HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!


Surprisingly, I've never actually made specific New Year's resolutions before because I never saw the point, but 2008 is going to be an incredible and momentous year; I can feel it. My 2007 Spring semester was absolutely shit; I think I broke down at least once per week and questioned my judgment on everything related to academia, failed to keep friends that I had made the beginning of college, and felt generally hopeless at any concrete success. This melancoly continued a little bit into summer, but China helped, and then for all the rough patches in Germany my year ended almost perfect, and I refuse to let the cycle start up again. PROGRESS OR BUST; keep moving forward, baby.

RESOLUTIONS IN ESSENCE
Develop a more personal style! Be adventurous in dressing! The thrill of skinny jeans and cardigans have now worn off. Next stop: accessories, leg/arm warmers, knee socks over stockings, shoes, suspenders, innovative usage of scarves. Stop using neutrals in make-up. Master the casual cat-eye!
Be more self-aware! I am notorious for my tunnel vision in public. I can easily zone in on details or a particular person, but I am absolutely terrible at (1) processing multiple senses and inputs at once and (2) looking at people's faces. Don't be afraid to make eye-contact with people passing on the street! Smile more!

RESOLUTIONS IN ACADEMIA
STOP SKIPPING LECTURES.
Excercise for 40 minutes at least 3 days per week!
Aim for bed by 11:30 PM on nights before 8 AM classes!
Keep a well-organized and updated day planner! (Hello Moleskine ♥)
Read at least 2 books per month! Finish unfinished books.
Dedicate each week to listening to an unfamiliar album!
Pick up a copy of the New York Times every morning!
Prep for lectures! Esp. Organic Chemistry & Genetics.
Starbucks only twice a week (this will be difficult).
LIMIT INTERNET USAGE TO 2 HOURS PER DAY (lolol we can dream, right?)

RESOLUTIONS IN MEDIA & BLOGGING
Burn off excess media and pictures on harddrive -- mostly finished, I just need to burn off my Gossip Girl episodes, and I should be back to 80% free space again.
Organize Flickr account -- also mostly finished. I'm still missing descriptions for about half the pictures, but every picture is tagged and sorted properly.
Cull music. This is a daunting task; I keep putting it off. T_T I currently have 80gb of albums and playlists and random songs, and I definitely don't listen to half of it so I really want to do a complete cleaning out of unnecessary music. Wish me luck. T_T
I honestly do enjoy blogging a lot, and I want to make it into a more regular habit after I go back to Boston and start school again. This might require some minor or even major changes; I don't know. I love you guys and the convenience of LiveJournal a lot, but I want to set up a more public type of blog, one that I can potentially link to RL friends and not worry about surprising them with fandom. I'm not sure yet how I'll execute this; I'll keep you guys posted. ♥

THEME FOR 2008: Quality, not quantity! Don't overlook details! Personality stems from personal!

Okay, so it looks like I'm expecting a lot, but I've already started planning how to multitask certain goals together: I can listen to new music while exercising! Carry a book with me everywhere so I can read during breaks! I'll skim the newspaper during boring lectures! Plan out the next day's outfit in my organizer! FINALLY APPLY FOR A BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY CARD! It'll be great, and I will love myself. Repeat, I will love myself.

Thank you for the cards & CDs, kovaa and petronia! OMG, both cards are so cute. T_T AND LOOK AT THE ENVELOPE, ISN'T IT PRECIOUS. :") What would I do without you guys.

I had originally planned on doing that long End-of-the-Year meme that always makes the rounds this time of year but I'm really only interested in answering one question from it, so:

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
As I was driving modesque home the other night, I told her that I had become less tolerant of a lot of people, and she cut in and said slyly, "Which really just means you've gotten bitchier; it's okay to admit it, Bing," and we laughed about it, but it's true, depending on your definition of bitchy. Problems that seemed so trivial before are suddenly so significant (e.g. uhh what's my actual major/minor) and problems that appeared so significant are now so trivial (e.g. what people think of my clothes and music taste). It's a shocking revelation, but other people don't matter. Before, I never saw the point of hanging around people who make me unhappy but, now, I don't even see the point in hanging around people who don't make me happy; there's a distinct difference. I have a full courseload plus volunteer work plus additional work plus social agenda; why bother complaining or stressing about something or someone who won't matter a year from now when I have people and things in my life that'll matter five or even 10 years from now. I've never been a very controversial person and while many people never had a strong opinion of me, most of them probably didn't have any negative opinions, but I've become really sick of worrying over what people will think about the way I dress, or my music tastes, or what I read. If they don't like what I like, it's fine; I'm sure I can always find people who do. I'm sick of worrying over people misunderstanding me, of my constant urge to explain myself. Letting someone know me is a privilege, not a right.

That's what I learned in 2007. Maybe rather late in life, but better now than later.

I have a long, overly-ambitious 2008 resolutions post for tomorrow, and I am ridiculously excited for it. I love making lists and setting goals; I love lists about goals even more. :) It's seriously the best feeling in the world to cross off.

Also, is it mandatory that I fall head-first into an unsuspecting fandom every holiday season? Last year I rediscovered Initial D, this year I have discovered. . . . PETE DOHERTY? This is all petronia's unintentional fault. She offhandedly linked to a live vid of Babyshambles playing "Albion", and then somehow in the next two days I managed to watch the video 100+ times. Pete is mesmorizing. Yes, I know he looks like shit most of the time; yes, it's the cocaine, I know, but LISTEN TO HIM, isn't he so cute. Or high, whatever. He has a 5-minute lag response and talks nonsense and acts (ahaha debatable) hopeless, but HE IS SO AWARE OF PEOPLE & PERCEPTIONS; HE IS SO MANIPULATIVE. That little smirk he gives the camera when he manages to avoid an undesirable question; I am hooked. :( This is pretty tragic, because I routinely express my dislike for Oasis; I can't suddenly turn around and start liking The Libertines and Babyshambles. Except Pete's voice is so adorable; it's charming. Pete is charming. :( Sabina isn't particularly helping: she keeps supplying me with information (LIKE THE PETE DOHERTY/LIAM GALLAGHER CONNECTION, mindblowing) and rumors (uh male prostitution to support drug habit y/n) and documentaries and PETE DOHERTY GUEST RAP (he kicks in about 1:50, I think). Pete, giving a new face to white boy rap. I love him. :(

I need to kick this habit before school starts; plus, the amount of shitty Pete Doherty/Kate Moss fanvids I've accidentally sat through is just embarrassing.