so did i say what a great time we had in las vegas for new year’s eve? i loved it. thousands and thousands of people roaming the streets happy and festive and drunk, good times and several of my best friends and large football-shaped plastic beers. shame i passed out completely in our room around 12:45 — not because i was sleepy and didn’t want to party, but because i was out cold. when i say out cold, i mean to the point where i was dragged off the bed and onto the floor without waking up, then subjected to various torments without batting an eye. the pictures shall remain unposted here.

another thing about vegas was that some dudes were shilling t-shirts down on the street while we walked, which i never even bothered to look at. i don’t know if this was a slogan on the shirts for sale, or just a clever sales pitch, but one big happy black guy was waving one yelling, “no jive in ’05,” which we instantly picked up for its straightforward and catchy message. frankly, i think it’ll be the perfect theme for the upcoming year, so it is with that sentiment i’ll try to lay down some resolutions.

— read more and talk more about it; i.e. don’t get dumber

i’d love to read more in terms of quantity of books, etc., but there are simple limits of time involved there. more importantly, i think, is having a point to reading. not just consuming but using it to generate ideas and start discussions, which will only help things sink in better, and which i don’t do often enough.

— write more and better; i.e. don’t get lazy

hone those skills. and writing does make a person smarter, i am convinced, so this will also feed into the above. aided by new project, TBA.

— start more conversations; i.e. don’t get boring

i think i go in waves of being very social and getting the hang of the whole ‘outgoing’ thing, then i balk at the ledge and rubber band back into a reclusive nerd state. this should get worked out. going out is good. interacting is good. this is a non-gender-specific goal, although of course there is a built-in handicap for talking to girls.

— get a raise, promotion, or just feel like i’m doing a better job at advancing my career; i.e. don’t get complacent

this will mark the first year of my life where i’m in a great job, and it’s really starting to be up to me to turn that into an even better job. advancing from intern to assistant, assistant to employee were easy moves. now it’s time to make sure i keep making progress toward advancement. no cutthroat tactics allowed, just being awesome at what i do.

— stay informed and participate somehow in the progressive political arena; i.e. don’t get apathetic

last year, i voted. this year i need to do more than just ink up a scantron form to make the world a better place. this should start with staying on top of things and speaking about it with my friends, but should entail some actual involvement at some point.

— go at least one place i’ve never been; i.e. don’t get settled

this doesn’t mean a new restaurant in LA. this means a new city, park, country, planet, whatever. if there’s a good restaurant there, that is fine.

— maintain or increase level of fitness; i.e. don’t get fat

generic claim as usual. if gut starts to form at any point in the coming year, take immediate and drastic actions to circumvent. and seriously brian, use that sweet mountain bike this year. maybe take it off some sweet jumps.

— enjoy, enjoy, enjoy; i.e. don’t get old

sure i have tivo now and i could spend a lot of time on the couch. i mean, TV can be really awesome (the O.C.?). but i will be 24 years old for most of this year, so it should absolutely be a year filled with sex and drugs and rock and roll shows. cliche or not, this will probably be an annual resolution from now on — i guess until i reach some point where being old sounds more fun and i can start smoking cigars and wearing a fedora.

and of course, let us not forget: no jive in ’05.