Resolving Things

Neon Memes • Like high-school class reunions, New Year's resolutions apparently flummox many folks. Some view resolutions with all the enthusiasm of a lifelong atheist for a riverside baptism; others, with the dutiful gloom reserved for the funerals of not-all-that-close relatives. Because I accord resolutions some significance without overloading them with it, they inspire me in a small way. That is, I avoid resolving the sorts of herculean improvements that doom so many so soon after January 1: "I shall exercise faithfully enough to have the body of an Adonis by swimsuit season!" or "I shall take the year to read the collected works of Henry James!" (Regarding the former, I swim like a stone, hence own no swimsuits, hence fret not a whit over the season. Regarding the latter, experience suggests that a single year contains too little nap time to fully appreciate James.) Instead, I resolve to better myself in ways more modest and manageable―to write more, say, or to keep my bungalow more tidy. Sometimes I fail by...oh, I dunno...January 2. At other times, though, I somehow accomplish this or that―and even enjoy a bit of fun and fulfillment from doing so. ―Bryan A. Hollerbach, Managing Editor