Resolutions for 2008

First, a pause to take stock of the 2007 resolutions. Maybe 4.5 out of 10; managed without either coffee or booze for a whole month (although made up for the former by drinking too much Coke in January - so much for eschewing caffeine, eh?); finished my MA (although I don't think I heaped myself with the glory of a distinction for that rant about the iniquities of charitable fundraising); got my 1st kyu; ran the Midnight Sun Marathon for a third time (although I missed out on a PB by about 3 minutes (or six weeks of heavy drinking, depending on how you want to cut it); didn't get a girlfriend (unless you count a random couple of nights in Morzine - ah, the joy of holiday romance); pretty much stayed happy throughout the year (if you excuse the end of term dip in mid December, and a few disgruntled moments here and there. So maybe 5, depending on how you slice it. Anyhow, a baker's dozen + 1 for the year to come:

1. Run a marathon
2. Be capable of 100 press ups and 100 sit ups per day by the end of the year
3. Get at least 8 hours sleep most nights of the week
4. Don't play Solitaire on the iPod (in other words, do valid things with your spare time)
5. Maintain a cheerful demeanour
6. Plan novel
7. Write a letter every month (because email is a terrible way to keep in touch with people you care about)
8. Learn to waltz
9. Ride to the office at least 3 times every week
10. Have a month off booze, crisps and fizzy drinks. (Something tells me that fighting the Frazzles fixation is going to be difficult, but probably worth attempting)
11. A month off coffee.
12. GET A GIRLFRIEND
13. Go to at least one concert/play/ballet every month
14. Get your back massaged every month
15. Get shodan

So some of these can be seen as a carry-over from last year (5, 10, 12, 15) but possibly quite importantly, they're not all do-it-in-January-or-feel-like-a-failure-for-the-rest-of-2008 type things. I'm not entirely sure that they're all doable (or at least some of them aren't quite contradictory) but it will be interesting to see how many I can fit into the next 12 months.

While we're at it, here's the list of goals I had while I was wandering Japan this November - again, things to do in 2008:

• Tromso marathon
• Croydon -> Brighton by night
• A week in the Alps
• Land's End to John o' Groats
• Shodan
• A trip to the Lakes
• Visit Vancouver
• Revisit Nanzan University

and as nice to haves...

• novel
• study
• new house
• work in the US
• a second marathon
• Dusk till Dawn at Thetford