I was a bad dog-father over this past week and a half. Although I was off work since 12/22 until today’s lethargic return, I didn’t take out Janie Sparkles on daily romping adventures. She was walked, mind you, just not given proper off-leash time.

So for the first day of the new year, I only had four goals:

• take Janie for a walk,
• go for a run,
• pay the bills
• and write in a paper journal.

Our visit to the gayest dog run (smack-dab in the Castro) was interrupted by a call from Bibby’s mommy who invited us to Chrissy Field. They were going to be there until sundown, so me and Ms. Sparkles hopped back into the car and returned home. I busted out a lumbering 3.1455 mile run and then we were off to pick up the man and hit the beach.

In addition to terrorizing Bibby every time her retrieved a ball from the water, my little girl stole tennis ball from a cute two-month old puppy. As you can see, she has a long way to go in the manners department.

Happy New Year, gentle readers!

I’m less than two hours away from the end of 2007’s first day. And, although I’m trying not to make hard and fast resolutions (since they often get broken and are based in a sense of lack or unsatisfaction), I made some symbolic gestures towards starting anew today. Before I go into that, I want to explain the last month of posts.

I hadn’t been a regular poster here, but I thought I’d give it a whirl. I had heard of the Holidailies thanks to my friend Lola. I considered doing it in an unofficial capacity in previous years and blogs, but that good intention didn’t amount to much more than a couple of days. As you may have noticed, I managed 30 posts last month. Not bad, eh? It’s the equivalent of fiber for bloggers.

It wasn’t alway the most compelling content, but my goal was just to prove to myself that I could do it. Put you mind to something and there you go! Not that I needed to learn that lesson again, but ain’t it fun to prove that anything’s possible?

So what might this year hold for me?

• Rachael‘s call to arms/feet of running 100 miles before April Fool’s Day,
• a moleskine scribbled into daily in the spirit of Embodiment,
• a bunch of socks, sweaters and hats knit—my own designs, some classics (the year I get to know EZ), vintage and whatever else comes along,
• and, perhaps once a month, a new restaurant, a new recipe, a new book, a new adventure here or elsewhere.

May today mark the beginning of the best year of your life.