I'm Watching....me

Maybe it's because this is the last year that I can say I'm in my fifties. Maybe it's because I spun my wheels most of last year in a giant pothole called divorce. Maybe it's because the day frequently gets away from me, and then I'm yawning and regretting that I neglected to do what I had intended. So now I am goal obsessed.

I've applied to grad school for a second MFA. Probably a losing proposition given the crazy competitiveness of the programs I've chosen, but I've done it.
I've ordered a fancy pedometer with which I can rack up points to save the world while exercising.
I've signed up with Joe's Goals to track whether or not I've exercised, meditated, practiced French, written, and submitted any writing, and abstained from alcohol. Mind you, I'm not exactly giving up all drink, but I am interested in tracking how many nights a week I do drink.
I'm saving all $5.00 bills that find their way into my wallet. Who knows how much that will be in the course of a year? If I can't personally save Obama, at least I can save some Lincolns.
I've signed up for a writing class while I await my grad school fate.
I've submitted a proposal to teach a writing workshop. And I'm thinking about submitting a second one.
I'm planning some travels.
I'm hoping not to become insufferable. I promise not to make my Joe's Goals page viewable on my blog.
How's your New Year so far? Have you heard of http://lifehacker.com/ or http://quantifiedself.com/? I stumbled onto these sites after reading an article in the New York Times.  Both sites have tools for tracking behaviors, managing money, and reaching goals as well as other cool stuff.

2010

I like the way the New Year speaks its name. Twenty-Ten.  Kind of like a drum beat or a mantra. So much less awkward then Two Thousand and Nine.

The verse in this tattoo across the arm of someone I love very much reads:
To wonder at beauty
Stand guard over truth
Look up to the noble
Resolve on the good.
It will be my New Year's resolution.

I'm Working On It

The new me will have an MFA. I don't care that I'm too old with too short of a resume to find a "real" teaching job. Whenever that conversation starts and someone asks me why I've gone back to school, I tell them I'm going to teach creative writing in the prisons.  I tell them I have connections.  

The new me will keep in touch with friends. Drop an email, write on a Facebook wall, buy a plane ticket or take a road trip. I'll be the one to suggest lunch or dinner instead of waiting for the phone to ring.

The new me will work harder, review what I've learned more often and try to remember it. I'll read sitting up instead of lying down in bed so the words have a chance to settle into my brain instead of sinking into my pillow and mingling with down and fluff.

The new me will tell my children I love them every time I see them and  in every phone conversation. Every time. Grand children, too. 

The new me will call my mother more often. Even if I have to over enunciate and speak more loudly than I'd like. The new me will visit her at least 4 times a year.

The new me might settle down and stay in L.A.--eventually. Or somewhere else.