Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts

Sunday, December 27, 2015

Weekly Prompt Story: New Years' Resolutions

http://oneadayuntilthedayidie.com/?p=28215

My New Year’s Resolution
By Christopher Munroe

In the new year, I’m going to like me.

I’ll look upon myself, upon my works, and strive to honestly like what I see, to take pride in those aspects of myself that I deserve pride in, to see those aspects clearly, rather than depending on the validation of others.

I’ll self-validate, because I’ll know my own approval is the only approval I’ve ever needed. And, in doing so, I’ll finally allow myself to be happy.

Obviously, this won’t happen. My self-loathing is far too internalized by this point.

Still, I will try.


Or at least: I’ll try to try…

Thursday, January 1, 2015

My New Year's Resolutions


The time has come once more, ladies and gentlemen, in which a young man’s mind turns to self-improvement, and to that end toward the lofty goals that one might set oneself in the hopes that through such goals one might be made more perfect in this mortal life…

I am that one, my friends, I am that one indeed, and while I am no longer by anyone’s definition a “young” man, I have set myself such goals with just such hopes in mind. To that end, that you might hold me accountable for my own success over the course of the coming year, I should like to make my New Year’s Resolutions public, to bare them plain for the world to see.

I do hereby, in that spirit, resolve…

1) To solve more of my problems with the threat of physical violence.

I suspect that I do this to a certain degree already without even realizing that it’s happening. Let’s face it, and if you’ve ever seen me you’ll agree, I’m kind of built to solve my problems with the implied threat of physical violence.

I’m six foot three, two twenty pounds and change, and reasonably solidly built, there are likely confrontations I naturally avoid due to my size and stature without even noticing that it’s happening. Which is so great, I do my best to recognize and appreciate the instances in which my privilege smoothes the way for me, and this is certainly one such instance, but going forward I’m going to really concentrate on upping my game with regard to physically intimidating the people around me into giving me what I want without my having to earn it. After all, I can only be the truest version of myself, and the truest version of me is large, hulking, intimidating, and could stand to be much, much more of all three…

2) To deny science more aggressively.

Full disclosure, I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to go the “Climate Change Denial” route or the full Antivaxxer, but every time I meet somebody who can look at proven, established science and confidently assert, “Nuh-uh, is not!” I can’t help but feel an enormous respect for their commitment to what they believe.

Anyone can be confident in their beliefs if their beliefs happen to be true, after all, real courage is the courage to cling tenaciously so theories that are long since disproven and discredited, theories against which the vast majority of scientists have come together in opposition and mountains of contrary evidence exists.

I want to possess such courage, for courage is the path of the warrior, and in the New Year I will do my best to live up to the standards set by my antivaxxing, climate-change denying forbears…

3) To develop an opinion about Kim Kardashian.

I know, I know, I promise this every year. But this year I feel really good about it, Kim K is in the news now more than ever, and I’m pretty sure that if I hunker down and really start paying attention I can by the end of the year, when her name comes up, either love, hate, or in any event come up with some response to her mention other than a bored shrug and uninterested “meh.”

This time for sure!

4) To get way more serious about my Murder-Sculpture.

Okay, I’ll admit, this one may be the result of watching too much Hannibal. Still, some of the murder-sculpture on that show is amazing, and they really put the murder/performance art I’ve been doing here in town to shame. I know, I can’t expect to be working to the same level as the team on a major network television program, but come on! I’m a creative, talented sociopath, and I could be leaving corpses in MUCH more interesting predicaments in an attempt to taunt local law enforcement!

And that’s not even including the possibilities that open up to me once I start manipulating the people around me into their own murder sprees! Yes, if I play 2015 right Calgary could be an absolute bloodbath by the end of next year, and while it may have taken a television show to remind me of this fact, by Zod now that I do remember it I’ll do my best to live up to the example Hannibal’s set me!

5) To start a New Year’s Revolution!

Another holdover from last year, I did not lead the populace in open rebellion against an oppressive regime at any point during the past twelve months. Again, this is nobody’s fault but my own, things got on top of me and this promise I made to myself just sort of slipped my mind. Life gets in the way sometimes, you know how it is.

This year for sure, however! I will choose a small, oppressed nation, I will go there, I will lead its people and, on December 31st, we will together overthrow the previous regime! The headline writes itself, all we have to do is make the news, it will be magical!

Alternately, a late-December crime spree. “New Year’s Thieves” does have a lovely ring to it…

…so there we are! My goals for the New Year, achievable all and well worth pursuing each and every one, I think you will agree. I know these will not be easy to follow through on, resolutions worth their salt never are, but if I can make even one or two of these a reality, the benefit both to me and to the people around me will be undeniable. Looking forward to the year ahead, I see great things in my future, and I look forward to keeping you updated as to how my resolutions go!

Keep me honest, you guys! Especially with regard to the murder-sculpture!

Munsi

Thursday, December 12, 2013

A December Realization


Every year at about this time I realize: I have accomplished nearly none of my New Year’s resolutions.

And this year, I’m sorry to admit, has been no exception.

The extra weight has not come off. I still smoke, still drink. My workout plan has been woefully inadequate.

In fairness to myself, my writing goals have gone a little better. My blog’s been kept up, Sunday stories have arrived on time, and NaNoWriMo went well, with room in the schedule for a few longer stories to send to various short-fiction markets. My work has appeared in a few venues, not huge ones, but ones I genuinely like. Overall I’m unashamed of that side of it, but still, I can’t help thinking I could have done better there too.

And don’t even get me started on my day job…

…in fact, of all the promises I made myself this time last year, I can only think of one that I could reasonably list as an unqualified success.

To like myself, in spite of my failings, and never second guess myself no matter what mistakes I might make.

Fortunately, at the end of the day, that really is the only one that matters.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Happy Old Year


Times are tough all around. Not just here, everywhere.

So when 2012 came to an end, and we realized we couldn’t afford a New Year, nobody was surprised.

It wasn’t a big deal, at any rate.

We’re celebrating 1991 instead.

Yes, the futurist in me recoils, I’d looked forward to seeing what 2013 might have to offer, but after all, one has to make do.

I’m at a good party, surrounded by friends, is the fact that I’m ringing in the old year that big a deal?

Right here, right then, there is no other place I’d want to be…

Thursday, January 5, 2012

New Year's Resolution

The tasering has gotten out of control. Even I have to admit that.

When I first got the damned thing, I promised I’d only taser people in self-defense, or when they REALLY deserved it. But as time went on, the convenience of having it at my side proved too tempting for me to resist.

All it takes is one really bad day, and one person needling you at exactly the wrong moment, and suddenly you’re the guy holding a taser with a body at his feet.

He was all like “Don’t tase me, bro!” and I was all like “I’m not your bro.” and then I tased him again. It was awesome.

And once that floodgates open…

Before long I was tasering people left and right. To get out of standing in lines, if somebody was talking too loud on his cell phone, or just people chosen at random, out of sheer boredom.

It’s fun to watch them twitch.

Still, you can’t solve all your problems by tasering them, and it really has gotten out of hand. I mean, I’m hurting strangers. A lot of strangers. And I’d never considered myself the sort of person who’d do that for no reason.

Also, I imagine there might be some sort of legal repercussion at some point.

So for my New Years resolution I’ve promised to taser fewer people.

What?

No.

No, I’m not getting rid of the taser entirely, that’s ridiculous. Just… less tasering, going forward.