These are my personal resolutions, and my 2013 to do list. Feel free to share yours, comment, or examine. Thanks, 2012, for being a helluva year. And on to next year…
1. Be the best support I can be to the people around me who are suffering with depression–I’m tired and sad to keep hearing about acquaintances who have attempted or successfully commit suicide. So I am starting my list here, and I’m saying again in a public space that I’m around to listen, to troubleshoot, to talk, to help muster resources. I care about my friends and extended family, and I’ve been in that dark place. Life is so much better when one can get through those awful moments. Please talk to someone you trust when you really need a helping hand. If that’s me, I’m honored.
2. Be the best dad I can be for Emile–Parenthood, I’m learning, is about finding your kid where they are, and with the rapid learning curve my son has, I’m constantly on the move to ascertain where that is. He’s standing, walking, running, making sounds, then words, and last week, his first real sentence: “I want Momma.” Probably can’t go wrong there, kid. But I have to keep checking myself to keep my own issues out of his way, and I see that this is a lifelong tactic I’ll need to employ. So here goes.
3. Finish these two book projects–I’ve got a novel-in-progress and a nonfiction humor book, but darn it, there’s no reason I can’t put both to bed and complete them. I’d cross my fingers, but I need them to type. ALSO: Come up with some new damn jokes.
4. Get a pen pal–I have an idea where I’m going to start, with the Black and Pink program.
5. Make better connections to progressive thinkers and writers–Living in Walla Walla, 225 miles from Seattle and 210 miles from Portland, this is difficult. But I need to come up with something other than spending thousands of dollars flying around the country and going to the same writer’s conference. Better, more efficient, more purposeful are my goals. Maybe more regional meetups, maybe through setting up an event here in town, I’ll work on this.
2013 To Do List
1. Go to Hawaii.
2. Buy a camera and take better pictures.
3. Introduce Emile to new animals and kids.
4. Go bowling.
5. Publish two more projects.
6. Reconnect with an old friend.
7. Drive someplace new.
8. Volunteer somewhere new.
9. Organize all of the books in the house.
10. Find 5 new bands and put them in my listening rotation.
11. Read 12 books, at least half of which must be fiction.
12. Master Lebanese cooking.
13. Write one short story a month.
14. Frame that lithograph I’ve had for four years.
15. Create a workable office in the house so I have somewhere to write at home.
16. Start learning Spanish.
17. Go hit at a batting cage.
18. Go to queer pride somewhere this summer.
19. Throw a pot.
20. Take Emile for a boat ride.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone! See you on the other side of the fiscal cliff.
Trans/plant/portation 
Everett, you inspire me. Thanks.