Finally, An Update

This site has happily turned into a 52-Week Project of music, images, and words (we could use some more wordsmiths...drop us a note). Almost six months into 2007, I've not posted an update on any of my resolutions. I'm okay with that: I've done a bit better at keeping in touch with friends and family; there's a family plan brewing for a trip to New Caledonia in '08; I'm slacking a bit on the self-discovery. The most important goal I set for myself - tackling my health - has taken a philanthropic turn. Writing about this would overwhelm the 52-Week Project, so I'm moving that discussion to another new blog: Halfway to Barmy (is just 3 days and 60 miles down the road to the left). Please visit, read, watch, get involved.

Reduce My Overhead to Fund an Exploration into Personal Mendelian Madness

Late in her life, my maternal grandmother and I became friends in addition to being relatives. I spent time with her socially, getting to know her friends which framed her in an entirely new light for me. One of my great regrets is that I did not spend more time learning my Scottish genealogy from her...and my grandfather for that matter. I remember bits and pieces of oral history: relatives dispersed on arrival in North America to Canada and Boston, family gone to South Africa. I recently freed family photographs dating back to the beginnings of photography from basement shoeboxes and have been using all of my professional skills to catalogue them. Without access to my grandmother's mental archive, I've been applying principles of archaeological seriation to identify individuals and places in the photographs. A very big project indeed.

Resolution #3 is to travel to New Caledonia, the place of my father's birth, later this year, while I can still collect oral histories from my grand-aunt and my paternal, biological grandfather. Through public records, I've been able to piece together a bit about my paternal grandmother's lineage back to Bretagne and Haut-Saône in France in the late 1700s...my living family may not even know of this. Makes sense, as many inhabitants of the island descend from French convicts sent to paradise or farmers sold a bill of governmental goods about paradise. Right now, I can only speculate about which stock I descend from...

My paternal grandfather's history is a complete mystery right now. My father only learned the identity of his biological father about ten years ago (a story for another post). I am intrigued by his surname, Stumpf, and by his South Asian features. I am hoping he and his family (my family) can fill in some blanks. For that, I will need to aggressively improve my basic French. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

This will be an expensive trip in terms of what I have to save and some inevitable un-paid time off. So, my sub-goals will be to cut what I spend and produce more income. I am going to be a socially-dull and professionally very busy friend this year. I'll still make time to read Julie's wonderful blog about life in New Caledonia, a source of great motivation.

Is it Worth $19.99 to Get the Unlisted Address of an Ex to Whom You Want to Return Christmas Ornaments Worth Only Cents?

While I was decorating the tree on Christmas Eve, I ran across a bag full of ornaments that belonged someone with whom I lived back east. That relationship ended on a pretty sour note some years ago, but I haven't been able to bring myself to toss these ornaments made by his younger sister and mother. It seemed so wrong to pitch things made with such care for this person, no matter how badly he treated me. I've meant to return them each Christmas I've unpacked my ornaments since then, but after eight or nine years now, he's a pretty hard guy to track down. In googling his name this year, I came up with a current address, but I'd have to pay $19.99 to get it. I started wondering whether, with distance (both temporal and geographic), am I really that forgiving, or am I forgetting how I was treated?

I have a lot of family and friends back east - and around the country - who have treated me much better, who I really fear I'm forgetting. Since moving west, I have been a real slacker when it comes to keeping in touch...returning phone calls, answering emails, sending Christmas cards. Hell, I've sucked at this even with my friends nearby. Not one excuse I've considered, no matter how reasonable, explains this away. Resolution #2: I am going to be a better communicator, a better friend and family member. I am going to answer emails and return phone calls on the same day, even if it's just to make a time to call or write later. I'm going to call my Mom and my Dad once a week. I'm going to try to make amends with my sister. I'm going to return my Aunt Lin's phone call. I am going to get baby gifts off to my friends Kat and Donna. I am going to send an email every week to one person with whom I feel I haven't kept in proper touch. I think I know at least 52 people to fill up the weeks...

To kick things off, I leave Thursday night for the greater NY/Philadelphia area for five days to see a movie and have some meat pies with Mom, go to Monk's with Mel, to have a glass of wine on the stoop with Jane, and drive around with a case of Glenmorangie in the trunk with Dad. This should be a cake-walk compared to Resolution #1 (did someone mention cake?).

Develop the Perfect Whisky and Low-Fat Whipped Topping Dessert to Pack to the Bottom of the Grand Canyon

'Lose weight, exercise more' must be the top New Year's Resolution and the one most broken, particularly for those who opt for the Cabbage Soup Diet or who, like me, refuse to give up gin, wine, and whisky. But, here I go anyway, with Resolution #1, the most challenging proposition I am going to make for the New Year: I am going to lose ten pounds per month for the next five to six months. Without giving up gin, wine, or good scotch. I will keep my promise not to bore our gentle readers by posting my daily food intake or exercise output, but I am going to be soliciting advice on how to craft the perfect cranachan using no-fat whipped topping to negate the inclusion of whisky in the recipe. Then I have to figure out how to keep it chilled en route to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, a trip Melissa and I talked about making and must plan, as soon as I am fit enough not to need rescuing (May or June). But, first things first...

I know how a lot of my friends and family feel about 'dieting' and I know this is an uncomfortable topic for many people to ask friends about. But, my longevity is at stake here and making small lifestyle changes is not going to cut it. This is an invitation to ask me about my plan (in place today) and progress (mostly offline for readers' sakes) knowing that I will appreciate the interest and not be offended by it. Besides, my progress can be monitored through the currently horrifying photos on Jimmy's blog, which he continues to post despite my protestations. I will briefly post milestones, but I really like Jimmy's idea about focusing on the creative...I imagine my updates about this resolution will be about music (crafting the perfect treadmill mix for aging punks), recipes (the cocktail-lovers low-fat test kitchen welcomes exchange), and writing and art (the search for inspiration will certainly equal a less sedentary life).

Resolution #2 coming soon...

52 Weeks

Resolutions for the next year? In the past I have always made resolutions because I see the New Year as a new start. Everything is always brighter and more in focus for me on New Years Day - yes even with the obligatory hangover!

This year I have been a little less clear of my resolutions. All my usual ones - eat more - exercise less - hold no appeal to me. I want the time ahead to spotlight creativity. I do know I want to record more music in the year ahead. Not so much with other people though I have a few of these types of projects coming up. No, I want to record my own music and be prolific about it. Last night I recorded a piece to reflect the end of the year. It was my personal reflection, totally me, and summing up how I felt at the end of the year. This is what I want to do more of. So with that in mind I came up with the concept of recording a tune every day of the year for the next year. Brilliant concept - but after considering the challenges I changed it to a tune every week for the next year. 52 tunes. Cool!! That would satisfy my particular desires for a while.

Then I as I was thinking about this I thought "wouldn't it be cool if we could get a bunch of contributors each contributing something on a weekly basis to document the year." Be it artwork, poetry, writing, music, recipes, photography etc., whatever the individuals bag is. So with that in mind...contributors are welcome!!

Perhaps we can start the 52 Weeks Project or something like that and have a place to post and document our work. Anyway, now my goals are clear - the work begins.......

Happy New Year

If tradition dictated that we make New Year's wishes, I'd be wishing the world's citizens were turning in their passports to John at the gates of Nutopia over which flatscreens were broadcasting the CNN headline War is Over. Alas, thanks to the good citizens of ancient Rome, tradition dictates we make resolutions. Like their mythic two-faced King Janus, we are pressured look back at our challenges and simultaneously look forward, resolving to make change.

I actually can't remember the last time I made a resolution at this time of year. Usually, I'd been too busy slinging drinks for amateurs or too exhausted from Christmas to really care. Last year, I spent New Year's Eve ending a relationship. Blegh. Fortunately, 2006 brought many good things. There have been more than 300 days of sunshine in my part of the world. I can drive with my top down three-quarters of the year (that'd be my car top, Jimmy). My mom quit smoking. My daughter landed out west. I got to know a group of fabulous new friends. I'm in a groovy new relationship with someone who likes martinis more than I do.

Why am I motivated now, as 2007 rolls in, to pay homage to the god of beginnings and guardian of doors and entrances? Perhaps because my friend Jimmy has been talking about resolutions for a couple of weeks and I finally stopped blocking him out yesterday. More likely, there are some things I want to do differently. Today I made a list. After removing all the minutia (go to the movies once a week, see more live music), I settled on not one, but four missions. I then did a little research into the success and failure of New Year's resolutions. Culling the useful 'expert' advice, I decided to go public with my goals. The idea here is enlist the support of friends and family, maybe an unknown Nutopian or two, and embrace accountability (trans.: invite mocking).

No, I won't be posting the details of my Cabbage Soup Diet or how many drinks I refused last week (as if the latter would even be on the list). Over the next week, I will articulate my four goals, some more challenging than others, each independent but inter-related, in separate posts. Briefly, and in no particular order, they are: reduce my overhead to fund an exploration into personal Mendelian madness; develop the perfect whisky and low-fat whipped topping dessert to pack to the bottom of the Grand Canyon; figure out just what color my rainbow is and why grey isn't a freakin' option; decide whether it's worth $19.99 to get the unlisted address of someone to whom you want to return Christmas ornaments worth only cents. Progress reports will come in the form of questions, quandaries (maybe conundrums), chronicles, and occasional cries for help or a cocktail.

In the meantime, an invitation: Make a resolution (or four) and be a co-contributor instead of a commenter here for the New Year. Send me an email, I'll send you a password, you can post your resolutions over the next week, and we can make this one big ridiculous-but-effective ether-therapy group.

Conversely, drop in once in a while, leave a comment or two, and help me work on number four in the list above. Whatever path you choose, have a fantastic New Year.