Every year I have a habit of, like many other people, making new year resolutions. Originally when I first tried doing them they were unrelenting failures, mostly because they a) had no sense of reality, b) required willpower or c) I made them on New Years Eve and had forgotten them on New Year’s Day dealing with a monster hangover. In those early days I had resolutions like “go to the gym once a week”, “eat more vegetables” and “get a girlfriend” – all ludicrously unlikely as at the time i possessed neither the resolve, cooking ability or charm to succeed, and cooking ability is key to new years resolution fulfillment. Eventually I got bored of this and decided to make lists, (which was helped by the advent of facebook – of little steps that would mean at the end of the year I wouldn’t feel like quite the failure and could at least find a shred of achievement… Ahhhh self esteem, how downtrodden you were back then.
Anyway – these are mine for 2013, I thought I’d share and annotate them to explain my logic – again, self indulgent (anyone else noticed this blog is all me me me?), and why I want to do them, and then maybe you might want to do the same. Because I’m an inspiration to many. Ahem.
In 2013 I will…
#1 – Write 2 new plays and send them to theatres. This is to at least motivate me to write. I find playwrighting soul-destroying and need huge amounts of pushing and incentives (a deadline…) to do it – this is always in my resolutions and every year I put a lower amount of plays I will write – as it generally takes me 2 years to write anything (through laziness mostly) it’s a little pointless…
#2 – Produce 1 new show (excl. Floating). Again motivational, producing is much easier than writing, much less stress and probably more achievable.
#3 – Perform stand up x 20. I don’t know where I picked 20 from, I’m doing stand up for fun, so 20 seemed like a number that would indicate I have little ambition other than the enjoyment of doing it…
#4 – Go to at least 25 comedy gigs (excluding ones I’m performing at). Always put this in, it means I force myself to go to gigs more often and see new stuff, it’s also an excuse to book every Daniel Kitson show ever.
#5 – Go Kayaking! I am afraid of water, boats and kayaks. But they say face your fears and after beating stage fright in 2012 I want to beat drowning and hypothermia in 2013…
#6 – Buy GTA V when it comes out and Need For Speed Most Wanted… (this is a shit NYR btw…) This is rubbish… But the game will be ace and everyone will be talking about it…
#7 – Go to the gym at least 10 times ha ha ha ha ha no.
#8 – Cycle to work at least 10 times I bought a bike this year and I’ve ridden it about 6 times…
#9 – Climb up a mountain in Wales (this has been on my NYR list for 3 years now…) One thing I miss about living in Scarborough is the proximity to the countryside, I don’t do enough walking or rambling, it’s very relaxing and can often be combined with visits to pubs. Yes, sounds ace and is.
#10 – Beat the frog…ideally in Preston where people hate me. I had a bad experience in Preston, they hated me, and I want to beat the frog because I think i means that I won’t feel I have to do it again. I don’t really like BTF, but I kindda think if I overcome it, then I’ll get a sense of pride… maybe…
#11 – Go to Edinburgh Festival – Love the festival…
#12 – Run a half marathon for charity – Ha ha ha ha… this is a joke one i think… maybe I should talk to Scott Turner about doing it, my worry is that my dodgy knee that can run barely 100 yards would die a terrible death… But again, it’s something you should do I think… Once.
#13 – Play a music gig… Oh yes… I used to play in bands and I miss it, I’d quite like to start a band that plays silly songs in a ben folds five style… Click my comedy songs ta
#14 – Bake biscuits for work’s Monday morning meeting that don’t taste of “sand” or “grit”. I make horrible biscuits, the last batch were eaten by the dog and could have removed filling and teeth without a problem and I want to improve. If I ever have kids I don’t want to be the dad who the kids cower at the thought of eating his food.
#15 – Redevelop my website to make it cooler and a little more professional… Yes, things have to change, I want to do more freelance work and that will necessitate me making this site a little less my thoughts and more portfolio-esque…