Resolutions: A Charging Interests Comeback

 (Alya's love for superimposed dogs inspired this nightmarish post)

Just when the three of you thought Charging Interests was dead, I'm attempting a comeback of Tiki Barber-like proportions.  And just like that joke, this may get a little rough before it never gets better...

My life has been a whirlwind since graduating college.  Before I could even blink, I got my foot in the door with a very good oil and gas company and moved to downtown Houston.  Then, before I could fully fathom that my test-taking days (not to mention days of hooky) were over, Christmas had already passed and I was storing our shabby, poorly decorated tree back into my apartment closet.  I hadn't read anything that didn't involve expense report-spreadsheets or new hire policies in over two months.  (Luckily I put an end to that by starting East of Eden last week).  I still haven't taken a day of vacation since I started in June.  I guess the real world has hit me harder than reality hit Adam Morrison's career.

 (Yes, that is the same hat being used as our star.  Also, someone robbed our superfluous amount of presents.)

I typically think of New Years Resolutions as magical ideas where you can feasibly pretend that yesterday's problems will be solved by tomorrow.  If only life worked out like an episode of The Brady Bunch.  (I'm much more inclined to believe that it works out closer to The Wonder Years, right down to the fact that your sister gets with pre-Friends Ross and no one ends up with Winnie Cooper.)   Turns out that if you have a few problems on New Years' Eve, they're still going to be there when you wake up the next day in your neighbor's broken hot tub.  (#48: "Going for family friendly shock value" is on this year's resolution list.  So is #11: "lying for the sake of the post".  I actually woke up comfortably, albeit freezing, on a Hydra bed this year.)

This year I feel like more than ever I need a little of that magic that exists on New Years.  I'm tired of being a cautious, cynical drone who acts a little too much like a side character in his own life.  (What is this, the last part of Huck Finn?)  I'm not sure what's in store for me in 2012 (besides Doomsday, of course), but resolutions have been pouring out of me faster than an LSU fan's tears.  (Trash talk coming from a dispassionate Aggie fan? Just a variation of Resolution #21: Jump on more hate bandwagons.)

My resolutions this year range from absurd (#12: Drive to Maine), to ambitious (#4: Run 15 miles a week), to serious (#1: Give my real problems to God).  Despite my lofty goals (#17: Write a book with attempted substance), it's refreshing to know that although I haven't proven it much lately, my life passions haven't been completely muzzled. 

There's a lot of chaos and mystery floating around regarding my uncertain future, but I can feel a little New Year's Resolution magic floating around me harmoniously.

..but then again, I guess it's just a little hope.

-PB