The Return of the Dabbler

 

Holiday hiatus is over, and the Dabbler is back. Right now, she's dabbling in some New Year's resolutions, including but not limited to the following:

1. Spend less money on things I don't need (exceptions include garage project supplies and deeply discounted items, which means I have yet to break this resolution). I'm sure this one won't last.

2. Dine in more frequently, eat healthier, and prepare more interesting meals. For this one, I have decided that sometimes it actually pays to shop at the more expensive grocery stores. The key to this is a staggered marketing schedule that allows one to stock up on cereal, staples and paper goods at the more cost effective places (using coupons where possible, of course), but to buy fish, meat and other gourmet sundries at the fancy shmancy establishments.

When it comes time to make supper, voila! The fridge is opened and in front of you, you will find more desirable options available rather than the same old turkey burger patties from Trader Joe's. I have done cost-conscious marketing in the past, only to get so sick of what's in the ice box by mid-week, that we eat out by Thursday, making the frugality of shopping at such places pointless. This week, after a run to Bristol Farms (where a 14 oz. box of Corn Flakes costs $5.39), I made a stuffed chicken, whitefish with lemon and capers, and turkey meatloaf to name a few. We have not eaten out, and it is Friday!

3. Exercise more. Okay, so this is about the least original resolution one could have. With my gym membership about to run out, however, I have to figure out exactly how to tackle this. I am not sure it is worth my while to renew my membership, yet I can not get myself to run on anything but a treadmill. I wish I could say that walking the dog counted as physical exertion but unfortunately I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

4. Walk the dog more. This is for the benefit of the dog, since I have already noted that such activity doesn't count as exercise for me.

5. Be a better person. Okay, another common, generic and vague resolution. Cliche as it is, though, it's clearly worth trying, right? I am on my way -- on Sunday I continue my volunteer work with 826LA, helping to run an event on comic book authoring for underprivileged kids. And I will continue the tutoring I started before the holidays on Tuesday afternoons, for the same organization. I think that these good deeds earn me enough good-person-points that I can happily read Defamer, In Touch and Us without feeling guilt.

6. Read more (other than Defamer, In Touch and Us). I am off to a bad start on this one. I did read a fascinating article in the New Yorker, on the author of Mary Poppins, during the flight back from Boston to Los Angeles. But that was on December 26th. So far, this year, I have only read the newspaper (do Sodoku and the Food section count as reading?) and Daily Variety. Oops.

7. Write more. Especially on this blog. December was really dicey, wasn't it? I know you've missed me and I promise to be more dedicated at blogging and other forms of writing.

8. Be more efficient at everything. Self-explanatory.

9. Get organized and stay organized. I have definitely not begun to tackle this one yet. If you could see my office you'd know what I mean.

10. Be less of a hypochondriac. Last year at various points I was sure I had a brain tumor (I was sent in for a CT-scan so I had some cause for concern, I guess), fibromyalgia, mononucleosis, and various other diseases. The only thing I actually ever got was a minor head cold and a quick bout of acid-reflux (that I had first assumed was a broken rib). This year I am going to stop looking up symptoms on WebMD and calling my primary care physician (the hypochondriac's verison of drunken dialing).

11. Make more money. Now, this is not the capitalist in me vowing to become a mogul in 2006. It's the practical counterpart to resolution number one. If I can just make a little more money, and spend a little less, maybe the 2006 balance sheets will be in the black and not the red. I have no more grandparents left to keel over and help me out when business is bad. Alright, that last comment was in really bad taste and probably takes away a few good-person-points (GPPs). But I still think I'm in the black with the GPPs (though not with cash flow).

And with that, I wish you and yours a happy, healthy New Year. See you soon!

(The low-tech nature of this post -- i.e., lack of pictures -- is due to the death of the Dabbler's iMac, on the eve of its 3 year birthday and just prior, thankfully, to the end of its extended warranty. Currently, the logic board is being replaced, and I am using a borrowed computer to quickly write this post.)