Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Man it has been a long time since I've written anything. Sorry about that, I've just been crazy busy lately, what with the kid and setting up my new Facebook page. Facebook is really frightening and exciting all at the same time. And overwhelming as hell when you start seeing all the friends rolling in. It really is like crack on a computer.

I also didn't get all of my holiday wish list posts done that I wanted, never getting around to letting you know what books you could buy me. I guess I'll have to let you know around my birthday (Hint - I still don't have the new Sarah Vowell)

But that's not why I'm here today. I'm here to finally write a blog in 2009.

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions. As silly as religion, astrology and fortune cookies if you ask me. Why do people wait until the turning of an arbitrary date on the calendar to decide to quit smoking, lose weight, watch less TV, yada, yada, yada...? Decide you want to change and fucking do it already. Thinking you'll be more successful because it is a fresh, spanking new year is just delusional.

That being said....

There are a few things I've been thinking about lately that I've been wanting to do or change. It doesn't have anything to do with the new year, but I suppose the extra feeling of resolve about them lately has a lot to do with having a daughter 2-1/2 months ago. So these are mostly things I've been wanting to do for a while but really need to get off my ass now and do them.

In no particular order.

Watch less TV. I know this is an obvious one, just about everyone I know watches too much TV. But now it is getting worse, I'm a stay-at-home-dad right now and it is hard to read a book while feeding the baby but really easy to watch the House marathons on USA.

Speaking of reading...

Read more fiction. I do love to read, I really do. But I am so drawn to nonfiction and I just don't spend enough time in the fiction section. I have so many friends that find such joy in reading the likes of John Updike. Most of my happy friends are the ones who read a lot of fiction. My last few books, on the other hand, have been the autobiography of the strange life of a man called E, Susan Jacoby's brilliant condemnation of anti intellectualism in America, Christopher Hitchen's bashing of Mother Teresa and Sam Harris' anti-religion book.

I just picked up another Susan Jacoby book, Freethinkers, and I'm forcing myself to not pick it up until I've finished reading my paperback copy of Graham Greene's The Quiet American that I bought from a guy with no hands in Vietnam over a year ago. (I'm about a quarter of the way through and I'm really enjoying it)

Learn to play guitar AND speak another language. These are my two biggest goals over the next couple of years. I really want to be able to impress upon my daughter the joy of music, communication and multiculturalism. And I don't want to be the dopey parent. I'm married to a woman who is an accomplished physician, plays the flute and speaks German. So I better step it up real quick.

I've already started on the guitar. My friend Chris, a genius guitar player, has given me a lesson and a practice instruction sheet to use. It's hard to find the time to practice. The other day I was planning to but I was taking care of the kid all day, then my wife came home and we had to go to the store. Then I had some beer I needed to drink. You can see the problem.

At some point I'm going to find a class or maybe check out that Rosetta Stone thing to start learning how to speak Italian.

I know that choosing to learn Italian when I live in America is probably about as practical as owning a bikini store in Siberia. But Spanish just seems so boring and I love Italy.

Travel more. I know, I know. What the hell right does a guy who's been lucky enough to go to Asia twice in the last year or so have to pine for more traveling? But man, there is nothing as good as traveling. And there is never enough of it.