New Year's Resolutions, Part II: Revenge of The Resolutions

I do love making checklists. For someone who is as disorganized as I tend to be--I have a "nest" of books next to the bed--I get a strange thrill from checking things off a list. I'm so entranced by the process that I will make up tasks for the sole reason of adding them to my iPhone Reminders, and then checking them off when done. I'll even set a reminder to go grocery shopping WHILE IN THE GROCERY STORE. And yesterday, when I figured out how to add a Google Calendar app to my iPhone that would let me remotely update my shared calendar with Marina, I may have gotten a little carried away.

"3 p.m. Devin finishes lunch." "3:15. Devin walks towards home." "3:30. Devin checks out a high school soccer game."

"4:15. Marina considers eliminating Devin's admin rights to the calendar."

Okay, none of those updates actually happened, but they COULD have.

In the spirit of making more checklists, then, I will hereby present a few more resolutions that are perhaps a little more serious/sincere than the last set. You may say that it is a bit self-absorbed to post this online, but what is a blog of resolutions but a very public checklist?

1) Write and/or submit one poem or story every month.

I'll even create a spreadsheet to track what I've submitted, when and where, and when it is rejected. I might even include a column for items that are accepted.

This may not sound like much, but it is a start. I can't exactly go from zero to sixty in terms of submitting writing. I'm not a Ferrari. I'm more of a classic Volkswagen Beetle: a little round in shape, a little meek looking, but strangely hip and capable of prompting passing children to slug each other in the shoulders.

2) Actively research one new question/subject a week to learn something new, especially something that could tie into a story.

The best stories seem true to life because the author can provide exacting descriptions of processes, technology, religions, etc. Neal Stephenson, for instance, author of Snow Crash and the new Reamde provides so much detail on various technical and cool and geopolitical topics like computer hacking, online role-playing games, Russian gangsters and MI6 and other spies, that I have no idea how he had time to acquire such a breadth of knowledge and still write so many novels.

There's one question that occurred to me right there. What is the origin of the word breadth and how did it come to symbolize width? Was a loaf of bread once considered a standard unit of measurement? And if so, what kind, sourdough or wheat?

Actually, no. From Dictionary.com:

Middle English breadeth, breth, from brede breadth (from Old English brǣdu, from brād broad) + -th (as in lengthe length)
First Known Use: 15th century

In the spirit of seeking knowledge, I'm going to the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum this afternoon for the first time, so that I can learn a little more beyond the difference a wave in the ocean and a Wave in a sports stadium.

I also want to know what the heck that metal cap in the rock is that I saw on my run this morning, down near where the waves break, which apparently shoots water way up in the air in narrow streams. From a distance, I thought there was a spouting whale at the bottom of the bluff. I can only speculate it is something intended to prevent erosion, since it sits below a ridge of sandbanks. Maybe it's diverting some of the force of the waves?

I'm coming to the conclusion that "What the heck is that?" is a very promising start for a short story or some piece of non-fiction.

3) Run/walk/jog along West Cliff Drive every other day.

This one is important enough to make both sets of resolutions. And so far so good. I ran again this morning at 8 a.m., past the breaking waves of a ridiculously gorgeous ocean view that as always stands in for a deity in terms of my spiritual needs. I was able to run a little further this time, with a little less pain. If that's not a good way to measure progress, I don't know what is.

Bring it on, 2012. I'm ready for you now.