Resolutions for 2013

New Year’s Eve is around the corner and if you’re like most people, you have a few resolutions in mind.  Are you planning to lose weight?  Get more exercise?  Be more productive?

I am not planning to lose weight.  The last time I checked I weighed 120 lbs and for my height (5 feet 10 inches) I’m actually underweight.  According to Robinson’s formula I should weigh 145 lbs.  I'm not fanatic about my weight anyway, as long as I fit into my jeans I'm fine.

As for exercising … I’ve tried all sorts of things in days gone by.  I practiced Shotokan karate and achieved the status of black belt, second Dan.  For reasons we won’t get into now, I don’t practice anymore and I doubt I can still execute the moves.

A brief exposure to yoga didn’t go so well.  I could manage the basic stretch exercises, but when attempting the lotus position it looked like I was trying to tie myself into a knot.  I managed to place my right foot onto my left thigh without any problems, but when I tried to twist my left foot onto my right thigh my companion burst into peals of laughter.  First I fell backward, next I rolled sideways, and just when I thought I was headed for success an almighty cramp shot through my left foot.  It was enough to put me off yoga forever.

I tried aerobics and oh boy, that was a complete disaster.  The floor workout went fine, the leg movements posed no problem, but where it came to the arm exercises … they spelled disaster.  Fired up by the rhythmic music I spread my arms a little too enthusiastically and flung lampshade clean off the dresser.  Oh oh … how was I going to explain this?  Blame it on Jane Fonda?

After that, I would have dearly loved to take up fencing or archery, but my family wouldn't allow it. 

So I took an interest in music instead.

The first instrument I learned to play was the Melodica.  

I loved this type of flute.  Unfortunately, Pitoe (our cat) did not.  As soon as I started playing, he left the room.  He didn’t just leave the room though, he went upstairs to one of the bedrooms.  Cat lover as I am I thought I’d save him the trouble and I would go to my room to play.  According to my family this plan didn’t really work.  Even though there was a ceiling between me and Pitoe, he would wake up from his slumber and start meowing toward the ceiling like a dog howling at the moon.  Eventually I retreated to the garden to play, but then the neighbors started complaining.

Fine, I packed away my Melodica and bought an acoustic guitar.  That didn’t last very long.  I wasn’t very good at it, and I was even worse when adjusting the strings.  I had a tendency of giving them too much tension to the point where the snapped.  One moment I would turn the nob and the next … ping, there went a string.  When one of the strings narrowly missed my eye, I knew it was time to try something else.

To cut a long story short … I got into writing.  All things considered, that didn't go too bad.  I wrote three novels and two children's books, but with the arrival of the Internet – and especially Facebook and its many games – I became horribly distracted.

So that’s my resolution for 2013 … more writing, less games.  I’m planning on keeping a journal and to finish a book I’m working on.  I have a title … “Temporarily Yours” and I have five chapters so far.  Let’s see if I can make it to the epilogue before 2014, shall we?