Hello, 2017. Nice to meet you.

I’ve never been so glad to see a year go out the door, while at the same time dreading the new year that’s now barrelling down. I’m resigned, though, to do what I can to make it suck as little as possible. I’ve never been big on resolutions, but here I am with a list of them–something to keep focused on, to distract me from whatever awful stuff Cheeto throws at us (but not too distracted–see item #9)

1. Be nicer. I like to think I’m a good person, but sometimes I’m not exactly a nice person–I’ll ridicule someone’s clothing, or laugh at their hair, or think other dumb, mean stuff about them. That’s bad for two reasons: One, I’ve got no room to talk–perfection and I are far, far apart. Two, meanness is the prime characteristic of the far right, alt-right, Trumpsters and other GOP nasties, and I don’t want to be anything like them. So, more lovin’ and less judgin’ in 2017.

2. Eat less sugar. It’s an addiction, and I’ve got to get a handle on it. I’d rather live long and with a healthy body, not one full of aches and pains and diabetes and other stuff. Some month, I’ll do a 30-day no-added-sugar challenge, but I’m going to start January out slow and see how it goes.

3. Move more. The gym misses me. They’ve put my picture on the back of skim milk cartons. I need to return so they can stop worrying about what happened to me.

4. Read. Work and busy schedule and lack of mental energy has sapped my bibliophilic habits. Time to pick that up.

5. Write. I enjoy writing, and some people pay me to do it, but fiction has been my thing since I was a kid–I need to make more time for it. Part of the reason for starting this blog was to give me a place to play and exercise my writing muscles–a wordsmith gym, sorta-kinda.

6. Do more stuff. I spend too many nights on the couch, watching TV. I need to have more adventures, whether it’s walking around a neighborhood I’ve never visited before, or going to a museum, or meeting friends out in the world.

7. Create more stuff. I really enjoy making things–knitting, painting, making jewelry, baking, and whatnot. More of that, as a means of putting more out into the universe than I take out.

8. Give more. I donated more to charity this year, but still not enough. There is so much need in this city, this country and this world. Very few people give back, and those that do, tend to do things like drop a $5 bill in the red kettle at Christmas and call it a year. I don’t want to fall short on my responsibility to other humans.

9. Fight more. I don’t mean get into physical altercations (although perhaps getting into regular Fight Club situations would help fulfill Resolution No. 3). I mean fight against Trump and other hateful, greedy, evil people hell bent on making America shitty and hurting the people that live here. I called and canvassed and donated to Democratic candidates in the months leading up to the November election, but the results were mixed, and we ended up with one of the most incompetent and dangerous presidents elect ever. He needs as many people as possible to tell him they’re watching and aren’t going to let him get away with any bullshit, and I’m going to be one of them.

That’s about it, friends. Talk again soon.