Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! How about some bullets of twenty-eleven?

• Yes, we have to make the changeover from "two thousand and x" some time, so why not this year?
• It was heavenly not to wake up and head out to the airport the day after Christmas for MLA.
• On the other hand, that means that the new semester is coming up at the speed of light.
• And so is MLA. Where'd I put that nametag, again?
  

As I was out walking just now in the very cold winter twilight, I started thinking about resolutions for this year and was wondering this: is a resolution the same as a goal? I think of resolutions as not having an end point--something like "write more"--as opposed to goals, which are more like "write x amount each day," or "exercise more" as opposed to "lose ten pounds."

Anyway, here's what I want to remember for 2011:

• Curiosity and excitement about a project are your friends. Don't try to push them away by limiting the amount you want to do in favor of what you "ought" to do.
  
• That goes double for listening to budget doom-and-gloom from colleagues or the internets. Can you do one single thing to help the situation? If not, stop listening and just check in once in a while rather than following each twist and turn of the drama.
  
• Learn more. Write down what you learn, especially if you're piecing together something you found in an archive. You think you'll remember it. You won't.