It’s been a year since I put together a list of 23 things I’d like to do in 2023. The idea was to write a positive habit/motivational blog post that I would keep returning to and act like a set of goals for the year ahead.
You might wonder why my 23 Things blogposts all feature Groucho Marx-like characters generated by Gencraft AI? Apart from humouring myself, it is also to illustrate subconscious bragging via the Groucho Marx Syndrome:
The Groucho Marx Syndrome is the result of internalized perfectionism in the way you position yourself in relation to your peers, such as your fellow students.
Now the year has come to an end it’s a good time to write up a bit of a review for myself and anyone else who is interested. I have written some slightly more prosaic posts on a few of the specifics like the 23 books I intended to read (and my top 5 recommended here), my 23 cocktails (top 5 cocktails) and my 23 new recipes (again, top 5 here). I won’t cover all of those again in this summary. I actually did a half year review too and was finding some of my December goals a bit much! Here is a short review and the start of next year’s ambitions.
My 23 goals were:
Go Abroad
After a few years without travel due to the pandemic, it was odd to go on a flight again. We spent a week in The Algarve at the end of Spring and a week on the Greek island of Mykonos in Summer. The world has certainly changed due to Covid-19, although there were no restrictions in place this year, you could certainly see the remnants of its’ global impact. Both breaks gave us the opportunity to eat out and discover new places, rediscover old ones and also find that some are lost forever. A beloved traditional taverna we had visited 7 years ago in Agios Stefanos, Mykonos is now a wreck; the roof has collapsed and vines grow throughout. Life moves on and possibly with no tourist income, the owners couldn’t continue. Next year, I would like to seek a greener transportation method; hire an EV maybe or travel further by train?
Improve health and fitness
Up and down due to chronic back pain, however, I do think the second-hand Apple Watch has effective positive-nagging features and makes me at least try to close my daily rings. Next year I intend to lose a bit of weight (by being less sedentary) too.
Create more art
As a keen photographer and art teacher you might expect lots of home-grown artistic practise. To have the time! I do use a sketchbook to explore the ideas I do with students and just for fun too. Photography is more immediate as long as I have one of my cameras (if not always my phone camera). This year I set out to produce some more paintings and I am well pleased with the result as well as enjoying the process/struggle. I did buy some new glasses and I know I needed them. A couple of weeks in the planning and preparation of a canvas led to a week solid of intensive painting. I was then bursting with ideas for more work in this style (impasto landscape) but then no time to do it. Next year, we want to buy an A3 printing press…
Music concert performance
Up to November, we couldn’t find any artists we really wanted to see; their tour dates seemed to be on continental Europe or beyond. However, I did go and see Weyes Blood at Rock City, Nottingham which was great! We definitely need to get out more to see live performance.
Regular cultural events
In February, we went and saw To Kill a Mockingbird in the West End, took in a few free exhibitions of multimedia art too while in London. Also saw the Chris Kilip photo exhibition at The Photographer’s Gallery and Peter Doig at The Coutauld. In October, we returned and took our adult daughters to see Cabaret at the KitKat Club at the Playhouse theatre (totally immersive!), the Daido Moriyama retrospective at the Photographer’s gallery and Claudette Johnson: Presence at the Courtauld Gallery. In between times we popped in to any galleries we could in wherever we were visiting too.
City Breaks
Having a major train line close by has its advantages in getting down to London; the west and centre is more tricky by train and seems to take ages. There have been some train strikes but we were unaffected. Next year, we will head north too and check out Edinburgh.
Eat/drink healthy
We tried a lot of new recipes this year (another goal) focussed on fresh ingredients and as vegans, we wanted to avoid saturated coconut fats. In Summer, we had lots of salad and poke bowls and used lots of the fresh vegetables straight from the garden. In Autumn, we have had a lot of soup and spicy curries… and a few vegan junk food meals too. Drink wise, we aim for a balance and I am aware that alcohol doesn’t suit everyone (despite my post of the 23 new cocktails).
Read 23 books
Achieved! I am on my 24th of the year and it certainly helped reading a few short novels and poetry books.
Try and save some money
We have changed our shopping habits (everything is more expensive now) and write shopping lists before going to budget stores. We plan a weekly menu and keep to it (most of the time). We don’t eat out much but enjoy it more when we do.
Cinema Visits
At the height of Summer there were only two blockbusters; Barbie and Oppenheimer – we didn’t manage to find time for either! A late visit to Wonka means that visiting the cinema wasn’t such a priority in 2023 but maybe that was because of the movies released or withheld due to the actor’s union strike. There are some interesting ones due to be released in 2024 such as Dune 2, a new Alien movie and Poor Things with Emma Stone.
Duolingo again
I have been back on the friendly habit of Duolingo for the final month of the year; although I may never be fluent in Italian like my wife, I know the vocabulary for more animals and some bizarre and surreal sentences such as l’orso mangia le formiche.
Learn a new recipe a month
I think we managed a lot more between us and took advantage of eating out while on a city break or abroad to get inspiration for other dishes.
Date Nights
We had a few meals out and few glasses of wine too as date nights, mainly our visits abroad were just the two of us and made up for the time we didn’t venture out socially.
See Parents more often
Achieved, particularly in the Summer months. It’s a long drive and I want to bring them back home for a break with us next Spring.
Try new restaurants
As mentioned above in seeking new recipes, I didn’t mention the vegan restaurant in Portugal, Veggie Momi, where we had vegan prawns Algarve-style and vegan pasteis de nata. The traditional taverna, Nikos in Mykonos town where we had stuffed zucchini. Mildred’s at Covent Garden where we had vegan Panna Cotta. Or Jam Delish in London with amazing Caribbean dishes including vegan ‘goat’ curry!
Make or sample new cocktails
I have written a longer post on this.
Play more boardgames
We are backgammon players since our days living in Greece and our offspring love Monopoly; this year we have spent hours on the variation Anti-Monopoly which is two games in one. Players choose to be capitalist Monopolists or free-market Competitors! It takes hours and there are no real winners so just like real life… get yours here.
Brewery/Distillery tours
Not achieved – a really expensive past-time. I looked into visiting a gin distillery in the New Forest and some of the Malt Whisky places near Inverness. Wow. Book months in advance with a healthy wallet.
Regular hikes and walks
We have explored our local area of Nottinghamshire in fair weather but not that regularly tbh. In the new year, we will keep exploring this goal.
Picnic time
As a treat over Summer we went with lots of nibbles to our local park and on another occasion to Newstead Abbey, Lord Byron’s ancestral home. Nice to do when you have free day and the English weather is on-side.
Achievements and a 5 Year Plan
Achievements for a year are more easily summarised by these kind of goal-based blog posts and probably very self indulgent. I am not one for annual letters etc. The five year plan is still being formulated and will be part of the future of my personal blog, needless to say, I have been teaching full time for over 30 years and could do with looking for gentler options of a wind-down.
Pick up someone else’s rubbish
Embarrassingly not done. I need a grabber stick thing and I have a fair idea of where I would like to clear of mainly drink cans and fast-food wrappers. I think the ancient hedgerows of Nottinghamshire will breathe easier once I pull my finger out and so will the resident wildlife. Next year.
Develop a good habit
Achieved and as with all good habits, once you repeat it becomes second nature. I have been using Headspace for quite a few years and try doing this meditation regularly although not daily as I would like. I bought a water bottle with hourly markers for hydration which is useful. I read the newspaper (online) each morning before work and read from a book each evening. Maybe in 2024 I can make the meditation a daily habit and even think of some new ones!
@damoward 
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