Happy New Year!

I have said before that I do not make New Year's resolutions but I have decided there are a few things I am willing to try for 2006. I may not succeed but the following can serve as a general guide to improving my life (or others') in the coming year:

1) Try to be less grumpy--I tend to have the disposition of a grumpy old man--at least that is what people tell me. I feel happy this way but if it is raining on other people's parade, maybe I can try to put on a fake smile or laugh once in a while. Of course, then people get mad because I look like I am faking being happy. Maybe my resolution should be that I cannot please everyone.

2) Quit reading the Star and National Enquirer for all my entertainment needs--Hollywood Stars really do not deserve our hard earned money to keep themselves in the limelight. There is satellite radio, alternative artists and documentaries to keep me entertained at a higher level of intellectual engagement than the tabloids, although I love them dearly. To tell you the truth, I find the tabloids sometimes report news more accurately than the MSM or provide information that I normally would not see much of in the MSM. Case in point. I was reading The National Enquirer this week and found that Karla Homolka, a three time killer, is being released from prison in Quebec with no restrictions after serving only 12 years (she helped cops put away her husband for life, although he reports that one of the killings was done by Karla alone). I would not have seen this if it was not for The National Enquirer. Where are all the celebrities in an outrage over Karla getting out without supervision to roam the streets? Oh, well, another good reason to quit supporting tabloids that give press to celebrities and their pitiful causes.

3) Quit reading women's magazines. Okay, they are just plain depressing and downright dumb. I was treated to a copy of More magazine while getting my hair cut the other day and here are just a few tidbits I read before figuring out that staring at the salon ceiling and humming to myself presented a more tranquil and relaxing afternoon than thumbing through this trash. One of the articles contained the First Annual Media awards for women over 40 in the media. I know you will be shocked to hear that Cindy Sheehan made the list as "the woman we want on our team" and Maureen Dowd was chosen as "the needle of hope in the haystack of despair" award for her book, Are Men Necessary? If Maureen Dowd is your idea of hope for women in the media, I say, how low have we sunk?

Another enlightening article was on Mary Mapes starting over after she, Dan Rather, and CBS became the unfair targets of partisian bloggers! The only saving grace in this heroine-turned-victim saga is that her estranged father called a conservative radio talk show to claim she had always been a liberal and worse yet, a "radical feminist." Sometimes, father does know best.

4) Finally, read more blogs in 2006! There are so many blogs out there that I really enjoy. Just a few of my favorites are Ann Althouse, Asymmetrical Information, and David Bernstein and Dave Kopel at the Volokh Conspiracy. The blog I admired most in 2005 is Tas's blog who, despite being a liberal blogger, had the guts to stand up to the authoritarian lefty bloggers and tell it like it is.

So that is my list, I hope I can live up to it!

Update: Finally, someone likes me just the way I am!