new, I now feel as if some sort of change has occurred. A new year is a fresh start, a new beginning, and an occasion to take advantage of the opportunities that you may have missed the previous year. Although cultures around the world have their own new years celebrations throughout the year, the calendar new year brings about feelings of joy and encouragement throughout the all around the globe. People just seem to be happier and more positive on January 1st(albeit hungover happiness!). There is just something magical about a new year that can't quite be put into words.

As you may remember from previous blogs, I am in the process of reading one of my favorite books, "Travels with Charley." Although I have been enjoying it without reservation, I now find that I am having difficulty finishing the novel. The first few days with the book found me rapidly reading, and earnestly enjoying the novelty of recanting a great American classic. However, the last few days have been quite the opposite: I will hesitantly pick up the book, read a few pages, and then put it down, continuing on with other tasks instead. I always dread coming to the end of a good book, mainly because it signals the end of a beautiful experience. On the first read through I may have sped through the end with no regard for where my literary interests may land next, but now with no prospect for another stimulating read in sight I find myself slowing to a turtle's pace. Ive been pondering it for days now with no success as to where I will go from here... Any suggestions?

Lastly for today, I want to briefly delve into my one new years pet peeve: Resolutions. New Year's Resolutions, despite their good and promising nature, are absolutely ridiculous. Let me be clear: I am all about improving yourself and making your life more fulfilling and exciting, but new years resolutions are something entirely different. One should be able to better themselves at any point in time, and it really shouldn't take a drunken stupor to elicit the potential for good behavior. Its my contention that almost 100% of people will make some sort of resolution around new years, and in my estimation about 4% of resolvers actually adhere to said self proposals. I don't think that they would annoy me so much if the population actually realized their resolutions, but since so many don't, they drive me absolutely bat shit crazy. I, at one point, was part of the 96% that forget about their resolutions just about a soon as they come out of their drunken stupor. At one point I wrote a list of resolutions, and followed them for about, well, 4 days, before realizing how stupid they truly were. Maybe I would be more enthusiastic about Easter, Flag, or President's day resolutions?

I hope that everyone had a great new years, and celebrated appropriately and safely. 2010 should be a great year, and I have the highest of hopes for myself and my loved ones.

A.S. Bloom