Possible New Year's resolutions 2008

I used to do Vipassana-style meditation almost every day. I think it made me a better person. But I don't know where I'd find the time now. Or the space (my house is tiny).

I have a bad back, and have let myself get really out of shape. Swimming is the only exercise that really works for me. But the overhead is high (getting to a pool, etc., plus, it's murder on your hair).

Luckily I don't have much consumer debt (that is, I don't have much debt aside from a mortgage and student loans). When the second kid came along I started feeling so overwhelmed that I didn't really keep good records in Quicken any more and I kind of let things slip. This one seems like a no-brainer.

Another no-brainer. I have a nice porch around my house, but because I've let gutter maintenance go, the porch has sustained some serious water damage. This is something that really needs taking care of.

I've never had one and I want one. I've been reading about "square-foot gardening" and it sounds, well, almost manageable, even for a disorganized and lazy individual such as myself.

I used to cook all the time and I actually really like it. But as my Internet addiction has gradually become more and more pathological, I've let my wife take over this job. Not good. (Case in point: why am I not using a yellow pad to make this list?)

Okay, this is probably not that interesting to non-academics, but: although I've had problems with traditional grading paradigms for a long time and have been pretty well convinced by the so-called "assessment movement," I've never really tried to implement assessment principles in course design in a systematic way. I really want to try it out.

There's a lot of non-western religious organizations in my area, which surprised me when I first moved here. I would like to get some of my students out there doing some field research, but I'm not trained in ethnographic work, oral history, or any methods like that. Might be worth a try, though, but it would take some serious planning, something I'm not good at.

I've had this article in the pipeline for quite some time now. I rally need to get it written and send it out. Period.

This is probably the weirdest one on the list. As a historian of Christianity it's always bothered me that I have only a glancing familiarity with Thomas. I need to rectify that.

There are a couple of music blogs I like (see link), but I've never really taken the trouble to follow their postings regularly. But I'm also kind of bored with the music I listen to, because I've been listening to most of it since college. So I think it might be worthwhile to make a point of following some of these blogs.

No comment necessary, I think.

It hit me this morning, after a night of only about six hours of sleep, that this is probably the single most important resolution I could make for 2008. If I don't get eight, or, actually, preferably nine hours of sleep a night, my life pretty much sucks all around -- my mood is bad, my work productivity plummets, and my overall health suffers, not to mention the fact that I become a less effective and attentive parent and husband and I make people around me miserable.

I know people might think this is an unrealistic goal, especially with two little kids, but it may be worth making the other sacrifices that would be necessary to make it happen.