Presents and Resolutions

It's that time of year again.

If you want to give me a present, press the 'follow' button.  That way I know you are there.

My present to myself will be more writing, including this blog.  I have been really excited by all this social networking business, I am on twitter (@djharrison99) and starting to get the hang of how that might work.  I follow anyone I can find that has something interesting to say about writing and have even got some followers of my own.  Some of these have wandered off, but their loss has been compensated by my first Chinese follower.  At least I presume he is Chinese as all his tweets are in an elegant but indecipherable script.  Should I learn Mandarin in his honour?

New Year resolutions are commonly negative.  In my experience deciding not to do something is doomed to failure.  Don't eat so much.  Stop smoking.  Drink less beer. 
Positive objectives have a much better chance of working.  Eat more of all the good things, take more breaths (and time) between cigarettes, get more enjoyment from beer (and everything else).  These have a chance, and aren't they really what we mean?

So, I am going to write with more joy, with more heart and with more passion.  My characters are in for a rough time in 2011.

My other resolution involves haircuts.

Yesterday, I decided to get a trim in time for Christmas.  Not absolutely necessary, but I am going to the darts with my son and his boss, so I could do with looking a bit less unkempt than usual.  Anyway, I slush down to the hairdressers where I spy the tall blonde lady who usually cuts my hair and pop inside to enquire how she might be fixed to give me ten minute's attention anytime in the next three days.  Instead, I find myself confronted by the plump teenager who made such a mess of my friend's hair he had to have it fixed elsewhere.  "I'll do you right away!" she offers.  "Surely she can't make a hash of a simple trim," I think.  Instead of saying "No thank you, I will wait for my usual lady" I find myself unable to stand up for myself and relent.
When I arrived home my wife's first words were "What has happened to your hair?  It looks like someone has been hacking random lumps off." 

So, that's what I resolve to do next year.  Get a haircut from the person I want. Stand up for myself against anyone who deflects my purpose, haircuts or otherwise.  Feel into what I want from any situation and go with that rather than allowing myself to be hijacked.

You can hold me to if you like, or even join in.