Monday, December 31, 2012

Highly Resolved


(To the tune of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" by Bob Dylan)

We must leave now, we get out of this year at last.
It will be good to know that it's now in the past.
Yonder stands one orphaned by a gun.
Another, a young man who lost his son.
LaPierre, you should be ashamed of yourself.
And it's all over now, 2012.

Election time has come and now it came and went.
And crazy right-wing cads could not beat incumbent.
Obama played a dirty rotten trick:
Appealed to women, used arithmetic.
Gaffed-up Mitt got stuck upon the shelf.
And it's all over now, 2012.

We said goodbye to guidos on the Jersey Shore.
But Snooki and her kid will stick around some more.
Castle and Kate Beckett sealed the deal.
Sofia V knows how to make men squeal.
It's not really always sunny in Philadelph.
And it's all over now, 2012.

Giants stood tall in football and in World Series.
But most New York teams have been stuck in miseries.
LeBron's career no longer incomplete.
Won Gold Medal and title with the Heat.
The year was rough, if I say so myself.
And it's all over now, 2012.


*

For this last post of the calendar year, let's check my New Year's Resolutions for 2012, and see how I did:

* Do a better job at my new job, unless I can find a better one.

Well, I still have the job, and I got a Christmas bonus. So, again, I must be doing something right. On a scale of 0 to 10, 8.

* Remember that Ashley and Rachel are 4, soon to be 5, and that they won't understand everything I say, but they will hear things I say, and that I should temper my words accordingly. So as to avoid awkward questions. I mentioned the word "war" to them earlier this year, and Rachel asked, "What's war?" I told her the truth: It's when 2 countries have a fight with each other. She seemed to accept that definition.

So far, so good. This past year, they didn't repeat anything I shouldn't have said.  9.

* Get to a few more Yankee games -- home and away. (Again.)

Not even close. I went to just one. True, it was a Yankees vs. Red Sox game. But we lost. I did see a second game at Yankee Stadium -- but it was the "World Football Challenge" match between Real Madrid and AC Milan. I did, however, "complete the circuit," getting to all 3 ballparks that are "local" to New Jersey: Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and Citizens Bank Park. (Only the Phillies won.) At best, a 4.

* Come up with the money to make a trip to Europe, or at least to Britain.

Yeah, right. While I saw plenty of Red Bulls games, including their exhibition game against Arsenal's arch-rivals Tottenham (I won't call any game against that lot a "friendly," the closest I got to Europe was the aforementioned Madrid-Milan match. On a scale of 0 to 10, that's a 1.

* Help President Obama get re-elected, and get the House of Representatives back, and keep the Senate, so that his 2nd term will have more caffeine and less Tea.

Obama re-elected, check. Senate stayed Democratic, check. House back to Democrats, no. That's an 8.

* Treat people better. Even when a lot of them piss me off. (Admittedly, this could be either the easiest to pull off, or the hardest.)

Hard to say. In real life, nobody had much of an objection to my treatment to them, except for one New Jersey Transit bus driver who turned me away, because, while I had the money for a ticket, I didn't have a ticket (or the time to use the ticket machine at the stop in question). And he deserved it. Other than that, I think I did all right in real life. Online, that's another story. So I can't make this any higher than a 7.

Total: 37, out of a possible 60.  That's not good.

*

So here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2013:

* Don't let online provocateurs get under my skin so much. This will be hard, but worth it if I can do it.

* Get to a few more ballgames.

* Do a better job of paying attention to one of the nieces -- so that she's not as jealous of what happens with the other. One of them is very clingy. And at their age, that's becoming awkward. The feeling, so far, is harmless. The appearance could be a problem. Fortunately, she doesn't do it in public.

* Lose some weight. I may not be way overweight, but I am definitely out of shape, and as a result I tire easily -- and I never needed any "help" in that department.

You'll notice I have dropped the "Get to a live Arsenal match" resolution. Unless I can get a job that pays a LOT more, it's not going to happen in 2013.

And then, of course, there are the things I would like to see, but over which I have no control: Titles for my favorite teams, the resumption of the NHL, better bus service from NJ Transit. I would love to be able to make those things happen.

Happy New Year, and don't celebrate too hard. I want you alive to read my blog in 2013 and beyond.

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