2011

Yeah, I know it isn't quite the end of the year, and is therefore premature to offer up the annual retrospecticus. But as part of the ongoing thought process about re-tooling my "try new stuff" project, it occurred to me that I might want to look at 2011's accomplishments before trying to finalize a to-do list for 2012.

One of the things I resolved to do in 2011 was to reduce the number of obscure Star Trek references within this blog. I have clearly failed. Perhaps I just need to embrace my nerdiness and recognize that all the normal people in the world will continue to view me as a puzzling aberration. I like to think, though, that I am an amusing aberration (after all, people do occasionally point at me and laugh...so they MUST be recognizing my sense of humor, right?), but if nothing else, I'll just try to take pride in the fact that I help with cultural diversity by exposing mainstream America to the richness and color that encrusts the world of the unmitigated dweeb.

But I'm not alone. The graphic above came from a fellow from Pennsylvania named Tony Phyrillas. I like the picture a lot, not only for its obvious visual pun, but also for its thought-provoking juxtaposition of a bio-engineered megalomaniac against traditions of Nativity. If I were in graduate school right now, I'd probably write my thesis about how Khan's story parallels that of the New Testament. After all, he was conceived through nonstandard processes, visited by three wise men (Kirk, Spock, McCoy), had disciples, had a close relationship with the creator of a world, and was ultimately put to death by those who had originally admired him. There was also the theme of the One who gave himself as the savior of the Many, and then, of course--the subsequent resurrection.

Wow. I had never thought of any of this until I saw that wreath. And if I wanted to really stretch it, I'd also comment about how Scotty eventually got fat...just like Santa Claus. And after all, he's the guy who harnesses the dilithium "reindeer" that can fly around the world, delivering (ie, "beaming") gifts to the good boys and girls. I mean, seriously...Wow! That's a whole lot more symbolism and philosophical mileage than anyone got out of my simplistic "Mr. Tebow" picture from yesterday.

Anyway, the point is that I didn't do that well on my 2011 resolutions. Oh, I did play guitar some, and I did limit my tendency to blame all Irish people for the transgressions of U2. But I did NOT live up to my promise to torture the swim team more in order to make them tougher. I'm still too much of a softie, letting them get away with enjoying practices and making friends...instead of forcing them to do crushing workouts full of butterfly and no breathers. Maybe I can develop the requisite toughness next year, but I'm sure if you'd ask them, they'd all complain that I'm far too mellow and generous. Sigh.

My buddy Kim came up with another good suggestion for 2012. Instead of doing a "new thing a day" for a month, he suggested that I choose 30 new things to do and sprinkle them throughout the coming year. That would give me more flexibility, and would allow me to pick more interesting and challenging items than I could do if I was forced to cram these tasks into days that were already full with other obligations. I think I'm going to do that, and I'd like to be able to share a semi-complete list with you sometime around the first of the year. If you have any suggestions for things I could try, please let me know.

In the meantime, I'd urge you to go back and look at your 2011 resolutions. If you haven't yet accomplished them all, there still might be time to nail a few of 'em. Let me know how it goes.

Good luck, and have a great day!