Resolve

It's that time of year again, when people start thinking about everything they've botched up the previous year and what they'd like to change in the coming year.  Or at least what they'll complain about botching up next year. 

Like most other Americans, I have some fairly predictable resolutions:  Spend less, save more, lose weight, spend more time with enriching hobbies and less with the unfruitful ones. 

Still, this post over at Shamus's blog had me thinking about my own little corner of the internet.  I always did like blogging, even when my only hits were the three friends who would check in a day, various trolls, and random Google hits that didn't result in anyone actually sticking around to read something.  I really do regret letting the blog sit more or less fallow this year. 

I think part of the problem is that I just don't have the same passions as I did when I started this back in college.  I used to write a lot about philosophy and religion then, but I was exposed to so much more at the time.  These days I just don't have the same exposure to material to inspire anything worth writing about (which is probably an indictment of my reading habits, if nothing else). 

News commentary and criticism?  Eh, perhaps, but it's not like there isn't enough of that going on.  Plus, college newspapers always made it so easy, given the goofy things that they'll publish. 

Science writing?  I actually wish I did more of that.  I'm about to finish Ben Goldacre's book (which deserves its own post, really), and it's definitely inspired me to write more about responsible science.  It's the sort of thing I'd enjoy getting paid to do, although it would mean writing more and writing better.  I'm no slob with the written word, but I've been lazy, and there's plenty of people out there willing to bang out 500 words about why some study or other is a bunch of horse pucky.  If I want to go that direction, I'll need to step my game up.

Video games?  Goodness knows that occupies enough of my writing anyhow, little though it is.  Unfortunately, most of what I play these days is World of Warcraft, and I can really only write so much about that.  Oh, there's an audience for it, but I don't want that to be my occupying focus. 

It was suggested to me that getting back into blogging would be easier if I refocused the blog.  Having a clear purpose would help, and feeling passionate about my topic(s) would go even further.  I'm still not sure what that is, but at least I know that I need to figure it out.  Probably not the most exciting resolution, but it's a start.

Happy New Year, folks, and good luck in 2011.