Wednesday, December 28, 2016

New Year's Resolutions: 2017

It's New Year's Resolutions time, the longest-running feature of this by now truly ancient relic of the internet (twelve years is positively decrepit for a blog). Of course, first we assess our performance on last year's resolutions:

Met: 1 (95% positive, though I actually can't remember), 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 (I really think I've improved here), 11 (ditto), 13, 14, 15 (this is going back on the list, though)

Missed: 8, 12 (a few, but not enough)

Pick 'em: 6 (What's "major"? What's "political thought"?), 7 (What's "regularly"?),

Actually, a pretty successful year on a personal level. Almost enough to make up for the impending collapse of human civilization. Almost. Anyway, onwards to 2017!

(1) Survive. Seems like a good opener. (Met)

(2) Thrive. Always good to have a stretch goal. (Borderline, but we'll say Met)

(3) Get over 1,000 followers on Twitter. (Met)

(4) Have an article accepted in a peer-reviewed journal. (Met -- see here)

(5) Publish at least one article each in Tablet and Ha'aretz. (Met)

(6) Publish in a new popular (non-academic venue) -- aka, expand beyond Tablet or Ha'aretz. (Met -- JTA and Forward)

(7) Continue to coordinate with significant Jewish communal groups. (Pick 'em -- depends on how you count "regularly prodding ADL reps to tackle the Jewish hard-right")

(8) Do a Vegas trip with friends. (Met)

(9) Add a non-trivial amount of vegetables to my diet. (Met(!))

(10) Finish my Ph.D. subfield exams and coursework. (Met)

(11) Read an important work in the history of political thought that was not assigned in a formal or informal class. (Met)

(12) Visit a part of America or the world I have not yet been to before. (Met)

(13) Get a clearer idea of what's causing/how to prevent my kidney stones. (Missed -- but the kidney stone is gone!)

(14) Go to the dentist. (Met)

(15) Regularly do some form of stretching, yoga, or physical therapy designed to address my ludicrously tight muscles. (Missed)

Could 2017 be worse than 2016? Probably! But here's to doing our level best!

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