Another year, another blog post.

Many people -- indeed, most people, are not really motivated by money.  They are usually motivated by an idealistic struggle that they really believe in -- well that, or jealousy of someone who leads such a struggle.

It was this jealousy, or shall we call it "blog envy" that motivated me to finally post a new blog entry, the first one in... err... almost exactly a year.  Fitting that that last year's entry should have been about new year's resolutions.  In the interest of full disclosure, a pinch of exhibitionism, and a walloping of masochistic exploration, let me comment on my new year's resolutions in retrospect --  meaning, in business speak, my personal KPI fulfillment in the previous year:

"

1. Re-start blogging
"

I may have tried to mislead you to hide the entire scope of my embarrassing failure on this one, but I'm too lazy to backdate posts.  The only lame excuse I have is I didn't have time.  The whole year.  I procrastinated. To 2012.  And now I'm starting again.  Hope that convinced you....

Score: 0 / 10

2. Learn Sailing

Okay, so this we started, but didn't quite get to the license.  Looking at the amount of money we sank *ahem* sailed off at the Zürichsee, I would say this one was a full hyperactive success.  We look to continue next year, perhaps with a different teacher, lake, and price plan.

Score: 7 / 10

3. play (more) violin

Do other instruments count?  Why did I put "violin"?  That's so... limiting.  The point is I started playing piano, and... no really...

Let me compose myself.  So there was violin (one time) guitar (a few times) and piano (more times).  Okay, I admit I more or less flunked this one.  The resolution for next year will be "play (some) piano"

Score: 3 / 10

4. re-discover the art of writing (to illustrate the depth of my destitution, it suffices to say that it took me 2 minutes to properly formulate this point)

I re-discover this, every time I write a corporate e-mail.  Okay, I see that wasn't too convincing.  I  did continue my journal, but did not make the world a better place with any more of my short stories.

Score: 4 / 10

5. attend more political events (like book clubs).

I did attend a book club, even if it was only in a representative role as MB's boyfriend, does that count?  I can report that book clubs are no longer really political events (apart from the Nixon biography we got to take home as a very large and hitherto unopened addition to our bookshelf). 

Oh, and plus, I tried to start a book club, but nobody came. 

Does visiting a shooting club count as a political event?

Score: 2 / 10

6. focus, instead of just on input-related activities (reading the Economist, going to museums), also on output-related activities (writing, painting)

We did this, especially at the beginning of the year (painting), before we shamelessly reverted to our consumerist selves.  However, then we lapsed a few times again.  

Score: 5 / 10, not there yet.

7. refocus on core values (like living for knowledge, insight, conversation)

WTF?  Man, those old core values seem so distant now! I live for the 25th of the month, which is when my bank account gets a bit fatter. No, seriously, to my former self: "you silly, little, naive young man!!"

Score: no longer applicable. I no longer seek conversation with mortals!

Interlude: damn, why isn't there anything here about working out??? I did work out in 2011, if my memory is correct, mostly in the beginning of the year.  Oh, and I went to the gym yesterday.  At 7 in 

the morning.  Boomyeah!

 

8. develop a certain positive attitude to work

Amm, not sure if I want to comment on this, lest someone from work find this blog...

Score: 0 / 10

9. do something crazy

 Luckily I said "something", not "things".  Because if I would have said "some crazy things" my abject failure would have been more apparent, considering I did not do anything really crazy the entire year.  I asked MB if she knew of anything, anything at all.  The best we could come up with: letting her drive my car.

Score: 3 / 10

10. learn to cook

Call Dani.  Ask him about the turkish dinner.  Call Gyuri. Ask him about the paprikascsirke.  Talk to MB.  Ask her about my meals.

Score: 8 / 10

11. continue to attempt speed reading

I  scored a late breakthrough with this one.  It was two days ago when I was reading a particularly boring article in the New Yorker.  I said to myself: "damn, I'm fast at reading this".  But I still remembered the gist:  the yakuza are . 

Score: 7 / 10

12. ...aaand the obligatory last point: go to the gym more often

Aha! Here it is!  I should just have read on....

Score: 6 / 10

Average: 4.73.  Result: F.  Ouch. Harsh.

So that was last year.  This year I have learned: no more resolutions...