Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Resolutions 2010: A Triumphant Failure


And now for the darkest hour of the year: the moment when I look back at my New Year's resolutions for the past year and see how I've measured up. It ain't gonna be pretty. What follows is not for the faint of heart.


First, here's the original list of resolutions:


1. I resolve to watch the following movies, all of which I am deeply ashamed not to have seen already:


-- The Godfather

-- Psycho

-- Jaws

-- The Shawshank Redemption

-- Lawrence of Arabia

-- Seven Samurai

-- The Battle of Algiers

-- Caddyshack

-- Reservoir Dogs

-- Clerks

-- Unforgiven

-- Hoop Dreams


2. I resolve to read at least one book every month. ("Graphic novels" don't count.)


3. I resolve to write at least one feature-length screenplay.


4. I resolve to write at least one full-length play.


5. I resolve to write in my journal at least once a week.


6. I resolve to take bass lessons.


7. I resolve to finish Keeper completely, to the point where I can thrust a cool-looking DVD into the hands of complete strangers and beg them to watch it. And also, I'll submit it to film festivals.


8. I resolve to submit some of last year's short films to film festivals.


9. I resolve to go to Russia.


10. I resolve to marry a baby.


So how did I do? Well, I didn't go to Russia. I didn't read a book every month. I made a lot of progress on Keeper, but didn't finish it. I did write a full-length play, and I cowrote a feature film with Mike Lavoie. I did send out some of the 12in12 films to festivals -- kind of abortively and haphazardly, but let's say it counts. I didn't take any bass lessons. I kept up the journal-every-week assignment for about two weeks. Of the twelve movies listed, I watched six (mostly in December). And, despite my most fervent and dedicated efforts (and long conversations with both civic and religious authorities), I did not manage to marry a baby.

All in all, that gives me a dismal score of 3 out of 10 (since Resolutions 1 and 3 were both about half-completed, I gave myself half a point for each). On the face of it, that's reason enough to hand the reins of my life over to somebody more competent and reliable, like the DMV.


But let's look a little more closely. Okay, I didn't go to Russia -- but I did go to Singapore. And I had a 16-hour layover in Dubai, so technically I went there too! Okay, I had help (well, that's an understatement) writing my screenplay -- but I did produce and direct that screenplay, and the result is already out to a sizable handful of festivals. Plus I directed a new short film, and wrote and acted in another one. I met wonderful new friends and potential collaborators at the LAB Intensive Ensemble. Oh, and I completed one semester of an MFA program, and met some cool people through that, too. And then there was that rafting/camping trip in Idaho ...


Now, I'm not saying I had a banner year. There were as many fallow periods as fertile ones, as much stalling as striving, and far more Sporcle than I'd like to admit. But it wasn't the kind of drastic failure that my Resolution Success Rate (RSR) would seem to imply. It was a year, take it for all in all; we shall not look upon its like again.


So what does this tell us about New Year's resolutions? Nothing we didn't already know, I guess. Resolutions are problematic because they threaten to lock you into a prescribed pattern of behavior, and thus cut you off from the opportunities that organically arise. Not only that, but they tend to make you regret the detours and distractions you were plagued by -- despite the fact that detours and distractions are, arguably, the very stuff of life.

And yet the impulse behind resolutions is both laudable and natural. The dawning of a new year is a perfect time to take stock of one's life and ask oneself the eternal questions: how am I living my life, how do I want to live it, and how can I bridge that gap?

So here I am, once again on the cusp of a brand new year, torn between the desire to set goals and an ever-growing sense of their futility. Which way will I jump? Or will I manage to reach some kind of compromise? Stay tuned.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Wisdom of Devin



"Wow. Rednecks never tire of songs about rednecks."

-Devin

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A Folksy Expression



Yeah, well, that and a dollar will get you pooped on in Thailand.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Good News!



Anne Bogart, speaking at the New School on Monday, October 18th, 2010, made this highly reassuring announcement:

"I propose that post-modernism is over. It's done. And the only way that happens is, you say it."

I'm very glad to hear that post-modernism is over. I was never really very into it.

Poem or Lyrics or Something



Some girls think they're clever
Just because they're ugly;
Some girls think they're pretty
Just because they're stupid;
Some girls think they're funny
Just because they're bitter;
Some girls think they're independent
When all they are is lonely.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

A Possibly Inspiring Thought



Your whole life has prepared you for what you do next.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The Greatest Sentence of All Time



Seen on an informational plaque in the Evolution Garden at the Singapore Botanic Gardens:

Something magnolia-like used to be considered the primitive flowering plant, but recently an ancestral waterlily has been proposed.

Monday, February 22, 2010

UES



Overheard between a young child in a stroller and her Asian nanny:

NANNY: I'm not Mommy. I'm Mamu.

CHILD: (insistently) Mommy!

NANNY: Stop that. Mommy gonna be mad at me.

Monday, February 15, 2010

A Reassuring Thought



At some point, it's going to seem like it was all meant to be.

A Motivational Thought



Today you live in the world you made yesterday; tomorrow you will live in the world you make today.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Every Once in a While



Mike Lavoie, standing at the top of a ski slope looking out across a stunning mountain panorama:
"You know, Keith, sometimes you have your shit together."