I think after mostly failing at my goals from last year I am feeling uninspired to create new ones. There are the general broad goals, which I feel inspired to do every year in a fit of New Year’s dream projection: read Infinite Jest, finish Mad Men, listen through the 1001 Albums to Listen to Before You Die list, etc… I would love to do those things, but don’t feel like they are worth guilting myself into doing.

I was able to come up with two goals for this year, one practical and one abstract.

The Goals

When it comes to culture, I do not take direction well. I don’t necessarily think I’m better than you at knowing what’s good, I just don’t think you are that good at recommendations. There are times you gotta read the room; I’m not gonna like your Christian rom-com or traditional sitcom–it’s not my thing. I trust critical consensus more than I trust 95% of the people who recommend things to me.

This is something I will try to change this year; pop culture can be one of the few commonalities between people, so there’s no need to isolate anyone further. This year I will buy into your opinions. You like that movie? I’ll watch it. Think that new twenty one pilots album is rad? I’ll check it out.

A couple of caveats: I’ll check out your item within reason. If it’s a TV show I’ll give it an episode or two, if it’s a movie and I hate it, I don’t have to finish it. I reserve this right!

The second thing: no trolling. These suggestions must be from a sincere place, not from a desire to make me suffer through cultural dredge.

The goal: Listen to people’s pop cultural recommendations. 

It’s hard to find time to read. Inevitably a new book will be lowered down my cultural queue for a new TV show or online article out of mere convenience. This means I must be really picky with what I choose to read and since I only get through 4 or 5 a year I often lean toward classics or niche interests. This means I know absolutely nothing about contemporary writing, especially fiction. My goal this year is to read a new fiction book, likely something chosen from various book awards.

The goal: Read a fiction book released within the last year