So polite.

Here in Korea, and I'm sure in neighbouring countries as well, they sometimes have mechanical dolls that repeat recordings and bow to passers by. It is a bit creepy, but in this case,rather funny. The little girl does a rather good job of imitating the polite bow of the robot.

‘Appy New ‘Ear

It is that time of year again. It is that time when we make New Year’s Resolutions and do our utmost to have them survive beyond the 3^rd of January.

The idea of New Year’s resolutions dates back all the way to the Babylonians who would promise their gods that they would return borrowed objects that year. The Romans who would promise Janus, the god of new beginnings and transitions, that they would be better people that year. Janus, by the way, is where we get the name January from. That seems like a fun ritual for a New Year’s tradition.

Me, I just don’t make resolutions for the New Year. I never have and I never will. I just don’t see the point. If it is important enough to do it, then do it now. If you decide on the 3^rd of December that losing weight, getting fit, eating healthier, then why put it off. Maybe you wanted to be nicer to other people or make more money, whatever. Just start now. It is important so do it!

I do have New Year’s resolutions, in a manner of speaking. This coming year will bring some big changes and I will have to adapt. My resolutions have to do with what I will do when the time comes. I hope to move closer to Seoul, which means I can go to museums and galleries more often. I hope to share an apartment with a friend, so I can cook more often, eat healthier and not waste the food. I will also be closer to a decent transport hub making traveling easier.

Oddly enough I have been working on a list of things I can do now and I will be implementing the list soon, in the New Year period. I would have done it earlier had I not been so lazy (Don’t be so lazy this year, fool)

After all of those anti-resolution words, I do have one or two helpful tit bits for your new year. First up is a document that I found a few years back called A Simple View of the Year. I can’t remember where, but I think someone posted it on Facebook. I modified it a bit and cleaned it up to look neater than it did, but it is still just a piece of paper that gives you a full view of the year. You black out the days as they are done. I usually black out days that I spent in some sort of productive way and in that way I can see how much of the year I have wasted and how much is have left to use. I saved the document on my Google drive. It does not display properly on that, but you can download the document in Microsoft Word format and print it out from that.

The second useful titbit is a podcast I listened to this morning on the way to school. It is an episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind called New Year’s Life Hacks. In it they describe ways to improve your mental and physical state and make keeping all those new resolutions going longer. I found the part about having limited daily decision potential fascinating. I think I will be on my morning routine a bit more.

Happy New Year everyone and hope this year is fruitful in all the right ways.