Ranked as the second zodiac, the ox has a large volume. In life, people often used the ox to indicate something big or large in number. The ox is sedulous, simple, honest, and straightforward. Fractious people are said to have an 'oxen temper'.
Well, here we are in 2009, the Year of the Ox. I spent my New Year's Eve 2008 sitting here in my tiny studio apartment, alone, watching Nick at Nite and playing games on my Playstation 3. I drank Dr. Pepper rather than beer and tuned in to see a stroke-addled Dick Clark count down my time-shifted Times Square ball drop. He's terrifying, really - just give up the ship, Dick, you had a good run. As for today, it'll be a quiet one here at the house watching the Twilight Zone marathon on SciFi and cooking up a pot of black-eyed peas for dinner. I'm off work until Monday, at which point I'll be going to a Navy school for 2 months (vacation!), so I'm living free and easy for a little while, which feels awfully nice.
New Year's Resolutions? I've got a few. Most important to me right now is getting my finances under control. Yes, I've come to the boring point of being a grown-up where I want to know what I'm spending my money on. Don't get me wrong, I don't intend on cutting out my frivolous purchases, video game necessities and trendy snack foods - I just want to be more organized about it.
I'd like to find a place to learn and practice Tai Chi in San Diego. I took a few lessons back in the day in Tallahassee with my pals and found it to be pretty enjoyable. I never took it very seriously, as college pursuits were always distracting me, but I think I could get a lot of good out of a structured program of practice and meditation now that I've got some time on my hands. The trick is to find a place in San Diego that fits my work schedule, feels comfortable and won't charge me a grip of money for what amounts to the practice of moving slow and breathing deep.
I also need to start working up some projects to make me more attractive for Officer Candidate School next year. I wasn't picked up this cycle, so all I can do is beef up my stats and resubmit come October. Which seems like forever from here. The Naval Public Affairs Office is a small community so it's gonna take some pushing to get my foot in the door, but as long as I'm under the employ of Uncle Sam that's where I'm trying to get to. If I don't make it before 2012 I'll be back to the civilian world, fighting for unemployment like all great Americans should!
So, going back to my favorite New Year's Day pastime, let's talk about The Twilight Zone for a minute. Many Americans watch football...I watch The Twilight Zone. I've seen them all over and over again, yet they never get old. That's a great quality that these 30-minute journeys from the terrifying 1960's bring with them - in spite of the dated visuals and occasionally spotty acting, the stories themselves do such a great job of invoking emotion - humor or sadness or suspense or straight-up fear - that they really are timeless. Whether you're being stalked by a hitchhiker in the dead of night or just scared to death of a ringing phone, the Twilight Zone is never a pleasant place to be.
My very favorite episode never seems to get any airtime during the New Year's marathon. I'm told that it snuck into a 4th of July marathon this year, but I was out at sea during that and wouldn't know. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story written by Ambrose Bierce. Some French dudes made it into a short film back in the day and, recognizing it's awesomeness, Rod Serling snatched it up and aired it here in the States as an episode of The Twilight Zone. If you're unfamiliar with it, saying much more would only spoil it. So, as a New Year's gift to you, submitted for your approval, step into the scary door and watch! Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated.
Part II:
Part III:
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