New Year Resolutions 2007
Consume less media
It’s probably not a surprise to blog readers and internet users that we consume a lot of media, but to others, but it might seem strange when there are people making the exact opposite resolution. I have about 30 podcasts unlistened to, I’m checking football scores on my mobile every 15 minutes during matches, I track about 20 different blogs a day, I have 6, maybe 8 websites that I check throughout the day and I write this. My job means I operate on a daily basis and mostly over again the next day. So I figure if I can go a week without something, I probably don’t need it.
I also definitely don’t need to read different news reports of the same thing in four different newspapers and three websites. I need events and facts, not opinions and interpretations which keep me from the real world. Put it another way: be less informed, be more aware.
Health
That includes food and exercise, body and mind, getting some quality rest.
Be a better pal
I need to spend time with people. I made a friend at work recently. When I say made, it’s someone I have worked with for about 6 years, but never really spoke to, apart from conversations like: “Can we do that? For Tuesday, this is. Ok, Wednesday. But Tuesday would be better. Wednesday, then.” Friends should remind me that getting to know people is not only ok, it’s probably all there really is.
Iron
On Sunday. Not when I come home every evening.
Related posts:
New Year Resolutions 2005
Here’s how I did
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:06 am
Your “Consume Less Media” resolution is very similar to one of my big resolutions for the coming year. Good luck.
January 3rd, 2007 at 2:54 pm
I very much agree with the sentiments of the last line of your “Be a better pal” paragraph.
Oh, and happy new year…
January 3rd, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Yeah, Cliff! Be a better pal!
And as a reminder, getting to know people is not only ok, it’s probably all there really is.
Job done.
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I know you’re a stickler, so doesn’t the phrase “consume less media” stick in your craw?
“Media” is a strange word, rarely used as the plural it really is. But a plural should rightly be preceded not with less but with fewer. Though you can’t say “consume fewer media”, not least because that is not what you mean.
D’ya get me?
Sorry. (I seem to be saying that a lot here recently.)
HNY, BTW.
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Ahem. Today is JRR Tolkien’s 115th Birthday.
Just sayin’.
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Use fewer media perhaps?
Although a pragmatist such as myself would argue that using words according to their original Latin usage/context is wrong, that language is a living thing. If people collectively understand what Cliff is saying when he says he’s going to consume less media then that becomes the meaning of that phrase.
Language and communication is not primarily about definitions and strict rules, these are merely ways in which we help each other to communicate better - it’s about one person telling another person what they think or how they feel.
Having said that, it does drive me nuts in University documents when they refer to the foci of the University as a plural of focus.
January 4th, 2007 at 11:42 am
* and Sam - you’re both right. This is one that gets me. You are the best men.
Everyone else - watch these guys. Great things.