These are not my new year's resolutions

sleep new year, revised 2023

I don't make resolutions because I know I won't follow them. But for no reason other than to see what I come up with, I make a list. These are mostly for fun but I probably wouldn't oppose doing some of them.

01 - Build my own traveling island — You're probably thinking there would be problems with finding a parking spot for a moving island but let me tell you, this island will shrink to any size I please so no problem there.

02 - Read more high quality, intellectual books — Who am I kidding? I'm not smarter than a 5th grader (10 or 11 years olds) so if I read any highly intelligent books, I probably wouldn't understand it all that much. But once in a while, I like pretend I'm intelligent enough for these books.

03 - Get bionic eyes or maybe just one eye — Comes in really handy when you want to see the little details in things or spy on your neighbors making sure they aren't committing any crimes against humanity.

04 - Walk the Great Wall of China — Walking and maybe some sitting now and then. I will probably wish for a car before I even reach a mile.

05 - Grow to 6 feet or taller — Being tall is better and you never have to ask the person next to you to hang your coat.

06 - Vacation on the moon — It might be a bit cold over there and kind of dangerous but I can borrow Doctor Who's TARDIS, he owes me a favor. I might even ask him to redecorate the place.

07 - Ride in a hot air balloon — So maybe this is just boring but if you're afraid of heights, it's a challenge. And I hear landing can be a bit iffy.

08 - Open a trading book store — This is where you bring in a book (physical copy that is) and exchange it for another book. Of course, there will be rules such as if you're rude, you're not allow to trade.

09 - Buy a house for just my book collection — Who knows, I might sneak in some priceless art or grow a garden in there. Perhaps I'll even let people come in and read the books, that is, if they have clean hands and clean everything else.

10 - Travel around the world in 180 days — preferably with a cyborg, a witch, a former pirate, maybe a psychic or two since we might possibly need one, a compass that tells us where to get water wherever we are, a suitcase that shrinks and enlarge depending on our needs and also weights almost nothing even fully packed, a chest of gold because nothing's cheap, maybe a couple of magic beans that turns into houses when we can't find a hotel because who wants to sleep in the great outdoor and maybe a washer and dryer because wearing dirty clothes is just not fun.

Is there anything fun (real or imagined) you don't want to do but kind of do?

Fiction: A Girl and Her Cyborg

This month's Words for Wednesday's prompts are provided by Sandi and is hosted at Elephant's Child's blog here. This week's prompts are: hope, joie de vivre, devotion, forgiveness, rescue and/or brioche, pie, pi, duty, honor and/or music from LoLa & Hauser titled Moonlight Sonata. And an extra challenge: Charlotte (MotherOwl) has assigned a colour to each month of the year. This month it is pine green and if you can include it in your Words for Wednesday contribution each week in January she and Elephant's Child would be very grateful. I used almost all the prompts aside from pi, duty and honor.

Fiction: A Girl and Her Cyborg

Penelope Green Fable had another disappointing birthday day. The morning started out dark and rainy. A little after lunch, Greenie ran out of the house and walked down the paved path from the backyard toward the family's park. With her, she took a roll of brioche, an apple pie and two bottles of orange juice from the kitchen. Between two sycamore trees where her tent was placed, she stopped and took a few steps to the right and sat on the ground facing the small pond.

She peered up at the gray sky. A light drizzle was falling. Down below, there was only a small amount of water in the pond. It reflected bits of the gray sky. She pressed her hands together, closed her eyes and wished for a life-size robot, a wish she had made every year since she was four. And every year, her parents told her she was too young and later there were new excuses which Greenie started to think was entirely made up so she wouldn't have her robot. She was mad at them every time and yet she forgave them. Forgiveness was one of her better qualities and yet, she held grudges like she held onto old pajamas that she insisted on wearing even though they were too small. 

Last year, when she turned nine, Greenie had the idea of building her own robot which was a cheaper option but still would be something around two to three thousand dollars. But her parents rejected the idea. Still, she hoped and prayed with a devotion she had never had for anything, not even when she wanted to open a rescue shelter for tiny turtles. She had what some would call joie de vivre but her family would call it stubbornness. 

Happy 2023!

I wish you all a joyful 2023. May all your wishes come true.
Happy New Year!

(p.s. in case you don't know, the above art is a wishing tree where people write wishes on paper or cloth and hang it on a tree.)