Resolve to Resolve

So here we are, the first day of 2008. It sure doesn't feel any different than yesterday. The way people make such a big deal out of the new year (although admittedly I'm more a part of the problem than solution), you'd think that you'll wake up in the morning (i.e. mid-afternoon and hungover), and all the sudden you're life is completely different than the night before. Like the year I turned 5, I can remember waking up on the day of my birthday and looking down at my legs under the blankets and shouting to my mom that "WOW my legs are so much longer today!" (true story).

I've never been a big supporter of New Years' resolutions because I don't see a need to wait until a specific date on the calendar to work on an aspect of your life that you admittedly understand needs work. Waiting until January first to fix a problem you noticed in May is ridiculous and also setting yourself up for failure. That being said, I think this year I will travel the well-worn path of the cliche and put into stone some things that I'd like to work on this year. Firstly, I need to stop drinking so much. I don't do drugs, I don't smoke, I don't have any other unhealthy vices, but I do love my beer and my Crown Royals and gingers. Old Blackie (AKA my liver) has a lot of years ahead of him, God willing, and there have been just too many days wasted away in bed and too much money spent on bottles of advil and gravol for my liking. My body and my wallet will thank me.

Secondly, no more McDonalds. Or BK lounge. Or any of those delicious greasy delights. (I already kinda broke that last night after hitting up the Mc D's drive-thru at 4 am for a cheeseburger, but lets strike that from the record.) Cutting back on drinking will definitely help with that, since much of my fast food consumption comes from late-night drunken munchies. Keeping up with the cliche, I need to start working out more. I want to do at least 20 minutes a day every other day. I have a machine I can stick right in front of the television, so I really have no excuse. It's pure laziness, plain and simple. Blame my typical Taurus personality. I do.

Lastly, but definitely not least-ly, I am going to actively work to reduce my ecological footprint. I don't know if any of you have heard of this test, but I know I had to do it several times in high school. You have to answer 16 simple questions about your lifestyle, and then your results are tallied to tell you how many Earths it would take to sustain the human race if everyone in the world lived like you. The results and disgustingly disturbing. I consider myself to be a fairly eco-conscious person. I used only energy efficient light bulbs, take public transit to and from school (as well as the trusty shoe-lace express). I will carry around a plastic or glass bottle for hours until I can find a recycling bin, and I freak out if I see anyone put anything organic in the garbage that can go in the green bin. Despite all this, it would take (prepare yourselves!) 3.4 Earths to sustain a world population of mes'!!

You can take the test for yourself @
http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index_reset.asp?pid=5505029567305942

With that in the back of my mind, I read a book over the holidays entitled "Prophecy" by Sylvia Browne. Yes, she is a psychic, and yes there is no scientific proof to date of her powers and the accuracy of her views, but I can honestly say I read the chapter on the state of the earth over the next hundred years and it literally kept me awake with fear into the wee hours of the morning. Things such as...

--- By 2055 most people will live in domed cities due to poor atmospheric conditions.
--- Acid rain so powerful that specially-made clothing of materials mandatory in all garments
will be created for protecting human skin
--- Eradication of the glaciers. World-wide flooding, and super-heating of the Earth's
atmosphere.
Increased natural disasters often resulting in death and complete distruction of land and
human populations
--- Ozone layer thinning to the point where skin cancer is a regular occurrence, meteors and
space debris that would have once burned up upon entrance in the atmosphere will now
strike Earth's surface, with the potential to wipe out large areas of landmass


Those are some of the predictions I can remember. But there were a whole bunch more, all of which had to do with the Earth's violent reaction to way too many years of mistreatment by humans. She also discussed ancient prophecies of different cultures and religions around the world, all of which speak of a time of plague, warfare, drought and natural disaster. Needless to say, I'm scared shitless. I'm a huge believer in global warming, and I think anyone who still thinks it's a sham is an ignorant, lazy asshole who refuses to accept responsibility for himself and the future of humankind.

There's a video I once saw of a guy who explains global warming and a foolproof plan for combating global warming that both supporters and skeptics (i.e. intelligent, responsible human beings vs. Ignorant, irresponsible assholes) could both agree upon. I couldn't track down the clip again, but the long and short of it was that if we don't act and it's real, we're fooked. Period, game over and you have no marios left. If we do act, and global warming isn't real, we haven't really lost anything and I'm sure the world will be a better place for our efforts. The guy got into the economics and politics of it, but that was the jist of it.

So there you go, a couple of new years resolutions for the start of a new year. If you don't have any yet, please please please, for the sake of yourself and your children and your children's children, take better care of the Earth and make some conscious efforts to avoid biting the hand that feeds you. I'm not looking forward to starving.