New Year’s Rulin’s
It is January 22nd, and my 2012 Resolutions (The Resolutions To End All Resolutions .. Look Out World! and so on and so forth) have already fallen by the wayside. Oh woe.
Luckily, I am a big believer in making my resolutions realistic and, more importantly, making them regularly.
January 1st. Rosh Hashanah. Chinese New Year. The Academic Year. Monday Mornings. … Tuesday Afternoons. Thursdays, around about 11am. Ok, 11pm. Fuck it. FRIDAY!
I used to have a bottle of pearly white liquid hand soap that read ’Wash Your Hands, It’s Time to Start Afresh’. I loved that. I would go as far as to say that was my favourite ever soap. (I know — I can’t take that back)
So you can imagine my excitement when, this morning, I discovered Woody Guthrie’s ”New Years Rulin’s” - an extract from his diary, dated January 1st, 1943.
As you can see, they were written on the page in ‘The Middle of The Book’. That’s a great page. You can write anything on that page, and just — tear it out! No problem! Luckily, he decided to keep these Rulin’s in, and I’m so glad he did, because they have given me a great deal of pleasure, on an oh so snowy sunday.
1. Work more and better
2. Work by a schedule
3. Wash teeth if any
4. Shave
5. Take bath
6. Eat good — fruit — vegetables — milk
7. Drink very scant if any
8. Write a song a day
9. Wear clean clothes — look good
10. Shine shoes
11. Change socks
12. Change bed cloths often
13. Read lots good books
14. Listen to radio a lot
15. Learn people better
16. Keep rancho clean
17. Dont get lonesome
18. Stay glad
19. Keep hoping machine running
20. Dream good
21. Bank all extra money
22. Save dough
23. Have company but dont waste time
24. Send Mary and kids money
25. Play and sing good
26. Dance better
27. Help win war — beat fascism
28. Love mama
29. Love papa
30. Love Pete
31. Love everybody
32. Make up your mind
33. Wake up and fight
There is nothing that I don’t love about this. I think my favourite rulin’s (although this will certainly change, as they are all so heart-achingly apt) are:
- Wash Teeth If Any
- Make Up Your Mind
- Stay Glad
So far I have changed my socks and washed my teeth. Look out, 2012!
Next on my To-Do List: Wake Up and Fight.
(Also, a note to anyone called Pete: try and cash in on #30.You can’t argue with “Rulin’s” — right? You’re welcome.)
