new years resolutions.

neil gaiman had these over at his blog. i thought they were lovely, as are almost all things literary that spring from his head. wishes for the new year:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine book and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

and 

I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.

from cousin on these "smart cookies" ladies that are all over the amex ads: further investigation reveals they mostly got themselves in debt through luxury spending and got themselves out by stopping.  And they're Canadian (something conveniently left out) -- no health insurance to pay for and an economy doing much better when all this was going on than ours.  Even that wouldn't be so bad, except they've parlayed this false riches-to-rags-to-riches story.

i'd agree with all of that but add that they probably didn't have school debt either. and realistically, anyone who spends like that probably comes from a privileged family to begin with. spoiled brats don't come from lower income households. perusal of their bios are equally uninspiring. their stress on shopping and finding men is insipid. the one chick who only had $2k in debt is ridiculous. that is not real debt. the whole operation is a total sham. 

i was walking up the subway steps and someone kind of portly and slower veered in front of me (cutting me off, if you will) and in my head i said, "move over bitch." i suppose i could award myself points for not having said it out loud but i still felt embarrassed for what a mean-spirited cynical person i've become since moving here. spending quality time in sunny napa where people smile contagiously, and never rush and, most importantly, never seem angry...i keep rethinking my new york attitude. and then i read alex balk's resolution (which i'm copying here in full, not that you shouldn't visit the awl, but mostly for those that won't click through regardless):

I was walking over to The Awl offices this morning and I passed by a dad and his little boy who were walking in the opposite direction. The boy, who couldn't have been more than four or five, was jumping up and down and yelling, "School day! School day!"
My first thought was, "Oh, you poor thing. That'll change." My second, almost simultaneous thought, was, "Jesus Christ, you cynical sonofabitch, give it a rest. When's the last time you were that excited about anything? When's the last time any of your joys were so uncomplicated, so direct, so purely expressed?"

I am not a big believer in New Year's Resolutions or the like. I think that after a certain point you are pretty much locked into who you are, and any attempt at self improvement is both misguided and dangerously self-indulgent. But you know what? I'm going to try to make 2010 the year where I'm a lot more like that little boy than not. I mean, sure, we all know that life is really a tireless slog to the tomb where the very brief pleasures we take upon the way are illusory moments of bliss meant to blind us to the meaningless struggle of existence, but even with all that, I'm going to try to pretend otherwise. Because who knows, maybe once or twice it'll actually work. Anyway, Happy New Etc. It's gotta be better than the last one, right?

so anyway, here's to being a little more cheerful, a little less jaded, a little more forgiving, a little less judgmental this year two thousand and ten.  (oh, and i really need to stop swearing. it's not becoming on me.)