In 2003, Sycamore will...

[elSicomoro]

attempt to make his life better by doing the following:

--Finding a real job
--Reducing my debt by a substantial amount
--Using fewer emoticons on the Cellar
--Quitting smoking for good
--Completely cleaning the apartment and throwing away shit that doesn't need to be here anymore
--Cooking more
--Exercising more (we got a good start on this in mid-2002, but tailed off in the past month)
--Putting patio furniture on the patio this summer
--Buying a car (even if it's just a rusted-out hulk that gets me from point A to point B)
--Buying a PS2 (if you really want me to break it down, I will, but trust me...this will make my life better)

It may sound a bit audacious, but I see them as relatively easy to accomplish (except for the first one). Feel free to add your own.

[slang]

--Finding a real job.....I have an in with God, maybe he can hook you up with Rendell.

--Reducing my debt by a substantial amount.....put a number on the goal and make a sticker to put on all financial instruments (credit cards, etc) The chances you will hit the goal increase dramatically if you do this.

--Using fewer emoticons on the Cellar ....why?

--Quitting smoking for good.....you can help Al quit too while yer attit.

--Completely cleaning the apartment and throwing away shit that doesn't need to be here anymore....or take it to the salvation army for a tax credit then use the return money to pay down your debt

--Cooking more...pizzas, wings and cheese steaks, good call, saves money too. Helps a lot with second goal.

--Exercising more (we got a good start on this in mid-2002, but tailed off in the past month)....find a secure location 3 blocks from your job to park the car every day. That way you will be forced to walk. if walking is a direct part of your routine, you will do it.

--Putting patio furniture on the patio this summer....in the summer, I'm guessing.

--Buying a car (even if it's just a rusted-out hulk that gets me from point A to point B)...buy a Segway

--Buying a PS2 (if you really want me to break it down, I will, but trust me...this will make my life better)....I believe it, if it keeps a person occupied and from doing other things that may be costly or unhealthy.

Nice list Syc, it's a lot like mine.

[hermit22]

Sounds a lot like me too. I'll chime in with mine:

-Reprise my 4.0 last quarter (first time ever!) both here and in Turkey.
-Exercise more. I was great at that until about the middle of this last quarter, when I suddenly no longer had the time.
-Quit my job. It's treating me like crap and paying me similarly, but it's hard to quit after 3+ years, even though I'm comfortable, have a paid research position coming up, and don't really need more money than that job will provide.
-Get involved. I assume that that requires dropping the books more often and going out with friends, and being less shy when I do. I dunno, I used to have it, now it's gone.
-Set up some kind of a research tracking system. I have tons of articles clogging up my inbox and my hard drive, but I have no way of keeping track of what goes to what. I've half-written various programs to do this, but they fall out of use.
-Win again in mun/mal. This is more of a group thing, but I'd like to show some kind of leadership role.
-Relieve some debt. I only have about $1k of debt right now, but it would be great to have that set at $0.
-Post to my blog more. And make it look halfway decent.

Ok, that sounds like a nice insurmountable list.

[warch]

As I am at work on New Year's eve
Let's see...I aspire to
1. Move at least one hour each day -bike, walk, swim, skate.
2. Cook cool new things. (2003 is officially my year of the fish and those mysterious veggies I never know what to do with) And start "Soup Club".
3. Take some classes- the urge is some sort of artmaking- drawing/ printmaking.(I think the accordion was a pipedream.)
4. Get a new passport.
5. Save $ to use the new passport.
6. See more movies on the big screen.
7. Work on Home - lots of projects- new lights, vent, back stairs, stone patio, get the spouse's music room together, grow more food.
8. Read more, TV less.
9. Be a local tourist and explore stuff that's right here.
10. Be on time to work in the morning.

This year, I resolve to...

• Be a better person. A bit nicer, more smiles to my check-out clerks and more donations to those who need it more than I. I am low on funds right now due to an incident at my home, but I plan to start back up once I'm on track again.
  
• Spend more time with Jenni. I'm getting the better end of this deal and I want to make it more even. I spend a lot of time by myself, which I'm perfectly happy with. I don't have enough time to do everything I want, and I tend to neglect her because of this. I have been working at putting this to an end, and I resolve to keep doing so. That means fewer minutes spent in front of a computer.
  
• Work out more and keep moving toward getting in shape. The fire kind of ruined my schedule, but I'm back on it Thursday and hope to make up lost ground by the end of January. I hope to be mostly in shape by 2004.
  
• Listen to all these comedy CDs. Thanks to everyone who pitched in, I definitely appreciate it (they're all here now).
  
• Engineer the death of Joann. Because I still hate that bitch.
  
• Eat lunch with Tony. You twat, get down here.

[elSicomoro]

Hey Dave, how about finally getting a drivers license so that I can drive my sorry ass up to Philadelphia?

[Undertoad]

That's great man, your resolution requires ME to do work. That'll never fly!

My own new year's rez is for everyone else around me to GAIN weight so that I look thinner in comparison.

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by dave

Engineer the death of Joann. Because I still hate that bitch

I guess that means that the trick with the boobytrapped Christmas tree didn't work, eh?

Eat lunch with Tony. You twat, get down here.

Philly is clearly the navel of the Universe. Get your D/L and c'mon up. You can even get a non-resident carry permit for your Glock here.

[wolf]

Syc, bag everything else and just get the PS2.

And a copy of GTA:Vice City.

You won't have time for anything else, so don't worry about the rest of the resolutions.

[perth]

my new years resolutions:

- continue deshitting my life. i have too much stuff, and its about time i got rid of some of it.
- quit smoking (this is an ongoing battle).
- lose 40 pounds. im 240 right now and i think i would look much better and feel much better at a trim 200.
- start school. i have no excuse not to. im just lazy.
- learn to do neat things with the dremel tool i got for christmas.
- be more aware of the world around me. since coming to the cellar, ive found myself more interested in politics and the world in general. so thanks for that everybody.
- continue raising my son the best way i know how, and teach him everything i can. he just learned to count to 5 today.

~james

[elSicomoro]

Originally posted by slang
I have an in with God, maybe he can hook you up with Rendell.

Community Relations Advisor or LCB board member would be sweet!

Using fewer emoticons on the Cellar ....why?

I overuse them. I like them, but use them too much for my own good. I'd rather people try to "get" my humor on their own sometimes, rather than me lead them to it with the emoticons.

take it to the salvation army for a tax credit then use the return money to pay down your debt

Hmmm...interesting. Never really even thought about it. Thanks for the tip.

pizzas, wings and cheese steaks, good call, saves money too. Helps a lot with second goal.

But if that's all I ate, I would be in trouble. I gotta eat healthier too. It's something we've been getting better at over the past year and a half, but I want to take it further. No vegetarianism or elimination of all guilty pleasures...just eating healthier.

find a secure location 3 blocks from your job to park the car every day. That way you will be forced to walk. if walking is a direct part of your routine, you will do it.

Now Slang, if you really read the Manifestos on a regular, you would know that I take the commuter train to work. I'm disappointed in you.

I had a nice routine down, where I would walk from a bus stop 6 blocks away to my apartment in the evening. Then I started doing it in the morning. But then I started taking commuter rail, so it all went out the window. But now I can walk from Market East Station to work in the morning, and vice versa in the evening, which recovers 2/3 of my original exercise routine. I can fill in the rest during lunch hour.

buy a Segway

A Segway HT i167 is currently $4950. I could find a halfway-decent car for under $2K.

I believe it, if it keeps a person occupied and from doing other things that may be costly or unhealthy.

Well, having a PS2 can be costly (games, memory cards) and unhealthy (*syc suspiciously eyes wolf*). Overall though, if used moderately, I think it's a great entertainment device. We'll probably hold off on buying one until the spring.

And that's probably a good bet. They're getting ripe for a price drop, mostly to hurt Microsoft. We'll see.

PS2 essentials and prices as seen by Dave

- console, $200
- spare controller, $25
- memory card double pack, $40 (cheaper than just buying two, and you'll want the second one eventually)
- grand theft auto: vice city, $50

Now, if you're just going 1-player for a while and want to trim costs, you can drop the second controller and memory card, which puts your start-up cost at around $275. GTA will keep you occupied for a long while if you really get into it. There are a host of other great games though, many of which can be had pretty cheap. In particular, I would recommend Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 ($20). It's not the latest in the series, but it is definitely a steal for the price now that it's on the Greatest Hits lineup. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is also $20 now and should be had if you ever played and liked the first one.

Pretty much anything on this list is worth having - just read the review first and try to determine if you'd like it.

http://ps2.ign.com/scores_9.html

[elSicomoro]

Actually, you can get a used/reconditioned/whatever PS2 through Game Stop for $150. That's where Rho got my PSX...it was reconditioned--$80. New ones were in the neighborhood of $100-120 at the time (late '99). They come with limited warranties, but I've never had a problem with it.

I wouldn't mind GTA, but I'm not real big into the action games. I prefer the sports titles...by the time I get a PS2 though, it might not be worth it to buy Madden '03. By that time, I can probably get FIFA '04. We'll see...I don't see myself getting a PS2 until April at this point.

[slang]

Originally posted by sycamore
Community Relations Advisor or LCB board member would be sweet!

What would you like about these 2 positions? If you landed one of them would you stay in Philli? How would having that job change your life?

And.....would you wear your pimpin' coat?

[elSicomoro]

LCB...well that's simple. Booze! And maybe I can help convince the Commonwealth to finally sell it off to private industry. (Fuck the union.)

Community Relations...picture me coming to your town, trying to sell Big Ed's latest pitch, or explaining Big Ed's latest gaffe. Truth be told, I don't think the state has roving community relations people, but it would be pretty damned cool. I know how to relate to people...I've lived in the big city, the suburbs, and small town America. Plus, I have a psychology degree, which could prove useful in some situations.

I don't know if I'd actually stay in the City of Philadelphia. If I were assigned to handle the western portion of the state as a point man, to live here would be silly. If I got paid really well, we might stay in the city...otherwise, we're heading out to the 'burbs. And Rho is too much of a city girl to dig the country.

How would these change my life? Well...more money...self-explanatory. And I'd be working with my fellow Pennsylvanians to make the Commonwealth a better place for all. (How's that?)

Pimpin coat goes everywhere. But you see slang, pimpin coat is adaptable. Pimpin coat looks good as I stroll down Market Street, or as I walk down Front Street in East Bumblefuck Township. It looks cool when I'm hanging with the old folks, and when I'm down with the young peeps. About the only times pimpin coat isn't the best choice is if I'm either hunting in the woods or going to a local bar. In those situations, I would break out the camo (the former) or throw some Penn State gear on (the latter).