A Year Resolute (2012 Edition)
Last year I split my goals into professional and personal. This year, none of that. Let’s keep them simple and focused. Besides, my professional goals are fairly straight forward: get good grades in my Ph.D. program, network at conferences, and generally rock it like an aspiring academic. Here we have my goals for 2012. Sure I have a list, like resolutions, but they are more like goals to pursue, to keep me hungry for more.
Sound Body
This is a little tricky. It’s not so much about losing weight (although, that’s part of it) but about continuing habits that I built in 2011. It starts with staying up with CrossFit. Then, when time permits*, I need to explore activities to add into my schedule. Last year’s resolution to climb rocks and do more yoga remain the front runners, but I must add a few to that.
- Set new CrossFit Goals (weight loss, Oly Lift PRs, Pull-ups, etc).
- Climb Rocks
- Do more Yoga
- Surf more waves
- Paddle/SUP in Austin
- Ride my Longboard
Sound Mind
California: 8 Vols
If anything that I write about actually approaches the level of a resolution in the classical sense, Kevin Starr’s eight volume history of California is it. I had it on my list last year and failed to even begin. I’ve since begun the first volume to get a head start and build momentum. Quite simply, the more time that I spend away from California, the more I yearn to be home, to settle near the coast, to know her history and her culture and not simply live ignorant of that which has so greatly formed who I am.
- Americans and the California Dream, 1850-1915
- Inventing the Dream: California through the Progressive Era
- Material Dreams: Southern California through the 1920s
- Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California
- The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s
- Embattled Dreams: California in War and Peace, 1940-1950
- Coast Of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990-2002
- Golden dreams: California in an age of abundance, 1950-1963
Christian Theology
Short list here. Long on discipline. I really must finally get to A Grammar of Assent for both personal and professional reasons. And since I intend to make Augustine the them of my research, I ought make him a theme in my daily life.
- Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent
- Read a little Augustine every day
Sound Fun
- Travel to Europe Again
- Learn Spanish
- Go to a Buckeye game in the Fall
- Hone my Cooking Skills
- Keep a Food Log
- Pay off one Credit Card (Yes, this would be fun times if I could do it.)
* “time permitting” sound like a cop out that will only lead to failure. I know. But it’s impossible to predict what kind of schedule one will have each semester until it actually gets underway. I also have no idea what’s going on over the summer, if I’ll be studying Greek (i.e., no free time whatsoever) or if I’ll be power loafing in California (i.e., lots of free time). To compensate, I plan to focus on at least one of those activities per month, starting with the easy ones to fit into my schedule (Yoga and Longboarding). Then, I’ll evaluate regularly.
