Visual New Year’s Resolutions from Woody Guthrie (and Steve)

I meant to post this 10 days ago — natch, but here it is…
Take a look at these new years resolutions from Woody Guthrie which came via my friend Steve, who is really smart and seems to resonate with the universe in some mysterious way. 😉

new years resolutions from woody guthrie - omenti

I don’t do resolutions per se. But I have been cleaning my office. 😉 And blogging more! (At least until the travel ramps up again.)

Happy New Years!

 

P.S. See Diego Leal’s New Years video here:  http://youtu.be/QI9FoH6rhms

2 thoughts on “Visual New Year’s Resolutions from Woody Guthrie (and Steve)”

  1. I rarely make resolutions too … last year I made one and managed to keep it – losing weight and getting back to what I weighed in grad school. This year I made the much more difficult resolution to keep it.

    One of the gifts I give to myself is to take the first two weeks of January and use it as a mini-sabbatical. I pick an “interesting” question on December 30 and then have something like 100 hours to explore it. The question must be interesting – at least at the time – and not directly related to what I do. Being within commuting distance of a couple of excellent libraries is a feature. It would be nice to have one of these that would be a collaboration, but finding someone with similar interests who has two weeks to burn at the same time is a challenge.

    The practice started when I was a new MTS as Bell Labs years ago. At Christmas my director asked if the place was working out (I had only been there for about 5 months). I noted it was, but it would be nice to catch my breath and think for awhile. He suggested I take two weeks and think deeply – but about one thing that was not part of what his laboratory did. He was willing to sign my time cards and provide “cover..” A remarkable number of cross pollenating ideas and collaborations emerged from this and a few led to major (at least for me) revelations. Somehow this practice was allowed as I moved to different labs and then when I moved to AT&T Research years later. When I struck out on my own it had become an addiction so I continue it today.

    This year I’m thinking about our perception of time and how that has changed historically. I’m gathering a lot of stories and deeper questions — exactly what I look for. Finding answers in a short project is not a promising sign – questions are so much richer.

  2. I love the idea that we can give ourselves sabbaticals!

    Not quite the same, but I’m thinking about learning the uke while I’m on vacation in Hawaii this year!

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