A question of resolutions

Posted at 7:22 AM on January 3, 2009 by Julia Schrenkler

Saturday brings A Prairie Home Companion to the airwaves. Some notes on the program's web site have me pondering resolutions. Ever since a coworker mentioned Mrs. Sundberg's approach to the New Year's Resolution quandry, I've been thinking about it. She writes,

Instead of making a New Year's Resolution, I pick a word I want to make more a part of my life, and I chose the word "peace" one year. I read books about it, I talked about it, I researched it, I meditated upon it. Did all I could to make "peace" a bigger part of my life.

That's really appealing. In our household there have been a few words tossed about including recognition, risk and completion. Right now grace and why are in the finals. Grace may win out, because why can take a lifetime - and my family might strongly prefer I didn't set aside my let-it-be ness and pick up such a delicate and deep word.

Setting aside that depth, tonight's show looks like fun:

This week on A Prairie Home Companion, it's our Second Annual Year-End Rewind with a compilation of 2008's memorable moments. We'll revisit the debuts of Nick Lowe, Nellie McKay and tenor Raúl Melo. Yo-Yo Ma will toast the New Year, Martin Sheen will take on the role of James Joyce in an episode of The Lives of the Cowboys, and Brad Paisley sings a tune about leaving the toilet seat down. Guy Noir goes on Pope Patrol during the April 2008 papal visit to New York, and Ruth Harrison turns down a chance to sail the globe with a swarthy romance novelist. All that, plus we remember the Tollerud's trip to Costa Rica.

Maybe I should have said that sounds good. Anyway, you don't have to listen to hear. Care to join the resolute?

* Join the discussion, and perhaps join the resolute.
* Garrison Keillor's 2009 resolution is: "Do it better." Read more about that.
* The View from Mrs. Sundberg's Window