One of my friends asked me this week what my New Years Resolution was, and it took me completely by surprise. In the absolute insanity that has been my life for the past little while, I'd forgotten that New Years' resolutions existed, which suited me fine, because I've always thought them to be a waste of time and I don't know a single person who ever completely follows through on theirs.

I've said in the past (and I still mostly believe) that making resolutions based on the date is stupid, because if you know you should be doing something, the only reason to wait to start doing it is to give yourself an excuse to procrastinate, which is pretty lame.

Nonetheless, I got to thinking on the bus ride home today that we can use resolutions the other way, the way I think they're intended for, the way that makes them more about setting deadlines for yourself than putting off giving up junk food until January.

So, at the end of all my self-examination and general reflection, I decided to set a few goals for myself for 2009. And by 'a few' I mean 'fifty three'.

So far, I've come up with forty things I want to do on or have done by specific dates throughout 2009. They range from simple things, like taking down my Christmas decorations by the 3rd of January to things that are a little bit tougher, like having a story in print by the end of the year. I think the weirdest so far is to have ridden a red double decker bus by June 6th.

I could really use some help coming up with another thirteen resolutions to finish up my list (I have very little planned for myself for July and August), so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Also, I'm interested to find out what, if any, resolutions everyone else has made.

I think that's all for me. Happy New Year, everybody!