You get an old-school Paint.net sketch today as it's cold, I'm tired, I've just written 3,000 words about Wolfenstein 2009 (read 'em here!) and I have to work tomorrow. Also I can't be bothered to go upstairs to draw something on the tablet, even though I will have to go upstairs in order to go to bed at some point. Look, it's the first day of the new year, cut me some slack, okay?

New years are, of course, times for new beginnings and a sense of refreshment and renewal. As I've commented on before, there's no real magical reason that the last digit of the date increasing by one should have any real sort of "meaning", but it always does feel like a nice time to take stock of one's situation and figure out how one might want to improve one's lot, if indeed one is in a position where one's lot needs improving.

My lot does indeed need improving in numerous ways, so while I'm not sure I want to say that these are "new year's resolutions" as such, I do at least want to set out some things I want to achieve this year:

• I will recommence dieting and stick to it for more than two weeks at a time. Two weeks appears to be something of a mental roadblock for me, so if I can survive past that, I can probably go for a lot longer. The latter half of the year hasn't really helped with all sorts of commitments that make sticking to a diet plan quite difficult, but new year, new you and all that, so both Andie and I have decided: starting from our next food shop (i.e. once all the remaining holiday "treats" are out of the house) we are both going to make a real go of it, as we could both really do with making that effort — me more than her by a considerable margin, I hasten to add.
• I will get into the habit of doing some sort of daily exercise for at least 30 minutes. This, initially, will take two different forms: using my under-desk elliptical machine to give my legs a bit of a workout and, once we have Sorted The Spare Room Out, which is a job for the imminent future, using the at-home treadmill Andie bought a while back, but which neither of us have used all that much because there isn't really a good place to put it. Sorting The Spare Room Out will involve rearranging it in such a way that said treadmill can have a semi-permanent place to live, and thus we will both (hopefully) use it a lot more.
• I will go to the doctor and see if they can do anything about my knee hurting. This is a lingering issue that is probably related to my lack of exercise and my weight problems, but it's got noticeably worse over the last couple of weeks, so I figure I should get it looked at properly.
• I will make time to play the piano for at least half an hour at a time on at least three occasions per week. Long-term I will extend the individual sessions and aim for daily practice, but I am starting with a relatively humble goal that seems achievable.
• I will do at least one piece of creative fiction writing per week.
• I will practice my drawing with the tablet.
• I will plan and begin writing an Evercade-related project that I've been milling over in my head for a long time.

There are probably some other things that I want to do, but I think that lot is a good starting point. Specific, measurable, attainable and all that nonsense. My overall "life situation" in terms of work, money and suchlike isn't in a terrible place right now, so it's the more "personal" side of things that I need to work on and fix. And while the "professional" and "financial" sides of things are comfortable, it would seem like a good time to make the "personal" comfortable too, non?

Oh, also, happy new year.

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