My wish list for 2011

I don’t usually make plans because if you have a weekly program that goes live and are always on call you don’t have much of a choice but move on a day-to-day basis. However, since the years keep adding on I may just find myself one day unable to fulfill what everyone now calls the bucket list. And so I’m putting everything down now and this list will serve as my guide as I take in yet another year. Here’s what I intend to accomplish this 2011.

Finish my Christmas shopping by next week. This is for 2010, okay. Some people from the entertainment profession relish the holiday season weeks later because December schedules are always the most toxic in the work calendar. I remember one time when Korina Sanchez hosted a Christmas party at their house on Jan. 8 because she couldn’t get people together during the actual holiday season — with herself doing the news even on Christmas Day and New Year.

Get the Yuletide goodies out of my sight because these are calorie traps I have to burn myself.

Exercise — seriously, this time. A workout program is supposed to be effective for only six months. Mine is five years old.

Do serious stretching. I only stretch on my way to the gym, while stuck in traffic. But I have to keep in mind that this is already 2011 and the joints and bones may start getting brittle in time.

Get Lolit Solis to start eating healthy. I had been trying for some time now, but had not been very successful and that gets me frustrated. The problem is that I can’t be with her all the time to watch her diet. You know, Lolit, I will continue being sweet to you, but no sweets from me anymore!

Finally go through a detoxification program. Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB) chair Christine Dayrit had been dragging me since the other year to drive to The Farm in San Benito in Batangas because she swears that the detox program there is very effective. You expel even the chewing gum you accidentally swallowed when you were eight, she told me. RJ Ledesma was also there recently. I should really make time — and save up for it — this 2011.

Fix my files. Last Dec. 23, I cancelled all appointments and asked my best buddy from way back who was on a break from his teaching job to help me arrange the DVD copies that were scattered all over the place. We spent the whole day just doing that — with me just supervising, but not actually getting my hands dirty. He will have a heart attack when he finds out that another batch — screeners for the coming Gawad Urian — had arrived and everything’s a mess again.

Settle real estate taxes and association dues by end of this month so I don’t panic in March. But I need to earn some more for that. I guess that’s goodbye The Farm in San Benito for now and settle for Toni Rose Gayda’s less expensive and do-it- yourself lemon detox formula.

Bond with Rosa Rosal some more. Every time I finish work in the morning — like 7 a.m. — I call her up first to say good night and say I love you.

Finalize talks for another book project. I finished working on one toward the last quarter of 2010 and it’s supposed to be launched anytime soon, but I can’t bring myself to talk about it yet because it’s still coming out of my ears.

Go to court and sue my former tenant in Baguio for estafa. All her checks bounced — actually her daughter’s, so I guess it’s the daughter I’m dragging to court.

Pay a visit to the Land Transportation Office main office in East Avenue and ask the bosses there to look out the window to see all the smoke-belching buses that pass in front of that complex. How comfortable they all must be in their air-conditioned offices not to notice.

Start writing pieces to help rid our roads of smoke-belching vehicles. A decade ago, I began a lonely battle to ban smoking inside establishments. Little did I know that there were other souls who were also into that crusade and we banded together. In time we ended up working individually due to conflicts in schedule, but continued fighting for a common cause. I don’t know how much I was able to contribute to that, but I am just relieved that all shopping malls are smoke-free today — with proper designated places for smokers. And now, on to my next fight — the smoke-belching private and mostly public utility vehicles. Is there a group I can join in this crusade?

Encourage more celebrities to get into charity work. Don’t look now, but Marian Rivera may soon become the face of hope of children afflicted with cancer. I’m just happy that this early in her career, she already knows how to give back. To Marian, I’m just here for you if you need any help and support for your charity projects. The public has to be told about such efforts in case they want to make donations — and so that they are aware that there are so many charity cases all over.

Catch up on my readings. I’m so behind.

Learn a new language. We say that all the time. We succeeded partly last year: A whole new breed of Pinoys began talking and texting using a new language called Jejemon.

Probably go back to school.

Continue learning. That may just be my best weapon against Alzheimer’s disease.

I will be more patient. I will count up to ten before I hit back when provoked. I said I will be more patient. I didn’t say I was going to be a doormat.