Chinese New Year

   I'm not Chinese, but I was born in the Year of the Rat. I'm considered a "Rat on the Mountain", specifically, which pretty much means that my life will be mostly uphill toil and financial difficulty. I think that's an accurate enough assessment from the stars.
    Since this is a new Rat Year, and they come only every 12 years or so, I've decided to mark the occasion by listing a few achievements I'd like to attain within the coming year.  Small goals. I might as well publish them here in the hopes that I may pursue them 
more diligently.

(1) Fry a Twinkie. (I have no idea how this is done, and it sounds slightly dangerous)
(2) Get back to New York for a visit. (I need to be reminded why I left it in the first place.)
(3) Buy a house. (Of my own, one that doesnt suck, or have my husband in it).
(4) Get a job. (A real job that will pay me something, hopefully doing something I like.)
(5) Blog at least once a week.
(6) Publish one poem.
(6A) Publish one short story.
(7)Write a really great flash fiction piece.
(8) Make a collage. (Like my artist friends can do. I don't 
have their years of training or even 
any fabulous paint, but I do have a few clips, 
some gold leaf paint, and an 11x14 blank canvas.)
(9) Get the oil changed right AT 3,000 miles (not a mile more, not a mile less).
(10) Pay for a Starbucks treat entirely with dimes.
(11) Find out how to get in to the Notre Dame Cathedral. (I don't even know where to park).
(12)Go in to the Notre Dame Cathedral.
(13) Divorce someone.
(14) Make the bed.
(15) Stay awake for one whole movie.

I'll report on any triumphs or travesties, maybe. I'll certainly have to revisit this post in December 2008. I'm off to buy some Twinkies.