A fresh start

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.--Benjamin Franklin

Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.--Mark Twain

Teri tells me this forum has been getting more philosophical and thoughtful lately. To the extent that is true, I've warned her that the trend will only intensify over the next few days. But, just for today, let's keep it light as we ease our way into 2010.

We haven't had any shout-outs for a while: Hey there, Juneau--it must be really cold and dark in Alaska today if you're coming here for warmth and light. Good day, Canadians including those of you in Vancouver, British Columbia (so beautiful there, but you already knew that); Calgary, Alberta; and London and Brampton, Ontario. Howdy East Coast Megalopolis including, Philly, Haverstown, N.J., The Big Apple, Long Island and Easton, Connecticut. Finally, hello out there Iowa. There are a bunch of you all of a sudden. Algona, Knoxville, Des Moines, it's good to see you.

For whatever reason, December had by far the most traffic to this site since its inception, and I'm grateful for your attention. Don't worry, you're still a member of a tiny and exclusive club, Discerning Reader--the increase in traffic to the BYE blog is only relative.

Did Santa make it to your house this year? The jolly old dude stopped by the Bayberry Woods and unloaded his whole sack on us. My recently drowned iPod was replaced by a shiny new orange Nano (thanks again Mom!). I have just moved from a second generation to a fifth generation Nano and, like a cave man who has just discovered fire, I am digging all the new features. I'm having too much fun with the built-in video camera. Another great gift this year was a black t-shirt my brother Mike gave me with the word "writer" emblazoned on the chest in a very typewritery font (Courier New, I think). I'll proudly wear that shirt to tatters in no time.

My family's Christmas tradition of bizarre food gifts continued unabated this year. Somehow I ended up with two jars of pickled pigs feet on Christmas Day, when one per Christmas is generally more than enough to satisfy me for an entire year. I also received a lifetime supply of coconut milk, so we'll be making a lot of curry at our house for the next while.

Teri and I had an in-depth discussion of our resolutions for 2010 during a New Year's Eve drive to the home of friends.

"Do you have any resolutions this year?" I asked her.

"Just the usual. You?"

"The usual."

When you've been married close to twenty years, that verbal shorthand constitutes a deep conversation. Those few words cover a lot of ground and take in dozens of prior failures along with a handful of successes.

Today we're both dieting (again) and, after a soggy holiday season, have resolved to drink alcohol only one day a week at the most at least until our heads have cleared a little or Mardi Gras gets a little closer, whichever comes first.

My other specific resolution is to get the last draft of my stinking book finished for good in the next few weeks and try to get it sold. I'm anxious to move on to the next one. I missed my self-imposed Christmas deadline for completion and I'm really mad at myself for that. It turns out that books are a whole lot easier to start than they are to finish. Why is that?

I have some other resolutions for 2010, but they are way too philosophical for today's post since they involve things like being a better person, husband and friend.