Are resolutions like birthday wishes?

Are New Year's resolutions like birthday wishes in that if you tell someone about them then they won't come true?

If so, I vow to do the following in 2013 (in no particular order):

* gain weight
* lose hair
* travel less for leisure
* read less
* laugh less
* hug less
* cry more/less (depends on situation)
* write less
* disappoint my wife
* disappoint my kids
* watch fewer movies
* listen to less music
* sing less in the shower
* exercise less
* not sell any of my writing
* lose my sense of humor
* lose my sense of passion
* become less spiritual
* not win an Oscar
* not win an Emmy
* not win a Grammy
* not win a Tony
* not win a Pulitzer
* not win a Nobel Peace Prize
* not win the Heisman (hey, a kid can't dream, right?)
* not make it to an ocean
* not see any mountains
* see less of my family
* see less of my friends
* see my favorite sports teams draft really high
* see my favorite sports teams underachieve
* see Minnesota's Rose Bowl drought continue
* text more
* make no new friends
* lose many old/long-time friends
* make more emergency doctor visits
* not visit an art museum
* not see a Broadway play
* not listen to the opinions of others
* not learn from others
* see newspapers disappear
* see books disappear
* see more gun violence
* see more reality TV shows about pageant moms
* not learn from my mistakes
* become more forgetful
* face the fact that getting old sucks/rocks...that last one depends on my mood at the time.

This list is going to be a fluid thing until the clock strikes 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013.

Stay tuned.

The World According to Shea

So I've come to realize my little guy, Shea, has a very unique perspective on the world around him and it's usually a very amusing.

With our scrimmaging Catholic family in the midst of the Lenten season, Fish Friday has always created a sense of debate between said parental units and our offspring...well the older two anyway as Shea has avoided the fish discussions since he has Lent immunity since he hasn't imbibed in his first taking of the Communion wafer.

That doesn't mean Shea hasn't had to experience the Lenten influence first hand at of all places, school ... and a public school at that.

One recent Saturday Shea was complaining about his school serving fish sticks on Friday and earlier that same week the lasagna apparently didn't meet his standards. Now I've eaten at his school a few times and I've never had any complaints.

Anyway, he boldly filled us in on his dilemma when he announced to us "that sometimes the lasagna is burnt and the fish sticks ... taste way too much like fish!"

To the normal adult, we want our fish sticks to take like fish but to the average 8-year old constantly bombarded with advertising images of fast food restaurants and quick-and-easy snacks I'm sure he would rather it taste like a Snickers bar fries or, at the very least, French fries.

Nonetheless, we all shared a good laugh and Shea stood his ground over our chuckling that fish sticks should taste anything like fish.