Lists for the new year

I'm not much of a resolutions guy--mostly I just don't remember in June what the heck I was thinking in January. Just as this blog began as one more crutch to help me complete the dissertation, I will use this particular blog entry to help me with my resolutions for 2009. Herein find some lists of items that will be/should be/hope to be crossed off in the future:

List #1: Health

• Fix my flippin' foot! I had a minor setback on the Saturday night before X-mas, and now I'm more nervous/cautious about forcing it. I'm hoping to get more aerobic work in during January, while entirely avoiding a soccer ball.
• Lose some weight. During my 2+ month sabbatical from the soccer field I have packed on the pounds. I'm getting dangerously close to my "fat Celexo" weight, and that's just not pretty.
  
• Eat (drink) better. I feel that, when I'm not on vacation (i.e., in STL), I eat pretty well. Much of that is because of TW, but I'm not exactly a heathen either. My biggest vice is of the Coca-Cola variety. The more I'm away from home, the more temptation there is to drink it, so I'm cutting back--I promise (I'm drinking a coke at the very instant that I'm typing this sentence).
  

List #2: Dissertation/Academia

• Complete drafts for remaining chapters. In 2008, I drafted 2 chapters including the behemoth first one, which really consists of a combination of 2 older chapters, and in 2009 I'd really like to be done with the entire process. With an unclear future on the horizon, who knows how much work I'll get in on the diss but it can't hurt to dream.
• Write my conference paper. Seeing as 2009 is the 200th anniversary of Joseph Haydn's death (my dissertation topic), there were many conferences out there. I was lucky to get accepted into two different ones: in Boston (May sometime), and Toronto (August). I'm excited that I get a test run here in my home city before my international debut...I know, Toronto ain't exactly Esterhaza or anything, but it's still pretty exciting.
  
• Prep for my Beatles course. Even though it's only a summer course, I'm anticipating a big amount of interest for it, which will be quite a change from the grand total of 6 students I've had registered for my previous three summer courses (yep, that's right...you're doing the math in your head right now, aren't you?). I think this course would look great on a syllabus, and I'm just plain looking forward to researching & teaching it!
  

List #3: Friends and Family

• Put in more face time w/the friends. This past semester has seen a shortage in the finances around the Celexo household. So, I'd like to have a few get togethers this year: you know, pot lucks or dinner partys that don't require going out to a bar!
• Family--ya, well, when they live halfway across the country, what do you expect? I'm hoping to get home at some point during this summer but you never know.
  

List #4: Work

• This is an unfinished list because I'm not sure what jobs I'll have in the upcoming semester(s).
• Regardless, I'm going to try to implement a writing schedule: 2+2+1 on my off days; 2+ on my work days...it'll be interesting to look back at this list, in particular.
• Either way, I'll continue to use this blog as a dissertating tool. My blogs will only appear after a good day of writing.
  

I think that I'll check back on this post once a month, and hopefully I'll be able to start crossing some things off the lists.