new years resolutions are supposed to be things that you don't do or you want to do better. well, some of my goals for the future are to keep doing things the way that i am. i mean, of coarse i can always improve on everything i do, so it all works out in the end. here's a list of both my resolutions and reminders of things to do in 2004

1) fix my tendency to procrastinate. the best that i can really say is that i'll try. i always procrastinate, and i know that it will be hard to change the way i am. it may take some time, but i'm going to try to make the effort to get better at that. i need to make better study habits for myself. i'm sure that i would do much better in school if i took more time to study. i should actually start reading books when they are assigned and do my homework a bit more thouroughly so that i understand some of the material better. to be perfectly honest, at this point i really doubt that i'm going to do all that, but i'll keep it in mind and work on it. this should be a nice reminder to myself that i can't always slack off ;-)

2) keep in touch. i want to stay in better contact with all of my friends... and family. i have to make sure that i continue talking to my conant friends and all of my shs buddies that i don't get to see very often any more. i also want to touch base with my cousins and other family members that i don't see often because they live far, they're always busy, or there are simply other complications that prevent me from talking to them as much as i'd like. and since my parents are always telling me that i need to keep in touch with them when i go out and stuff like that, i should work on doing that too. i am getting better tho, so they have less reason to complain hehe

3) practice consistently. really this goes along with me making better habits. i practice my sax, the piano, and my voice material, but not in equal shares and not in a good and steady pattern. i've gotta work something out so that i get in all of the practice that i need for all of the things i do. would anybody be interested in giving me piano lessons? it's getting harder and harder for me to teach myself, and i really want to learn. i'll pay you :o). oh and while i'm talking about the piano... thank you, danny kellermeyer, for the lesson books. hehe

4) be a good person. i want to do more to help other people. i want to volunteer for things more often and stuff like that. i want to be the best person i can be and help out in any way i can. i think that this one is pretty self explanitory. i just want to live up to life's expectations as best i can

5) be wild. this is my favorite resolution hehe. school is important, and i'm going to be mindful of all of my responsibilities and take care of the things that i need to do, but there's one other thing that i think is a very important part of life: risk. i want to take chances and have as much fun as i possibly can this year. i want to do things that are exciting and different. you know, just live it up! a person can't go through life being all cautious and worrying about every little thing, so i'm going to do my best to make sure that i don't worry as much. when i do slack off and don't do what i'm supposed to, instead of worrying about it a ton, i need to just accept the consequences of my actions. hopefully i won't need to concern myself about punishment because i'm going to do my best to do what i'm supposed to, but i'm only human and we all make mistakes

i can't wait to see what this year has in store for me. a new year has so much potential for excitement, and i want to take advantage of it all. my classes will be challenging, but i'll get through them. many tests,college decisions, and prep things lie in front of me, but i know lots of seniors that went through the same things and it all turned out okay. i'm going to tend to all of my responsibilities and still have a great time, so this should be a very busy and very promising year :)