I believe I told you in an earlier essay that I had two pre-New Year's resolutions. One was to transcribe notes made on board a cruise ship of the scraps and pieces of my novel, Nebuchadnezzar's Pillar. I promised to revise and reconcile many discrepancies in the original short pieces I managed to find and put together for Rose Mary to look at. I am happy to announce that both resolutions have been made (one still quite incomplete) and finished on today, January 1, 2009. I was able to rewrite most of my manuscript and found so many mistakes and problems that it took me two whole days to retype the original and the notes. I am quite excited to learn how the story will turn out.
I also made a date last Monday with Rabbi Young to go over MY plans for my Bar Mitzvah next August 15. As it turned out, Rabbi Young has other plans for my second Bar Mitzvah although he still likes the idea of my bringing a Marionette of me at 13 up to the Bimah and tell him how the world turned out from 1939 to 2009. Of course, I will be speaking to the Congregation while working magic making you all think he and I are speaking on our way up to MY second Bar Mitzvah.
I don't know How I did it for my notes were practically unreadable since I used a very light mechanical drawing pencil while waiting for people to show up and have me draw their left profiles. I wonder if I can work this into my Bar Mitzvah?
Everyone, according to our culture thinks in terms of making the next year better than the last. That is the sort of utopian thinking even thoughtless people indulge in. You know: I'll lose weight. I'll exercise more. I'll contact the people on my list to contact that I haven't contacted. I'll work for world peace and so on and so on. I wonder if I can work utopia into my Bar Mitzvah?
I bet there isn't one of my readers who has completed his or her resolutions before and on the date of the first of the year. Come on, tell me if you have. If you haven't maybe you'll share your resolutions that you are absolutely, positively and completely comfortable with in achieving this year of 2009. You know? I never thought beyond 2000 having been born in 1926. But luck has been with me particularly since I had the good fortune and good sense to find and Marry Carol.
Here is a bit of advice. If I can do it - so can you!