I liked playing resolution BINGO last year, and I thought my performance wasn’t that bad, actually. I’m doing it again in 2026. Here’s the card, though I must admit that some (many) of the icons on the squares are a little mystifying. (The written resolutions appear below the image.)
My resolutions for the year in written form, which is easier to understand than their icons:
B-1 — One perfect bread. Just one to complete the two I did last year. (Second recipe in process of distribution here.)
B-2 — Draft and circulate last chapter of the book
B-3 — Write eight sonnets or poems
B-4 — Submit six poems for publication
B-5 — Celebrate a BINGO!
I-1 — Cut down trees for firewood (you know which ones)
I-2 — Bind at least one book for practice
I-3 — Paint the pumphouse
I-4 — Do a presentation
I-5 — Draft and circulate the introduction of the book
N-1 — Draft and circulate the “good” glamour chapter revision
N-2 — Reorganize the Garage Mahal for woodworking
N-3 — FREE!
N-4 — Degoogle the rest (consider moving completely to Linux)
N-5 — Pull together a draft of a chapbook
G-1 — Paint chicken coop (it needs it!)
G-2 — Pitch two articles
G-3 — Handwrite some (or many) Psalms
G-4 — Complete book proposal
G-5 — Write sixteen sonnets or poems
O-1 — Do some film photography (35mm or 620)
O-2 — Fix or replace the typewriter
O-3 — Draft and circulate the “bad” glamour chapter revision
O-4 — Decide on or propose a seminar
O-5 — Do body work on the old truck
Some of these are carry-overs and some are based on carryovers from 2025. The book chapters, for example, are much more well defined, specifying specific chapters that need doing. The book is not a “lump.” The bread in B-1 simply completes the resolution of last year to complete “three perfect breads.” One will do it, I figure. New this year: film photography, handwriting the Psalms, a little book-binding (I’ve done some before), and the like.
Why the Psalms? I had considered writing out the US Constitution by hand. I was inspired by a brief article in The New Yorker (April 28, 2025 issue) that briefly told the story of some people doing that. It seems like a good thing to do, if for no other reason than that handwriting the Constitution would encourage a deep reading of the document that is being threatened today by a felon President, his cronies, and his goons. But the Psalms have lasted longer that the Constitution, and they have provided succour and assurance and energy to readers for centuries and centuries. As I have doom-scrolled through much of 2025 and now in 2026, I figured the Psalms would be better for me. Maybe for many others, too.
So we’ll see how this list of resolutions goes this year.
Image credits (in one big blob!): AnonymousUnknown author, Advertising Art of Man Speaking into Megaphone, 1919, Bookseller & Stationer, 1919 (https://archive.org/details/stationeryoffice1919toro/page/n243), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Man_with_Megaphone.png; Unknown authorUnknown author, Two-Cent Postage Stamp of New York City, between circa and circa 1850date QS:P,+1850- -00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1847-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 1847, https://www.si.edu/object/postage-stamp:npm_2001.2001.331, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Two_cent_postage_stamp_of_New_York_City.tif; Casablanca Records, Rock Band Kiss., 1975, item front back, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kiss_at_backstage_(1975)_(Ace_Frehley).jpg; Esra, Eye Makeup of a Woman., n.d., http://www.sxc.hu/photo/206921, accessed February 1, 2026, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eye_makeup.jpg; Geolina163, Sylvester 2020 Kölnː Sektgläser Mit Glücksymbolen, January 1, 2021, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sylvester_2020_K%C3%B6ln.jpg; Dr Marcus Gossler, A Multi-Volume Latin Dictionary, the Totius Latinitatis Lexicon by Egidio Forcellini (First Published in 1771, This Is a Revised 1858–87 Edition), on a Table in the Main Reading Room of the University Library of Graz., December 15, 2005, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Latin_dictionary.jpg; Klaus Höpfner, Brot- Und Backwaren, April 2, 2007, Fotoarchiv Höpfner, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Assorted_bread.jpg; ImagePerson, Corrosion of a Bolt through Metal in an Abandoned Industrial Site., November 13, 2014, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corroded_Bolt.jpg; Korenn, Sign Number 16 on Jerusalem Street, March 3, 2022, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sign_number_16_on_Jerusalem_Street.jpg; Maksym Kozlenko, IBM Typewriter, August 4, 2019, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2019-08-04_IBM_typewriter.jpg; Allen Marx 12, Cover Page of Boret, a Chapbook by Derain Published by Aklat Ulagad, June 2, 2025, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boret,_a_Chapbook_by_Derain.jpg; Jonathan Mauer, Minolta XG-7 DLSR 35 Mm Film Camera Made in Japan with Rokkor-X 50mm 1:1.7 Ø55 Lens, September 21, 2020, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minolta_XG7_DLSR_35_mm_film_camera.jpg; Fumikas Sagisavas, Gray Paint and Paint Bucket, September 9, 2024, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray_paint_and_paint_bucket.jpg; Jay Springett, And Ornament with the Number Eight., April 12, 2013, https://www.flickr.com/photos/thejaymo/8653427982/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Number_eight_ornament.jpg; The_Art_of_Bookbinding,_Zaehnsdorf,_1890.djvu: .mw-parser-output .commons-creator-table{background-color:#f0f0ff;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:95%;text-align:start;color:inherit}.mw-parser-output .commons-creator-table>tbody>tr{vertical-align:top}.mw-parser-output .commons-creator-table>tbody>tr>th{background-color:var, The Art of Bookbinding, n.d., The_Art_of_Bookbinding,_Zaehnsdorf,_1890.djvu, accessed February 3, 2026, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Art_of_Bookbinding_p196_Bookbinder.png; Keven Law from Los Angeles USA, Goose – St James’s Park, London, England – Saturday March 15th 2008., March 15, 2008, Don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s rude..lol..:O))), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-_law_keven_-_Don%27t_talk_with_your_mouth_full,_it%27s_rude..lol..-O))).jpg; Westbahnhof, Speeds and Feeds on a Circular Saw Blade Cutting Wood (at a Super Fast Feed Rate), November 2020, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circular_saw_blade_directions_sketch1.svg; Book of Psalms, Printed by S Kneeland, 1718, Houghton Library, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Book_of_Psalms,_printed_by_S_Kneeland.jpg; Tree with Visible Roots in Kiental, between Herrsching and Andechs, Germany, May 1, 2012, Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kiental_entre_Herrsching_y_Andechs,_Alemania_2012-05-01,_DD_12.JPG.
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