One of the high-frequency words this season is resolution. Change is another word that has seen its fair share of the red carpet. It turned out to be one of the most effective and used words of 2008. The Times article on the topic of change/resolutions makes a good point when it says: "“We’re hard-wired not to change quickly,” Dr. Jacobs said. “Think of what chaos would ensue if you could snap your finger and change instantly tomorrow. You would be one person today, someone else tomorrow.”"
Another bit says:
"In a season of change, in a year of change, most people who embark on a journey of self-renewal can expect anything but. Research shows that about 80 percent of people who make resolutions on Jan. 1 fall off the wagon by Valentine’s Day, according to Marti Hope Gonzales, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Such revelations will hardly come as a surprise to the repeat offenders and recidivists — that is, most of us — who year after year make, and break, the same resolutions."
Moral of the story, when making resolutions, the key ingredient of the pie is realism.
Read more here.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Best Blog I Read Today
Great paragraphs.
"Sometime in the next week - January 1st if you have that available, or maybe January 3rd or 4th if the weekend is more convenient - I suggest you hold a New Day, where you don't do anything old.
Don't read any book you've read before. Don't read any author you've read before. Don't visit any website you've visited before. Don't play any game you've played before. Don't listen to familiar music that you already know you'll like. If you go on a walk, walk along a new path even if you have to drive to a different part of the city for your walk. Don't go to any restaurant you've been to before, order a dish that you haven't had before. Talk to new people (even if you have to find them in an IRC channel) about something you don't spend much time discussing.
And most of all, if you become aware of yourself musing on any thought you've thunk before, then muse on something else. Rehearse no old grievances, replay no old fantasies.
If it works, you could make it a holiday tradition, and do it every New Year."
Read more here.
"Sometime in the next week - January 1st if you have that available, or maybe January 3rd or 4th if the weekend is more convenient - I suggest you hold a New Day, where you don't do anything old.
Don't read any book you've read before. Don't read any author you've read before. Don't visit any website you've visited before. Don't play any game you've played before. Don't listen to familiar music that you already know you'll like. If you go on a walk, walk along a new path even if you have to drive to a different part of the city for your walk. Don't go to any restaurant you've been to before, order a dish that you haven't had before. Talk to new people (even if you have to find them in an IRC channel) about something you don't spend much time discussing.
And most of all, if you become aware of yourself musing on any thought you've thunk before, then muse on something else. Rehearse no old grievances, replay no old fantasies.
If it works, you could make it a holiday tradition, and do it every New Year."
Read more here.
Anna Wintour's New Year's Resolution?
I like Vogue. I just find it too predictable. Moreover, I get annoyed sometimes by all the praise that's thrown Anna Wintour's way as if she is the only one with any understanding of the text of clothing.
Granted, Wintour is insightful. Brilliant, actually. Vogue's editor par excellence has been leading American Vogue with an almost Thatcher-esque hand. What I have been observing is that the magazine keeps featuring the same celebrity faces on the cover. There's Gwyneth. There's Reese. There's Rachel. And then we start from the top again. Wait, what about the fluidity of fashion and most importantly the versatility of beauty?
I am also a fan of constancy and that's where I get sold on Wintour's choices. As much as I'm thrilled by novelty, I also love and appreciate well constructed routines and patterns. And Wintour's been providing the latter with Swish watch-like precision.
However, I do feel that the magazine could innovate more and bore me less.
Like I mentioned, I enjoy Vogue and I want to continue to support it but in order for me and people who feel like me to do so, a faster speed and active awareness to quotidianity is needed.
I just saw this on the Times this morning. I'm not the only one who's been feeling that Vogue is not being too daring and explorative. This is a very well-written piece. And no, it's not just about fashion. It just never was.
"Many do not seem to know how to relate to women in their 20s, except to throw celebrity pictures and clothes at them. Although the median age of its readers has hovered around 34 since Ms. Wintour became editor, in 1988, you don’t feel that the magazine has considered how changes like social networks and Web-based subcultures have influenced women’s ideas about themselves. This lack of awareness is reflected in Vogue’s pages."
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