The big 2022 goal was to smile for the marathon cameras. I did a better job with that. Next time I need to make sure there’s enough space between me and the other runners so they don’t get in my big picture!

(Sunday Paper, Year VIII, Issue 1)

Happy New Year!

When Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on the Sunday it always throws me off a little bit.

But it works out pretty well for the Sunday Paper - I like the idea that Issue 1 of the new Roman numeral year falls on the first day of the year.

And, the way that all shakes out means this post will be the one in which I lay out some goals for the new year.

First of all, I should start by acknowledging the end of 2022.

All things considered, it wasn’t a bad year - but really all I mean by that, I think, is that it felt somewhat back to normal. So that’s a pretty low bar for a year but considering the circumstances of the past few years, I’ll take it.

Running

I hate to be that guy who talks about running all the time, but really it’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done for my physical and mental health. Running was the main focus of my goals last year, since by this time a year ago I was training for the Boston Marathon. I set a goal of running it in 4:45:00…which is not in the cards for me with Boston. (I did improve my time from the previous October by a couple of minutes.) As I wrote back in April, I am OK with being a 5-hour Boston Marathoner. That is a tough course.

2023 Goal: That said, next month I’ll run the Wilmington Marathon. My goal is to set a marathon PR (personal record). I’m not going to put a number on it, but since there are no huge hills, I’m just hoping to run this marathon faster than Boston. You may remember last year I ran the half marathon in Wilmington. It was surprisingly fast…so I’m hoping the flatness of this course makes it a good marathon for someone at my skill level.

Beyond that, I’m hoping to run another marathon in the fall. I decided this weekend I’m almost positive I’ll run Chicago in October, but I’ll need to do a fundraiser to do so. Maybe I’ll do another Super Bowl pool. That’s fun for everybody.

Work

2022 was another good year for my freelance writing life. It’s still surprising to me (and I am grateful) that I’m able to earn my living this way. I haven't written off comedy…I guess I’m just reluctant to start all over from the beginning in the scene again. Maybe I’ll take that step this year. We’ll see. I probably need to evaluate my material. That said, this year I would like to write more creatively in that sense: more jokes, some humorous pieces, just more non-work writing in general.

2023 Goal: I think the big thing to accomplish this is to schedule better. I have to make the time in my work day for work writing and creative writing. (And adjunct work…which can dominate my time if I don’t do this kind of segmenting of my day.) The calendar/planner I bought a couple of months ago gives me the ability to divide up my time this way, I just haven’t used it like that yet. So I will try to get better at that in the new year, and maybe end up with some more pieces that I’ll try to get published.

And that’s it. I think the other thing that stands in the way of my comedy life is that the past couple of years showed me that I really like just being home with my family. Some of the most exciting aspects of 2023 are family-related - the girls are all doing new and exciting activities, and we’ll be taking our first family trip to Disney this year. It was nice taking the trips to New York during football season…it would be nice to be able to keep that up in some fashion.

There’s a lot to look forward to in the new year. I hope it’s good to you, and I look forward to continuing to tell you about mine here.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

One last roundup of the albums I’ve listened to and the movies I’ve watched:

“Music Of The Spheres” - Coldplay
“Belinda” - Belinda Carlisle
“Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” - Sarah McLachlan
“Surfacing” - Sarah McLachlan
“In The Heat Of The Night” - Pat Benatar
“Blonde On Blonde” - Bob Dylan
Die Hard 2
Pitch Perfect 2
Logan
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical

That’s a wrap. It’s not an official goal for 2023, but I’d like to continue to find inspiration in the work of others. It doesn’t have to be by watching a movie at a clip that amounts to every other day…but maybe once a week or so.

The final numbers, for those of you keeping score at home: 191 albums, 174 movies. For what it’s worth, I made it to 365.

Notes

*Not much to add this week other than the fact that in a shocking development, a lot of other results went the Jets’ way last week. So they now need just a little bit of help to have a chance to get a playoff spot - but they also need to win both of their final two games. Winning has been a problem lately…so we’ll see what happens. But since the girls don’t go back to school until Tuesday I’ll head down to New York today for a final Jets-watching hurrah.

*The social media links are below. We’ll see if I do more at all of them in the new year…but that running account continues to grow! That’s the one to check out if you want regular updates.