They say it takes 21 days to break a habit.

One day away from setting in the new Resolutions, and that may be an important point to note. Usually, people's New Year's Resos are forgotten by the end of January, only to be resurrected mid-way through December. Along with the annual self-induced swift kick-to-the-behind.

A site dedicated to following goals - throughout the year, instead of focusing on the optimistic Jan 1 gig - is 43 Things. Once you register, you can list your goals, find other people who share the same ones, or search for those who've completed them and offer tips. Those who suffer from wanderlust can check out the related 43 Places.

According to 43 Things, the top 10 goals are (in order):

1. Lose weight (16830 people share this one).
2. Stop procrastinating.
3. Write a book.
4. Fall in love.
5. Be happy.
6. Get a tattoo.
7. Drink more water.
8. Get married.
9. Go on a roadtrip with no predetermined destination.
10. Travel the world (7940 people share this one).

Personally, I think 'Stop Procrastinating' should be #1, as it seems to be the main problem in getting through with the other plans (interchangeable with 'Develop Some Will-Power').

For more instructions on breaking (or making) habits, wiki-how style, check here, here, and here

Although 2006 was one of the most painful years for me, I still haven't sketched out a Reso List. I'm still debating whether I should bother mapping out my year, or go with the flow of it. Either way, looks like change is heading my way.

On a last note, here's a book I picked up for myself because it's funny and has star stickers. Oh yea, me and stars. 101 Things To Do Before You Die lists serious and silly maybe-you-shouldn't stuff (like 'Get Arrested'). Plans to make you famous and infamous. The Do-able, and the Good-Luck-with-That ('Reach 100 Years of Age'). The book has a fun layout and joins the stacks of quirky, yet almost useless, books that have boomed recently.

Well, I hope everyone has a fantastic last day of 2006, and amazing plans lined up for the countdown. And the next day, we'll all be subjected to a lot of "oh-em-jee, I haven't talked to you since last year!"

The next post will me marked '07 ;)

- m

I'm a firm believer in the gray area between the extremes of black and white, of finding a happy medium, of embracing the Golden Mean. But when it comes to art - whether it's traditional, photography, film, animation, or fashion - black and white is beautiful.

An excellent piece of artwork: Angels and Devils, by M.C. Escher. I love the idea, how it's done, and the fact that the majority of people I point it out to usually only see one figure until I point out that there are two. I love this picture, the theme's a big one for me.

There's a great animated film: not the usual Shrek breed, but one that looks like you've picked up a comic book and it came to life. What I like even more for some reason: it's completely black and white. I picked out a clip from my copy of the movie - check out the strobe light in the club scene :) The city/train are nice as well. It's a French film called Renaissance.

And finally: photogaphy. One of my favorite photographers is Philippe Halsman. His work is sharp, contrasted, dark, yet quirkily amusing. Here's his famous portrait of Salvador Dalí (it took 28 attempts to get the jumping Dalí, three thrown cats, and one bucket of tossed water exactly how they wanted it).

And another photograph, In Voluptas Mors, which is very noir in my opinion.

Another interesting side of Halsman's photography, is his "jumpology". Basically, he'd get people to jump for his sessions, with the idea being "when you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears." You can read more on this (and see a few photos from Philippe Halsman's Jump Book) here.

Well, I'm sure I could go on, but I'll leave it at that.
The next post should hopefully be from Kuwait :)

<3,
-m

So here is my blog's tabula rasa.

I've filed away the few old posts into drafts, and renovated a bit. Apparently I'm geekier than I give myself credit for, considering all the personalization I've managed here.

What you can expect from your visits here:
...well, don't. Expectations tend to ruin things.

But hopefully, this place will slowly fill up with music, film, books, art, photos, lists, youtube click-me's!, fashion, food, links, news (un-political, of course), furniture, local info, quotes, pop-culture, all sprinkled with some personal melodrama.

So - stay tuned; bookmark me.