Weekend Roundtable: 2017 New Year’s Resolutions

From disappointing movies to disastrous political fiascos to the endless string of painful celebrity deaths, 2016 was a pretty crap year all around. We may not be able to control all (or any) of those big issues, but we can do little things to help start the new year off on a better note, at least on a personal level. Here are some of our New Year’s resolutions for 2017.

Mike Attebery

It feels like each year brings something else to juggle, and I often end up dropping the ball in other areas of my life. Since becoming a parent, I think I’ve managed to keep the parenting ball in the air OK, but health and personal satisfaction have been a little trickier. I spent 2016 working to get back in shape. From January 4th to present, I’ve lost 40 pounds, and I think I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in, certainly the best since 2001. I’m determined to keep the fitness ball aloft in the New Year.

My big goals for 2017 are creative and professional. I’m still working on a series of four books that I hope to have in first drafts by the end of the year. In addition to writing, I’m narrowing my priorities to focus on work that I find rewarding, and professional relationships that appreciate and reward me.

Brian Hoss

Oh, how I hate New Year’s resolutions. They always seem more like lofty goals than resolute actions or else are just too easy. As I try to wrap up 2016 and get to some last-minute items on my agenda, I’m reminded that, like others with similar interests, I tend to get very excited about certain tech or certain media, only for hot items to languish in the box once acquired. This backlog of cool stuff always gets slammed as the holidays ramp up. This year, I’m really going to try to make sure that I don’t load up on gadgets and other associated media that I don’t have enough time for. Wish me luck!

Luke Hickman

My resolutions are two-fold:

1. Be healthier. I definitely possess a fat gene. To keep it in check, I’ve been running at least once each week for the last three years. I ran my first half-marathon in September, but have slacked off since then. I started running again, but I’m now 20 pounds overweight. It’s time to step it up a notch by trimming out some of the unhealthy foods that I enjoy and eating smaller portions. Let’s do this, 2017!

2. I’m not one to purchase newer models of things that I already own when the old ones still function. For example, I drive a 2003 Toyota Echo that has 301,000 miles on it. I’m frequently asked when I’m going to buy a new car, but I don’t see why I’d buy another when this one still runs fine. In similar fashion, I haven’t upgraded to a 4k or Atmos home theater yet because my current 7.1 setup still works just fine. My goal in 2017 is to run my system into the ground. My Onkyo receiver is still in tip-top shape, but if I could get my 1080p TV panel to go out, I’d need to replace it with a 4k model. When I’m doing that, I might as well upgrade the audio system too, right?

Adam Tyner (DVDTalk)

When I got married a couple of years ago, my wife and I agreed that we’d move into my current house, spiff it up, and get it ready for resale. The plan was always to move to a new house of our own in 2017, and I resolve to live up to that promise. As part of the deal, I get a shiny, new home theater, so I’m especially excited to see what CES has to offer next month. I guess that also means that I resolve to buy movies on Ultra HD Blu-ray whenever possible to be ready for my new setup, even though I already know I’ll never get around to suffering through the likes of ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ a second time.

Josh Zyber

As I look around at my home theater, I see shelves full of Blu-ray discs that I’ve never watched. Some are movies that I’ve seen before (either in theaters or on previous home video formats) and haven’t found time to rewatch on Blu-ray, but many others were blind buys that I’ve never seen at all. At this point, more of my disc collection is unwatched than watched. The situation is getting ridiculous. For 2017, I’m going to try to set aside at least a couple hours a week to watch some of these Blu-rays. Finding time to do so will probably mean giving up some TV shows that I’ve clung to despite losing interest in them.

What are your resolutions for 2017? Tell us in the Comments.

The blog will take another vacation day on Monday, but we’ll be back here on Tuesday. Have a Happy New Year’s celebration, everybody!

9 comments

  1. Csm101

    Work for me this year was pretty shitty. I hope it gets better this upcoming year and if it doesnt, I won’t let it get to me. Congrats on the 40 pound loss Mr. Attenberry, I too lost 40 pounds this year and could afford to lose 40 more. I was working out on my little bow flex type machine( more like a faux flex) but I got sidetracked and I need to jump back on. I have a bit of a ghetto Atmos setup right now, as I am using some klipsch bookshelf speakers for my front height and some old Celestion bookshelf speakers that a buddy of mine was throwing out which I mount on speaker stands and place one on my kitchen bar and the other on a bookshelf to gain height with the wires running across the floor. I’m looking to get some ceiling speakers for a much cleaner look and probably a better sounding setup as the heights will be higher and more where they need to be. I’d like to have that by March. Oh yeah, I’m also planning world domination for 2017. Happy New Year bitches!!🤘🏻😀🤘🏻

  2. Chris B

    I need to buy fewer movies and watch more of the ones I already own. Drink a little less beer and eat more vegetables. Worry less about the future and enjoy the present moment. Be a little less occupied with my own hobbies and a little more attentive to the needs of my family. Happy New Year to HDD staff and readers, let’s hope 2017 is a little kinder to us all than 2016 was…

  3. photogdave

    I resolve to waste less time on Netflix. To echo what Josh said, I invest too much in TV shows that go nowhere with ever-dwindling quality. I hate to think of the lost hours spent on shows like Dexter, The Walking Dead, and others, just to “see it through”.
    I also resolve to spend less on Blu-rays and only buy higher quality films that I will definitely re-watch, and not get suckered in by “good deals”. I need to finish going through my DVDs and pull out the ones that still look good and finalize the list of upgrades.
    I resolve to try and watch at least one movie on Ultra HD and form my own opinion of its worth.

  4. David

    I recently made the leap into 4K UHD, so I am going to try and only buy these discs and avoid the walmart bluray/dvd bargain bins in 2017. Also finally instal my polk ceiling speakers in my theater room for real dolby atmos, since my pioneer add ons are too hit or miss with most tracks.

  5. Deaditelord

    2016 was very much a transition year for me as I continue my college education in Florida. Leaving all my friends in Iowa has been difficult, but with school winding down I’m starting to see that proverbial light at the end if the tunnel. Now if I can just land that great new job this year…

    Last month over Black Friday I made the jump to 4k HDR by picking up a 55 inch Sony 930D (was going to go 65 inches, but the reports of bad 3D crosstalk with the 65 inch 930D changed my mind). Now that I’ve seen how good HDR looks, I plan on selling some blu-rays to buy an Oppo UDP-203 and start building a UHD movie collection this year. I am also thinking about learning how to cook (a skill I could charitably say I suck at right now) as a way to eat better and to save some money. Outside of that, I’m not sure what else I want to accomplish. Here’s hoping 2017 is a better year than 2016!

  6. William Henley

    The main one for me is to change diet and exercise significantly more. I actually hurt my back in March installing the exercise equipment at home, so haven’t been able to use it, but I am hoping to start soon. I have got to drop at least 30 pounds – not so much because doctor’s are saying so, but 1) I can’t stand the person looking back at me in the mirror 2) I am borderline obese 3) borderline diabetic 4) Going to Europe for 4 weeks, and that always comes with a LOT of walking. I just got back in town last night and was planning to start the new diet, but I have nothing healthy in the house right now. It will probably be next weekend before I get to the store

    I also made the resolution that I won’t be a full time student again. I am working on my masters, and work full time. I made the mistake last semester of adding a third class, which took me from part time to full time (on the masters level, part time is 6 hours, full time is 9 because of the amount of coursework required). This should give me more down time, so time to read, watch movies, play video games!

    Also going to try to get credit cards paid off before going to Europe. Should be able to do it, I hope. I had many unexpected expenses this past year (new home, and the home warranty company didn’t want to cover stuff that broke shortly after I moved in, plus major car repairs), so those cards have gotten quite high.

    After getting the cards paid off, a resolution is to start making payments on student loans. I wasn’t done paying off my undergrad when I started working on my masters, so those loans are adding up fast.

  7. Thulsadoom

    2016 was full of polar opposites for us. My other half lost two close family members, one being her dad, which has been terrible. On the other hand, her shop has continued to build nicely. I started a new job at the beginning of 2016, that pays better than I’ve ever been paid before, but also means I ended up working seven days a week including a lot of evenings, early mornings and sometimes all-nighters for about three months straight till just before December with very stressful deadlines, and it’s ramping back up to that again with a new project. It’s also a job that has sapped the last of my enthusiasm out of a career in Software Dev. Soulless work that has no job satisfaction. Sod’s law, I even have a work deadline to coincide with my 41st birthday in a couple of days! Yay…

    So for 2017, as a lot of people have said, I intend to:
    a) Lose weight (It was going in the right direction in Dec, so I just need to continue that trend after the Christmas meal hurdle!)
    b) Find a new career, or at least a Software Dev job that gives even a little job satisfaction and better hours, even if it means taking a pay cut.
    c) Finally find the time to get my book published!! I’ve written book one, and am about a third into book two, but I just haven’t had the time to get things sorted to publish book one, despite it being finished. Hopefully that could be the career breakout I need. 😉 Doubtful, but we can all hope!
    d) We need to get out of renting and finally bite the mortgage bullet.

  8. charles contreras

    2016 actually turned out pretty good for me, compared to the last couple of years which were spent being homeless, but not hopeless, as I did anything I could to get myself out of that tough spot, including truck driving across country. My goals during that time were to find a decent place to call home, and just as important, to rebuild my movie collection and have a decent set of equipment to play them on.

    During 2016, with some careful planning, I was able to find a good job which I’m still with, a decent apartment, a good car, and then the chance to rebuild my dvd and blu ray library. I doubt that I’ll never get back up to the 1,700 titles that I had, but I plan to be selective in what I’ll purchase.

    Rolling into 2017, I’ve already purchased an LG HTIB which sounds fantastic in my living room, so now my apartment is finally livable. I could use a larger tv, but maybe that’ll happen by next Christmas.

    My goals for this year should be interesting. A family reunion is in the works, where I’ll get to see one of my sisters who I haven’t seen in a very long time, as well as another sister who I haven’t met yet. My parents put here up for adoption 3 years before I was born. The next thing is a flight instruction course that my godson purchased for me for Christmas, so that’ll be exciting to be at the controls of a small plane. Then maybe later in the year I’ll try to attend some Hollywood autograph shows like I used to, maybe including a ComicCon in the Chicago area. After all that’s been done, we’ll see what new adventures lie ahead, maybe I’ll find myself back on the road again, or maybe I’ll take on a new challenge that’ll keep me busy? Either way, I genuinely look forward to the coming year. Happy New Year everyone!

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