Thursday, January 1, 2009

New Year, New Blog

me with friends, New Years Eve 2009

In honor of 2009, I've decided to finally start a blog. And what better place to start than with a few New Year's resolutions? Here's what I've got so far... feel free to make suggestions!

1. Eat five fruits a week. I'm serious - I am not a big fruit fan. But as a scientist, I am pretty sure they are like the healthiest thing out there. I don't count tomatos as fruit - I eat a ton of those already.

2. Shower for pleasure more. I don't necessarily need to shower every day out here in Northern California, since it's so dry. But I enjoy it, and showering relaxes me and refocuses my attention.

3. Exercise twice a week. I generally play basketball on Fridays, but I'm getting kind of paunch in the jowl, so it's time to step it up a notch. Plus, it's social and fun and gets me out of the lab.

4. Enjoy the present moment. After several years in a lab, it's easy for work to become routine and for time to slip away. It's also easy to think ahead to the results. I want to be more conscious of my experiences and enjoy them more.

5. Find a postdoc. I have enjoyed my time in graduate school, but intellectually I'm itching to move on.

6. Avoid flame wars. I have strong opinions on religious and political issues, so it's easy to get into fights. But the elections are over and I don't want to waste time and energy arguing (especially with loved ones).

7. Communicate more with friends and family. It's hard when so many people in my life live so far away. I need to establish routines of communication. Maybe this blog will help.

8. Think, love, explore, accomplish, enjoy. These are general goals that I keep from year to year.

I make different resolutions every year, and these seemed like the biggies this time around. I'm astounded at how much I've grown and changed in 2008 alone. Life is truly a vast and amazing experience. It can only be appreciated when you look back at the trail and see how far you've come.

--

10 comments:

YZF said...

FIRST COMMENT EVER!

I like your advice about the fruit, I'm gonna try that.

Anonymous said...

Great! How about more vegetable and fish?

DF said...

So that leaves Sim...

daaronr said...

How did your last year's resolutions come out? I bet you can keep the fruit one: fruit is awesome! New Years party looked fun, sorry I missed it, but it was nice being with my family and spending time with my adorable nieces.

Margo said...

Do you still count juice as fruit? Just making sure you don't mean five glasses of yummy, sugary OJ a day. I'm also in full support of daily showering (as long as I don't have to do the same) ;)

Anonymous said...

Daily showering can be a little harsh on the skin. I recommend applying a little baby oil or lotion all over before toweling off.

Ideally you should get a cardiovascular work-out 3-4 times per week and about 30 minutes per week of resistence exercise.

Samurai Scientist said...

@YZF,
I like your advice about the fruit, I'm gonna try that.

The fruit resolutions seems to have resonated with everyone for some reason!

@sugarbun,
Great! How about more vegetable and fish?

Good idea. I already eat a lot of veggies, but I would like to get more fish in my diet (preferably not the kind that comes in a can).

@David,
How did your last year's resolutions come out?

I think I lost 'em. No excuse next year.

New Years party looked fun, sorry I missed it, but it was nice being with my family and spending time with my adorable nieces.

You were missed, but glad you enjoyed.

@Margo,
Do you still count juice as fruit? Just making sure you don't mean five glasses of yummy, sugary OJ a day.

Thanks, ref. I actually mean real fruit. I can't afford juices anymore, anyways. All I drink these days is water (which has shaved about ten pounds off my body weight, btw).

@aba,
Ideally you should get a cardiovascular work-out 3-4 times per week and about 30 minutes per week of resistence exercise.

Thanks for the advice. For now, I'm aiming low, but maybe I can build up to an ideal regimen over time.

therapydoc said...

I like your resolutions, but I mostly like your friends! You all seem like such a gentle lot.

eliasds said...

My favorite of your resolutions is number 4: enjoy the moment. I think you are right. It's easy to get caught up with work (or whatever we may be doing) and forget to enjoy time and what we have and the people we know. I also want to spend more time enjoying life. L'Chaim!

PS. I love that picture!

hobie said...

Hmm, can I disagree about not needing a daily shower? . . . Congrats on entering the blogosphere.