2013 New Year's Resolutions

Every year, I post about new years resolutions, and I DID start a post this year, but I never finished. Whoops. Here's my update on resolutions:

2012 resolutions and how I did:
1. Finally complete the Bible Sort of. I am starting over on it because my attitude about it at the end was terrible.
2. get involved in Undergrad. Research Again, sort of. I was part of a teaching research team, that I LOVED, and will be part of again. Not what I was thinking of when I made this resolution, but it counts.
3. Learn a new programming language outside of class I messed around with javascript and perl. I wouldn't say I'm proficient in either, but I did learn a lot about new languages, and wrote one of my own (I called it daVinci, because it takes parameters in backwards order) in compilers class.
4. learn to Rollerblade on the street No. I always try to make a fun one and I so far can only skate in a rink (and even there, not well) but I didn't get this one.
5. Lose X amount of weight No. I hate this one. I make it every year, and sometimes do well, sometimes don't, but never quite make my goals. :P
6. Embroider/sew more Yes! I made a quilt out of old T-shirts
7. Learn a new ballroom dance Yes, and I'm keeping up with this one
8. Become Less Frustrated Sadly, no. There's a story behind this one that maybe I will share someday, but not today. I failed this one.
9. Write Creatively Yes, but only because I had to for Great Books class.
10. Finish reading Sherlock Holmes No, but I did learn a LOT about the character of Holmes. Not sure why he's re-arisen in popularity, but not complaining!

2013 resolutions:
This year, I did something new - I put my resolutions on a Pinterest board. I'm hoping that as I pin to it during the year, I remember to keep my resolutions. We'll see! You can find it at this link:
http://pinterest.com/elou23/2013-new-years-resolutions/

Health category:
- Get in the habit of flossing, and then whiten my teeth
- take better care of my hair (I have dry hair) and learn to french braid as a bonus
- exercise more regularly (taking a PE class at school should help here)

Hobbies category:
- learn to make a pie crust! (my roommate makes good pies, and I want to learn)
- improve my quickstep (it's a ballroom silver level dance)
- learn to tie a tie at least 2 different ways (basic and something fancy)

Head Knowledge:
- Work through the exercises in the C book to improve my C skills
- Blog weekly (obviously I'm failing this one, I'n hoping to get better though)
- Be able to complete the Friday NYT crossword without cheating (hardest one!)

Heart Knowledge:
- keep a giving journal (5 ways I gave to people, 5 people who gave to me, daily. Read it in a book)
- restart reading the Bible, with the right attitude, and finish it before 4 years (how long it took last time)
- commit to regularly attending small group and praying for other members (last semester was rough on this)

An interesting cab ride

This past weekend, I took a trip to Seattle. While there, when riding in a shuttle/taxi, my driver was listening to some Salsa music with a distinctly African flair. It was pretty catchy, but I didn't think all that much of it. Then he asked me if I minded it, or if I liked it. I said I didn't mind, at which point he told me that he'd recorded it himself. All the instrument tracks, all the vocals, he'd recorded and mixed on his own, and he was playing them in his shuttle to get feedback.

He told me he had two principles in life. First, to always be unique, and Second, to never try, but to always be a success the first time. So, in recording his CD, he played it for anyone in his car, to get their feedback so that when he publishes it, he'll be a success and not have to drive anymore.

He was from Congo, had been in the US for six years, and was super dedicated to his music. I was impressed by his confidence to ask total strangers to support his music, and so I'm writing about the experience here on my blog. I wish sometimes I had that kind of confidence.

Here's a photo of him from his facebook fan page (David Salsa):