2013 Resolutions: Philip

Cass asked me to share my New Year's Resolutions with you. Last year, I stuck with my unpublished goals through until May. This year, I hope publishing them puts me over the top.

Now, everyone has goals about diet and exercise, relationships, and even faith spirituality. And those are good, so briefly: I want to exercise every day, max out at one sweet a week, keep a bimonthly date night with my wife, and get back in the habit of having daily time with my Bible (or YouVersion app, as the case may be). But those resolutions are boring to read; you've seen them a million times. What I want to do is focus on the New Year's Resolutions that are a little less common. Like...

1. Get two rejection notices.

Some of you may know that I'm a bit of a writer, with dreams of being an author/screenwriter/playwright (really, whatever storytelling medium will have me, poetry slams included). But so far I haven't gone and sent anything off. Why? Maybe I'm too nervous. Maybe I just don't know where to start. But this year I intend to start changing that. And aiming for two rejection notices is a bit of a hedge; as long as I send stuff a couple of works off to a publisher, I either make some strides forward in my writing career or I achieve my resolution!

2. Watch this year's Best Picture nominees before next year's ceremony.

That gives me a year to watch 9 movies? I can do that. Part of striving to be a great artist is understanding what makes art great. Being truthful and discovering your voice are great, but if you don't have a good understanding how to deliver, you're back to square one.

As an aside, maybe I'm just starting to hit the target demographic, but this year's batch seems pretty strong. ZeroDark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Argo; these are all movies I wanted to see as they've come out. I've missed them all so far, but there's no reason for that to continue.

Cass: I'm going to pretend I don't know Philip only wants to see this for Jennifer Lawrence. 

3. Get everything upstairs that's not related to the kitchen done.

Okay, so our bathroom reno has started to drag on longer than a Fiona Apple album title (h/t Hollywood Prospectus podcast). But we will get it done! And we will get the spare bedroom done! And the living room-ish! (It butts up against the kitchen, and our plans for it can only be fully realized when we can scratch together the coin to actually finish the kitchen.)

Having a beautiful living space is a top priority. Can't wait to share it with you as we make that happen.

4. Rediscover my At-Work Mojo

Last year I was kicking butt at the beginning of the year. But then some plans changed due to my company's integration with some of our sister companies. And then we lost one of the employees in our department and a lot of his work landed on my desk. And somewhere in that maelstrom, the je-ne-sais-quoi that had me at the top of my game at the beginning of the year faded.

It's time to refocus on what makes me great and what holds me back, so I can release my inner Kraken.

5. Run a marathon.

Ha. Haha. Hahahahahaha. I'm totally kidding. While I have the utmost respect for those who can, the reasons I don't want to run a marathon are legion (although if you quizzed me right now, the fact that many marathoners lose control of their, ummm, plumbing during the race would be reasons #1 through 18 on my list). But being able to jog 5K without dying would be nice. Maybe I'll work toward that.

So those are my resolutions. I hope to be back on the Friday Phil horse soon; as Cass mentioned, I'm directing a play that I adapted (writing pretty much all of it last week), but who knows, you may have me back sooner than later. (That is, if the blog will have me back!) This week, tell us what you're looking forward to most in 2013.