This Year, Next Year

Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, When Harry Met Sally…, Columbia Pictures

I love making new year’s resolutions. If you read my recent post about the geeky joy I get from making lists, it should come as no surprise that I get a rush each December (or, honestly, months earlier when I start brainstorming) when I get the chance to make a big, ambitious bullet point list that comes with a clear expiration date, at which point it can all be wiped clean like a whiteboard.

For the past few years, my annual goals have doubled as a diary of sorts: I’ll jot down how many movies I want to see, how many new places I want to visit, and more, then I’ll turn that list into a constantly updated Word doc that helps me keep track of my day-to-day life throughout the year. It might be weird, but it works for me, and a mixture of easily attainable goals and a few relatively pie-in-the-sky ones gets me hyped to face the new year.

It’s worth noting that I don’t think new year’s resolutions are necessary or even helpful for lots of people, and that I totally get why many folks don’t do them or are bothered by the very mention of them. But they’re helpful for me – or, this thing I do that is vaguely similar but a lot more involved is helpful to me – so instead of a traditional year-in-review, I figured I’d wrap up the month by sharing a few resolutions from this year, and a few for the year to come.

(SOME OF) MY 2022 RESOLUTIONS:

• Finish 52 seasons of currently airing TV shows: Done! I’ve watched 79 so far, and 114 total seasons of TV. Counting incomplete seasons, I’ve watched over 100 currently airing shows. I have some variation of this goal on my list every year, and it’s always the easiest to meet because I am a professional couch potato and/or TV critic.
• Finish reading 30 books: Close! I’ve finished 25 books so far this year, which is down drastically from my pre-COVID, pre-moved-to-LA norm of 55 or so a year. I started having reader’s block last fall, and it’s been an oddly difficult and upsetting mental block for me to work through for me as someone who has loved spending time with a good book since I was a young kid. Still, I think 25 is a good number, and I ended up proud of some of the reading momentum I picked up this fall after this great video helped me have a bit of a breakthrough. I’ll write a bit about my favorite reads from this year in a future post.
• Post one selfie a month online: Done! This is a resolution I’ve had for the past few years, because around 2020 my body started to change and my self-esteem changed with it. I’m glad that I’ve made a routine of posting at least one cute outfit picture a month, so that I can remember that I still am capable of looking and feeling confident, even if it’s a fake it until I make it situation. Also, my brain often tells me I look really bad when I don’t, so it’s nice when friends and strangers alike can remind me that that’s a lie.
• Visit someplace interesting in or around LA once a month: Close! There were a couple of months this fall in which my enthusiasm for this dropped off, but in general, my attempts to make myself explore the massive, wonderful area I currently call home have been pretty successful. I visited an art park, a turtle pond, WeHo Pride, and a handful of farmer’s markets. I went fancy house sightseeing, took a tour of the local Little Free Libraries, and hung out on rooftop bars and at touristy restaurants. I also visited some other Southern California spots, like the little surf town San Clemente and the Danish village Solvang.
• Assorted other resolutions I had this year included: finishing Golden Girls and M*A*S*H (check), putting myself out there more in terms of dating (check), watching more movies that center queer characters (check), getting an exercise routine down (check for a few months, then I stopped), keeping in touch with family more (did not do this, unfortunately), and getting another tattoo (another nope).

But I also did so many things that weren’t on my list. I started off this year writing full-time for the first time in my life, so I didn’t put a single career goal down on my list. Despite that, this year I managed to guest on several podcasts, vote on and attend two award shows, vote on the Sight and Sound critics list, get my breaking news writing more or less down to a science, write for multiple new-to-me outlets, contribute to an upcoming book, get back into interviewing, start this Substack, and get a pull quote on a billboard. It’s been the biggest year of my life as a critic in a dozen different ways, and I didn’t plan for or anticipate any of it.

I also traveled, met some people who mean the world to me, and – I’m convinced this last one is responsible for pretty much everything else that happened this year – took some leaps of faith with my treatment for chronic illness that have left me with fewer symptoms, more energy, and a better state of mind than I’ve had in years. I couldn’t have done any of it without the support of good friends and family who have been by my side through it all, and folks who read my work (hi!). It’s been especially surreal to be in such a season of growth after cumulative grief in 2020 and 2021 left me feeling like a husk of a person for a year or so. So, yeah, all of this is really thrilling and I’m so very happy to be happy. I don’t take any of it for granted, that’s for sure.

That being said, my list-loving little brain is still eager to put together some goals for next year. Here are a few things I want to keep working on in 2023.

(SOME OF) MY 2023 RESOLUTIONS:

• Take more true days off: This is without a doubt my number one goal for 2023. During this hyper-productive year, a lot of people have asked me how I’ve done so much, and the answer isn’t exactly a healthy one. It was my first year living alone and working from home, and without roommates or coworkers to keep me in check, I was pretty much on 24/7. Every time I think I’ll have a day off the next day, I end up filling up that space with something I need to watch (without pay) for work, or, more often than not, a deadline I’m playing catch-up with after my sleep disorder or some other life thing kicked my ass and put me a day behind. I’ve realized the hard way that when you’re writing full time with no one to manage your time but you, getting one day behind can turn into being one day behind all month, which for me is among the most miserable and maddening feelings I’ve ever experienced. I need to cut that out next year for my own mental health’s sake, which means giving myself genuine days off, and managing my work time better so it’s not all bleeding together. Also, I know I’m becoming the person who has to pencil in friendships and dates and family time, and that’s just annoying.
• Watch 10 Vietnamese films: I have a few movie-watching goals for the new year, but this one might be my favorite. I’m constantly trying to decide what to watch next, and it’s typically a tug-of-war between new releases and old classics. But some of the best movies I’ve ever seen have come from much more specific watchlists, like the time I decided to watch ten movies mentioned in the documentary Horror Noire, or a half-dozen blind buys recommended to me by video store clerks. Writer Nguyên Lê is constantly championing Vietnamese cinema, and this fall he recommended some films from Vietnamese filmmakers on Twitter. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen any films from Vietnam, so I’m hoping to fix that glaring blind spot in the new year and check out some of the movies he’s written about and recommended. If you have any recs for Vietnamese cinema that aren’t already on this list, please let me know in replies!
• Use all of my paid subscriptions each month: This one’s pretty self-explanatory, and I’ve had it on my list for a few years now. If you often accidentally end up with streamers or memberships you don’t use, I can’t recommend the act of writing down what you’re paying for on a document you’ll frequently reference enough.
• Watch a full season of 5 new-to-me classic shows: Since finishing M*A*S*H, I haven’t been able to pick up much momentum on the many 20th-century shows on my watchlist, but next year, I’m hoping to catch up on a few that I’ve been wanting to watch straight through for years. On my shortlist? Cheers, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz, Hill Street Blues, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, among others.
• Do the Ritter Sport Challenge: Despite its name, this isn’t exactly a real thing. Basically, my friend came up with the idea of trying a different Ritter chocolate flavor each week until we run out of kinds to try and comparing them all to figure out our favorites. We have a spreadsheet and everything. So actually, maybe it is a real thing because we made it one. Join the #RitterSportChallenge.
• Other rather self-explanatory resolutions include: reading more books than last year, trying a totally new recipe every month (again, suggestions welcome! I’m thinking of starting with cheesy pastina if anyone has a recipe they like), pitching to a specific outlet with a column I really enjoy, and, of course, keeping up with this Substack.

Do you have any resolutions, goals, or hopes for the new year? Feel free to share ‘em in the comments, or to let me know about something you did this year that you’re proud of.

I skipped the regular newsletter this week since it landed on Christmas, but it’ll be back and supersized next week! Plus, stay tuned for an upcoming list of some of my pop culture favorites of the year.