{"id":104,"date":"2009-01-01T12:18:32","date_gmt":"2009-01-01T12:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.gregbueno.com\/wp\/vexvox\/2009\/01\/01\/be_it_resolved\/"},"modified":"2009-01-01T12:18:32","modified_gmt":"2009-01-01T12:18:32","slug":"be_it_resolved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/2009\/01\/01\/be_it_resolved\/","title":{"rendered":"Be it resolved?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When I make a New Year&#039;s resolution, I usually frame it in a way to guarantee success. Resolving to lose weight or to change a habit just seems too externally motivated, as if those extra pounds and that particular habit need correction to be socially normative. Instead, I&#039;d rather enhance something I already do pretty well, especially if it&#039;s something I tend to neglect.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2000, I resolved to learn how to play bass guitar. That was a resolution I looked forward to doing. Other years, I resolved to write music, during times when I wasn&#039;t writing any. Last year, I casually resolved to release a CD. I didn&#039;t take it seriously and even forgot I made that resolution. And what should happen? I released a CD.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, my resolutions tend to be creatively-inclined, and I like to think they helped spur me to do more.<\/p>\n<p>I&#039;m at the point now where I don&#039;t need to resolve to be creative. I have more than enough to keep me busy for years. So for 2009, I&#039;m thinking about resolutions that might be significantly more challenging for me to achieve. In short, resolutions akin to losing weight or changing a habit.<\/p>\n<p>I&#039;ve narrowed the resolutions to a choice of three:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Form a band<\/li>\n<li>Start dating again<\/li>\n<li>Learn to swim&#160;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For all the work I&#039;ve been doing in the studio, the songs really need to come alive with real musicians playing the parts. I&#039;ve been resistant so far because I just don&#039;t know jack shite about band logistics. I&#039;m not even sure what my own role would be. And if I form one, then what? I&#039;m not even that great a performer.<\/p>\n<p>I almost think forming a band is a more intimate relationship than dating. I &quot;took a break&quot; from dating back in 1999, and I&#039;ve been apathetic about it ever since. I used to think if I could muster the courage to form a band, I can muster the courage to date again. Both involve finding other people, but with dating, I&#039;m not entrusting my creative work to someone else. Trust is the lynch pin in both situations, and dating looks slightly simpler than forming a band.<\/p>\n<p>In a way, these two resolutions almost have a familial theme running through them, and that&#039;s a difficult idea for me to process. My model of a family &#8212; <em>id est<\/em>, my own &#8212; isn&#039;t inspiring, and the ultimate goal in dating is to find a partner. In short to form a family, even if it&#039;s only two people. I can&#039;t say I find that appealing. The interpersonal relationships in a band, I would imagine, run on the same dynamic. And I&#039;m no patriarch.<\/p>\n<p>As for the third resolution &#8212; yes, I grew up on an island, and I don&#039;t know how to swim. Doesn&#039;t make sense. I&#039;m thinking I might have the most fun with this resolution. It&#039;s certainly less intimidating than the other two, and it gives me an excuse to get in the water. Unless I drown. Then it would not be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I make a New Year&#039;s resolution, I usually frame it in a way to guarantee success. Resolving to lose weight or to change a habit just seems too externally motivated, as if those extra pounds and that particular habit need correction to be socially normative. Instead, I&#039;d rather enhance something I already do pretty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Bkgj-1G","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregbueno.com\/vexvox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}