Have you made any New Year's resolutions? I have decided that this year, instead of coming up with a long list of things that I am unlikely to achieve, I am going to stick with one simple thing, which I will phrase in the form of a question any time someone makes me angry: "How much of my day am I going to let this asshole ruin?" The asshole in question is Choire. Kidding! It is only occasionally Choire. (Generally on Tuesdays.) But it can be anyone. What I have figured out is if you do a cost-benefit analysis of how much power you want to give to another person over your own mood, you usually realize that nobody is worth that much aggravation and free yourself up to be mad about other things of your own choosing. A special bonus to this question is sometimes it forces you to confront the possibility that you may be the day-ruining asshole, at which point you need to ask yourself, "How much of my day am I going to spend ruining someone else's?" which, again, is really kind of a waste of time unless the day you're ruining is Choire's, because, man, sometimes he really just deserves it. I hate that guy. Anyway, that is my resolution. If you are still coming up with one of your own, here are some questions to ask yourself before you do. READ MORE

Drink more efficiently. READ MORE

I was walking over to The Awl offices this morning and I passed by a dad and his little boy who were walking in the opposite direction. The boy, who couldn't have been more than four or five, was jumping up and down and yelling, "School day! School day!" READ MORE

Every year I screw this up bad. (Except the year that I resolved to "be less nice," in emulation of a friend who successfully went with that one the year prior. That WORKS.) So I started brainstorming about my New Year's resolution last week, and I finally came up with a winner. I hereby resolve: to record an album's worth of cover versions of the very fine work of one of the world's best bands, if not the world's very best band, Slow Children. This resolution has it all: personal satisfaction, a chance to gain some new technical skills and also the benefit of not being exactly what everyone else is doing. Not quite, at least. I am so pleased with myself that I may just sit at my desk the rest of the day and contemplate how awesome 2010 will be.