...In which our heroine is back from the dead.

I am alive. Right now, barely, but alive nonetheless. I'm sorry for the negligence but since Christmas Eve, I've been home before four exactly one night. I just got up after last night's festivities, which involved purple Andre (uber-classy), some New Order, a potent hookah, and Alice B. Toklas' favorite sweet treat. I loved Cassie's apartment, cat hair and all. I've been out more in my ten days home than I was all semester, weird.

What have I been doing? I've been listening to The Wall and Rumours on vinyl after getting significantly freaked out by Twin Peaks. A clubhouse makes an ideal winter dwelling, and I'm never tired of Almost Famous. I ate Waffle House and wondered when the last time I consumed it sober was, as well as what makes their hash browns so damn good. I've been hanging out with all my high school friends and wondering if we're going to keep seeing each other on breaks when we're 30. I've eaten too many cookies and not enough real food. I've also been drinking champagne, and wine so sweet it says so on the label. My dad gave me a sip of Bombay Sapphire out of the bottle and I singed my esophagus. I finally got a haircut and I think the way she cut my bangs was a good omen for the New Year. Too much vice for one week, I know these should be my prime partying years but I'm a little dead.

I got nostalgic for what happened last year, but realized that's a whole year ago and it seems like a lifetime. I'm a better person than just a year ago, and all in all, 2009 was a really pivotal year for me, full of growth and change, all for the better. If I said at the start of 2009 that I was ready to start with a clean slate, 2010 amplifies that even more so. I have nothing to hinder me, nothing to hold me back. For the first time at the start of a new year, I am my highest priority and making myself happy is what's most important. I don't believe in resolutions because I think they just set you up for failure. So here are the things I resolve not to do:
 -Lose ten pounds because I'm finally happy with my body just as it is.
-Date men with downward trajectories, no matter how charming they are.
-Get wrapped up in the drama of others. Let them do what they want, even if it's a bad idea.
-Be so cynical about film. I do love it, and I need some films to help me remember that.
-Worry so much about money. It's just money, spent or saved.
-Settle. In school, relationships, friendships, or with media consumed. I'm tired of settling, and I hope 2010 brings the better.

I'm hopeful for this new decade - the 2000s were fine, but could definitely be improved upon. Even if that hope just entails killing zombies when the world ends in 2012.