{"id":3479,"date":"2014-01-15T06:05:35","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T14:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=3479"},"modified":"2014-01-15T21:15:26","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T05:15:26","slug":"a-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=3479","title":{"rendered":"To do and to don’t"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do you have to say that there’s always someone
\nwho can do it better than I can?
\nBut don’t you think that I know that walking on the water
\nwon’t make me a miracle man?
\n–Elvis Costello\/Miracle Man<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now that everyone has finished with their resolutions for the new year, I am considering my own plans for continued self improvement. I’ve been doing really well on increasing my tequila intake, but it seemed like there might be a few other areas in which I am less than optimal. Here is what I have come up with so far:<\/p>\n

1. Stop expecting people to act the way you think they should<\/p>\n

2. Eat more veggies<\/p>\n

3. Don’t be a nutcase too often<\/p>\n

4. Take people at face value<\/p>\n

5. Be more coherent. <\/p>\n

6. Call your mother more often<\/p>\n

7. Be succinct. <\/p>\n

8. When you fail at being succinct, at least try not to be boring<\/p>\n

9. Do something different on a regular basis<\/p>\n

10. Learn when to cut your losses and bail<\/p>\n

11. Don’t be afraid to be a freak<\/p>\n

12. Be less attached to your comfort zone at work<\/p>\n

13. Learn to cook some new stuff<\/p>\n

14. Write more. Actually, just write better<\/p>\n

15. If you can’t manage better, keep writing anyway<\/p>\n

16. Maybe stop writing long enough to get some exercise now and then<\/p>\n

17. Learn to ice skate<\/p>\n

18. Get more tattoos<\/p>\n

19. Stop referring to yourself as a dumbass. Yes, motherfucking dumbass also counts<\/p>\n

20. You need another pair of boots<\/p>\n

21. Love people more<\/p>\n

22. Even the dumbfucks <\/p>\n

23. Yes, that is really hard<\/p>\n

24. Make sure you always have plenty of black eyeliner<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As you can see, I am not backing away from the really hard emotional work. I’ve had trouble with dumbfucks for my whole life. I may not be successful with everything on the list, but I am going to give it a try. Right after I have a cocktail. <\/p>\n

Cheers, y’all!<\/p>\n

\"20140114-192622.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Special thanks and a very happy birthday to Kelly for giving me the gift of Elvis back in the ninth grade. Love you, KelBel!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do you have to say that there’s always someone who can do it better than I can? But don’t you think that I know that walking on the water won’t make me a miracle man? –Elvis Costello\/Miracle Man Now that everyone has finished with their resolutions for the new year, I am considering my … Continue reading To do and to don’t<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/20140114-192622.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-U7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8186,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8186","url_meta":{"origin":3479,"position":0},"title":"Keeping it simple","author":"Michelle","date":"November 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This will be succinct. Stop laughing, it really will. I had a rough night the other night. I had a bad dream--not a nightmare, just an overly realistic dream about getting dumped. I woke up angry and tearful in the middle of the night, couldn't get back to sleep, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":350,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=350","url_meta":{"origin":3479,"position":1},"title":"Red Shoe Diary","author":"Michelle","date":"July 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh I used to be disgusted Now I try to be amused. -- Elvis (the One True Elvis) Costello \u00a0 Some of us have a special talent for being disgusted and\/or amused by\u00a0 Life, the Universe and Everything. (Oh, why's that?) I have both talents. While I could really do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5407,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=5407","url_meta":{"origin":3479,"position":2},"title":"Being complicit with evil","author":"Michelle","date":"April 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a recurring nightmare that I have been having since the mid '90's. Not regularly, but every several years it makes an appearance. Sometimes it returns over a period of several weeks. It is never a welcome visitor. In the beginning, it's always an airport. It's always the middle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/20140426-134324.jpg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11544,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=11544","url_meta":{"origin":3479,"position":3},"title":"Radiant rant","author":"Michelle","date":"April 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Love isn't brains, children, it's blood. Blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it. --Spike Though I do try to be grateful every day, and though I am generally a happysmilinglaughing type of person, sometimes I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Random thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9434,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=9434","url_meta":{"origin":3479,"position":4},"title":"Nothing. I’ve got nothing","author":"Michelle","date":"March 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Bad, bad headache yesterday. I went for a long walk hoping that getting out into the beautiful day would chase it. It didn't. Came home and tried to think some relaxation into my head and neck. It got worse. It wasn't a migraine, \u00a0so I didn't have anything to really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6880,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6880","url_meta":{"origin":3479,"position":5},"title":"An imaginary conversation about having a conversation","author":"Michelle","date":"August 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi there. Hey, you. I haven't heard from you for awhile. Likewise. Succinct. Uh huh. So what did you want to talk about? You're the one calling me... You haven't talked to me lately, so you must have something you want to say. Does that even make sense? No, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Imaginary Conversation"","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Conversation","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}