New Year's Resolution: The Musical

[evilhippo]

So, as most of you are probably aware, apple_pathways and I have an ongoing musical battle going on, in which we challenge each other to come up with playlists for random things. She tripped me up pretty badly by asking for my favorite holiday songs, and I (apparently) caused just as much trouble with the current challenge: New Year's resolutions, the musical! At least three songs you yourself would be willing to sing in response to "What is your resolution this year?



Prologue:
Ready to Start - The Arcade Fire
Businessmen drink my blood
Like the kids in art school said they would
And I guess I'll just begin again
You say can we still be friends

It's always good to know where you stand before you start making resolutions. As overplayed comparatively lackluster popular as this song is, it pretty much describes my stance coming in to this year: At the mercy of corporate America and looking for a new beginning. I hope I can shrug it off as easily as this song suggests.

Three Resolutions, in order of amount of ambition required:

1) Cross-Country Atom and His Package Tour Via Bicycle - Atom and His Package
I want to ride my bike with Mike across the country
I'll record the package's music, yeah, I'll burn a set on CD
Some will complain, though duh, it's the same thing
I'll build a weird looking hollow box with lots of lights on it flashing

Actually, I just like the idea of singing this in response to the question because all I have to do is shout "I WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE WITH MIKE ACROSS THE COUNTRY" and people will probably stop asking me questions immediately. The main issue here is that I'd have to find someone named Mike that'd want to ride his bike cross-country as well, and I'd also need to build a box of flashing lights (but maybe that's something I want to do anyway).

2) Paperback Writer - The Beatles
Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It's based on a novel by a man named Lear
And I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

Okay, so this is closer to my actual resolution. I don't know about paperbacks, but I do aim to write more this year. I don't know if I'm up for something novel-length again quite yet, but I'll get there. I'm also going to be trying to get some kind of job in writing, but who knows how that'll work out, and it's probably still a long way off.

3) Trip Out West - Bombadil
Gonna take a trip out west
see the Mississippi
go down to Tennessee or
the Big Easy

The one I know I can do. I've never been west of the Mississippi. I aim to fix that this year. (Either that or I'll hit this one on a major technicality by going so far east it'll count as west, but I don't think my pocketbook is quite set up for that, without a major change in situation.)

Epilogue
This Year - The Mountain Goats
i am going to make it through this year
if it kills me
i am going to make it though this year
if it kills me

Comments

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Those are lovely resolutions. Good luck with them!

I am totally in support of you building a box with flashing lights on it. As for biking across the country... I could change my name to Mike? And that would take care of your never been west of the Mississippi problem. ...HOW HAVE YOU NOT BEEN WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI?! Dude, you better get on that shit. It's not like the Mississippi's that terribly far away for you. You still have three-and-a-half months in which to visit me in Portland before I move. At which point I totally encourage you to visit me in Hawaii, but that's more expensive. Feel free to do both, though.

Oh, and I know things are a bit rough right now, but screw the wankers and HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARLING. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

Cross-country bike trip is on! I will just call you zolac-no-mike-o. Problem solved! (-;

I have no idea, actually, how I've been in this part of the midwest for so long without going west of the Mississippi. It's shameful. I think Whitewater, WI is probably the farthest west I've been (and only because it was the only away track meet I went to in college). If nothing else, if I am driven to insanity yet again this spring I might just take a week off and try to bike to the Mississippi. It's 155 miles, and according to the google it's mostly trails on the way there (which is amazing) and it'll take me 13 hours. I could probably do 50 miles in a day if I worked up to it... hmmm... I'd also have to learn how to change a flat myself, though.

Thank you, dear! ♥ ♥ My parents got me an ice cream maker, so I am going to spend the day making beautiful ice cream that has nothing to do with stupid job-related nonsense. (-:

[zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com]

Oh. Oh god. That pun is the most shameless... I think you may have physically hurt me. XDDDD;

Changing a flat's not that hard, as I discovered this year when my mom stared at me until I did one. ...But yeah, that bike trip sounds kind of amazing, you should totally do it.

Oooooohh, ice cream! That does sound excellent! Do enjoy that. ^_^

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

I have no shame. ^_^

I can generally manage to change/patch a flat on the front tire, but the back tends to turn into a mess.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Brava, lady! I fully endorse all of these resolutions. I would totally offer to change my name to Mike and bike across the country with you, except for the part where I actually kind of hate riding a bike and haven't done it in 15 years.

Your resolutions are much more specific than mine! They are things you could actually look back on and say you've accomplished, whereas I went for the more wavy-gravy, can-fudge-it-if-I-wanted-to, touch-feely self-improvment nonsense. (One of these days I'm just going to give up on all that and declare myself done: that's it, no more, I'm never gonna get any better than this!)

The Mississippi is pretty awesome. Ooh, you should go to Yellowstone and/or Glacier National Park! I'm gonna go back some day. Oh, but it's gorgeous...

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

I'm sure riding dozens of miles a day while your only company on the trip kept calling you Mike would be a great way to re-learn and wouldn't be miserable at all. (-;

I've actually been looking at the Mississippi River bike trails today, and am thinking of taking a train over or something and then biking down and camping a couple of nights and then heading back by train (kind of a Huck Finn kind of adventure, only without necessarily fleeing west afterward).

And oh geez, Yellowstone. How do I always forget about things like that? Petrified forests and geysers would be awesome, but I'm not sure how I feel about grizzly bears and wolves, or even bison. Then again, national parks really don't work the same way cities do, so I can't really go wandering any which way in the first place. Hmmm... (It looks like I'm also going to have to resolve to buy a tent this year.)

I like making specific resolutions because they're easier to keep. (Well, the ones that don't involve legal name changes for my friends, at least.) I used to make self-improvement resolutions, but last year I resolved to just get on with doing things instead and I think it worked out better. That said... I think making travel resolutions is pretty much cheating because it's entirely within your control, unlike things like "stop smoking" or "stop eating so many processed sugars" or "be a better person."

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Eh, bears are not that common anymore in Yellowstone! And the bison pretty much mind their own business, so long as you keep your distance. (Although, when I was there with my family, a French tourist had been gored to death by one just days before. The story we heard was that he was trying to move the bison into better lighting, but I don't know if that's true.)

Anyway, I've visited a lot of National Parks in my life, and those would be my favorites. (Another would be Acadia National Park in Maine.)

I think making travel resolutions is fair enough! At least it gets out and going places. So long as you don't have any major life changes you need to make (like quitting smoking or losing weight), what else would you be able to look back on with as much fondness?

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

I... but... the bison are outside. And from what I know of bison they kind of hang out on prairies. What on earth kind of better lighting could the guy have been going for? Also how does it cross your mind to move an animal that weighs what, half a ton?

New resolution! I resolve not to move any massive herd animals into "better lighting."

The best thing about travel resolutions is I don't think I'll ever run out. Though, knowing me, I probably will end up deciding to do stupid and dangerous things because I'm the sort of person who watches something like the Top Gear Vietnam Special and goes "Yes! Riding motorbikes around Vietnam sounds awesome and I should try it!" They also recently made a trip to northern Iraq sound appealing (as did the New York Times, actually...)

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I think he wanted it turned the other way so the sun was hitting its face? Anyway, the story we heard was that he was nudging it with his shoulder in an attempt to get it to turn around. They seem really slow and docile, like cows, and they're fairly used to seeing people around, so you can get pretty close without spooking them; you can almost see how people allow themselves to believe that it would be ok to go right up and pet them. That is, if you've never spent time around large animals. I grew up camping in areas where we would encounter all kinds of animals, plus my aunt and uncle kept (not very nice) horses, so I have a healthy respect for any animal larger than a golden retriever. I would NEVER approach ANY wild animal, no matter how cute and tame it looked!

So, yeah: that's definitely a sound resolution you've made!

(And like I said: I don't know if the story was completely or even partly true. However, tourists are killed by bison: most of them for getting too close.)

There aren't many places in the world I wouldn't go if given the chance: I love traveling! I can't wait until I can afford to do more. I can't say Vietnam or Iraq are at the top of my to-see list, but I wouldn't turn down an opportunity if one presented itself!

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

I think what I'm suffering from here in relation to this is the inverse of the American Tourist rule. If the story was about some American guy trying to turn the bison around I wouldn't have questioned it at all, but he's French so I have to be incredulous. (-;

Actually, I've been suffering from the "Must. See. Vietnam." bug a lot recently. Mostly because of this cave (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/largest-cave/peter-photography). It has a jungle in it! Nevermind that I know nothing about spelunking. Or jungles. Or even Vietnam, really, other than the motorbiking and spelunking potential.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

It was the French detail that made me question the story as well! If the tale had been at all embellished, I'm sure that was a detail that had been added later on.

OMG, that cave! THAT CAVE! ♥ I don't know anything about spelunking either--in fact, I imagine I'd get a bit claustrophobic if I had to crawl through any tight spaces--but my God, that cave is just gorgeous!

I wonder how accessible it is to regular tourists? I know a lot of caves have very restricted access, because too many visitors can spoil the formations. But oh wow, what an experience this would be!

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

I imagine something like that is pretty well closed-off (did you see the cave in Mexico linked at the end, with the huge, huge crystals? That one's 110 degrees inside, though, and is part of a lead mine, so I'm a little less keen on it.) I think I'd have to work on a lot of my credentials in order to be able to see it but... yeah. Definitely on my list of Things to See if At All Possible. I'm a tiny bit claustrophobic, too, but as long as I knew something awesome was on the other end I would totally do it. (Except underwater caves. Depths and tight spaces would be a huge no for me, even if there were very large sums of money waiting for me in the caverns.)

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have seen pictures of that cave in Mexico before! It's one of the ones I was thinking about that's mostly off-limits. Gorgeous, but yeah--I doubt I'd want to go inside.

I don't get claustrophobic easily--I was in some pretty narrow passageways in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. But there are some caving tours that involve crawling on your belly through very narrow tunnels--where you can't turn around and go back if you need to. Because surrounded by that much rock and being unable to turn around makes me really nervous!

As for underwater caves--uh, yeah, know. I'm a good swimmer, and deep water doesn't bother, but I have a weird phobia of having my breathing obstructed in any way that prevents me from finding scuba diving at all appealing.

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

Mammoth cave! I am still mad at my mom for dragging me against my will to Kentucky and talking about going to the cave and then not taking me to the cave which is about the only thing that would've redeemed the whole affair.

I'm actually kind of up in the air about whether I could manage to squeeze through tight spaces in pursuit of cavernous wonders. On my own I'd never do it, but if I was in a position where I knew dozens of people do it on a regular basis I could probably logic myself into it. Probably. If I didn't think too hard about it. But the thought of being sandwiched between giant layers of rock makes me mighty uncomfortable.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

What did she drag you to Kentucky for if not to see the caves??? (If it makes you feel any better, when I was there my father dragged us all to the General George S. Patton Museum in Fort Knox. Now, I have been to some crappy museums in my time, and I've been forced to visit a lot of boring military history-type stuff, but that place I remember as being particularly boring! Like--self-harm-inducing kinda boring.)

I'm sure you could get over your claustrophobic fears in pursuit of cavernous wonders! There's all kinds of tours at Mammoth Cave, of varying levels of difficulty, all led by experienced spelunkers who know what they're doing. It would be a great place to slowly build yourself up to it. I myself have a history of panic attacks, and am therefore VERY careful about setting limits for myself: I don't want to get into a situation I can't extricate myself from quickly if I feel panic setting in!

Satisfy acquire times together like another ven with ears were mbc.

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