The 2011 "to do" list starts here.

I was wandering around before a movie Saturday (Tiny Furniture, I still don't know whether I liked it or not) and walked by a kitschy little art store in the NW. I'd never run across it open and it had always intrigued me from the outside, so in I went.

It was small and the proprietor was just what I would expect: older and weird. She sold art made within the past year by local artists, and while it was all very interesting it was also expensive. I did find a great card in my price range featuring a chimp playing a guitar.

While I was wandering she chatted at me, which I normally would not have liked but it was New Year's Day and I'd been holed up for a few days so I welcomed the conversation. At one point she asked if I'd made any resolutions.

"No, I generally try to do the right thing all year round," I replied. She agreed, but mentioned that she'd lost close friends this year and had so resolved to reach out to people more often. I had recently resolved to do the same for different reasons (this technology stuff is so isolating at times). And apparently we weren't the only ones, as I learned when I read a friend's blog post welcoming Twenty Eleven.

As a result of this reaching out, getting by with a little help from my friends, and what have you, I'm feeling better in general and I'm ready to tackle 2011, starting with a resurrection of the quarterly goals. So here we go:

1. A haiku a day. Easy, creative, fun, and a step closer to actually writing than I've been in a while. Don't expect brilliance or even anything that counts as funny. Just expect one a day.
2. Read two books a month. Lately I've let reading go in favor of music, especially since it's been so cold at the bus stop and I rarely get a seat on the bus anymore (very hard to read and hold the oh-so-important mug of coffee and hold on for dear life!), but I do miss it. To go easy on myself I've decided that cookbooks count... but only if I make at least one recipe from the book that month.
3. Shamrock Run 2011! Good motivation to get back into the gym routine.

In general I also want to keep up with the personal reach-outs and cut down on the multitasking, facebooking, twittering, etc. But it's winter in Portland so we'll see how that goes over.

Besides, I have to plan the 2011 Adventure, which will probably require some research... Alaska is looking mighty fine these days.

Happy 365-4 to you and yours!