New year's resolutions: 2012 edition

Well, the world's ending this year, but I still thought I'd make some goals and resolutions. But first, I'm going to evaluate my performance on my list from 2011:

1  Contribute significantly to the victory of my team in a game of Nerf gun capture the flag.
This did not happen, because I was too busy studying and writing for the Pio to play Nerf capture the flag. However, I did get more Nerf darts and am now ready for 2012.

2  Make, from scratch, at least once, edible versions of: cheese, sourdough bread, beer, yogurt, tomato sauce and applesauce.
I did not directly make any of these. But I watched cheese-making while volunteering on Hacienda Ilitio in Ecuador, and helped my dad make tomato sauce from scratch in Ghana. As for the rest of it, I'm saving it for a summer when I'm actually in the country. I did also make kombucha a bunch, which is way better than beer, and will continue to do so as soon as I find a new kombucha culture to replace the one that my friend killed while I was in Ecuador.

3  Come up with a bill or general idea for how we should incentivize solar power in Washington, and get in touch with everyone in the state legislature about why it's a good idea.
I also did not do this. In my defense, Washington already has some of the best solar incentives in the country. So in lieu of lobbying for something, I wrote an informative article about the proposed community solar project in Walla Walla and an editorial arguing that Whitman should support it.

4  Knit something besides a scarf that looks like someone would actually want to wear it (I'm thinking a hat, though leg warmers are always an option).
You would think that watching seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer would be ample time to knit. And you would be wrong about that.

5  Become fluent-enoughish in Spanish while in Ecuador.
Finally, a resolution I successfully completed! I am certainly not fluent in Spanish, and no one in their right mind would mistake me for a native speaker. However, I can almost always understand what people are saying to me without asking for clarification, and I can say what I need to using a combination of actual Spanish, made up cognates and hand gestures. Plus, I wrote four newspaper articles in Spanish and a 32 page research paper. 

6  Update the blog at least once a week with some meaningful insights about life, the universe and everything.
I did not literally update once a week, but I updated a lot about stuff I thought was important, and got a lot more people reading on a regular basis. So I'm calling this a win.

7  Exercise at least twice a week, plus go for more walks.
I was doing great at this until I left the country, and then all hell broke loose. In my defense, both Koforidua and Quito lack compelling walking routes. And I was working a lot. And OMG air quality.

8  Become addicted to one new TV show, author, blog, magazine, board game and hippie food item.
TV show: Dexter, Parks and Recreation
Author: Michael Lewis is probably the closest I've come. Also Matt Taibbi.
Blog: We Are the 99%
Magazine: Van Guardia (thanks Ecuador).
Board game: This did not happen.
Hippie food item: Kombucha, kale, and my vegan glop recipe that consists of bulgur, walnuts, lentils, apple cider vinegar and kale.

9  Preside over the best damn news section in the history of journalism (at Whitman College, anyway).
Another success! I had an amazing time editing news, though there are a lot of things I would do differently given the opportunity. But we published some stuff I'm really proud of. I had a great time, and became a master of sleeping for four hours, getting up at 7am and going to class straight from 8am-7pm.

10  Make a new friend by ignoring the inner voice of reason telling me to play it safe.
I can't point to any one specific friendship, but there are a lot of people I got to know and got to know better this year because I made socializing a priority, and a few I've kept in touch with even when my voice of reason was telling me to let it go.

11 Introduce the nerds at Whitman College to Diplomacy, and play at least one complete game.
Yeah, that didn't happen. Once again, I blame the Pio. And also the fact that I'm incredibly lazy. And the fact that all my nerdy friends are even busier than me.

12  Read some form of news besides Feministing every day (not that reading Feministing isn't totally legit).
Accomplished, thanks to Twitter and Reddit.

13  Make time to hang out with people regularly, even/especially if I have homework I should be doing instead.
I may have succeeded with this one too much, as my fellow Marcus residents can attest to. But whatever, biology homework is silly anyway.

14  Read at least one book a month not required for class during school, and at least one per week on breaks.
Yes. Plus a bunch of magazines.

15  Stay up later, get up earlier, work less at work, work more at life and play more music.
I definitely lowered my sleep requirements by at least an hour spring semester. And I definitely tried harder to do things that actually matter instead of worrying about my stupid job at Safeway.



Now, here are my goals for this year:

1 Write a longform piece about Ecuador and get people to read it, whether it's via actually being published or just putting it on the blog and then posting the hell out of it on Facebook.

2 Kick ass and take names covering all the shocking scandals in Walla Walla for the Pio.

3 Read a book a week on breaks and a book a month (at least) during school.

4 Get competent at something creative that I currently can't do (possible contenders: singing, web design, guitar, knitting).

5 Spend less than an hour a day (averaged over the week) watching TV by myself.

6 Regular exercise at least 3 times a week.

7 Make new friends and stay in touch with old ones.

Happy 2012, everyone!