Pop culture resolutions for 2011

Not the boring personal New Year's Resolutions. The fun kind. So, as inspired by The A.V. Club, my resolutions for 2011.

Read more. Right now I do virtually all of my reading on public transportation, which is fine since I spend a lot of time on the train or the bus, but reading shouldn't be something I do just because I'm not in the same room as a tv or a computer. I'm also looking to read more books by female authors, since everything I read in the second half of 2010 was written by dudes. I could stand to add a few minority authors to my "to-read" list, too. On a related note, I'd also like to...

Take advantage of the library. The neighborhood branch of the Chicago Public Library is small and unimpressive, but I can get books (or other media) from other branches sent there. Evanston also has a great library with a huge periodicals section, if I ever feel like killing an hour flipping through magazines like I did in college (I was a really cool guy in college). The Chicago library system has a fairly good selection of graphic novels from what I've seen online, and I'd like to take advantage of that because reading them doesn't come cheap. Part of the reason it's taken me over a year to slog through Preacher is that I don't cotton to paying $18 for something I can finish during a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Take better advantage of Netflix Watch Instantly: The advantage to renting movies from Netflix is that in order to get your money's worth, you need to watch rentals right away and get a good turnaround on your next one. Netflix has a treasure trove of documentaries, independent/foreign movies, and tv shows available through streaming, but since they're always there there's rarely an impetus to watch them. A long, cold winter could be just the reason I need to finally watch Sherman's March and Big Man Japan.

Watch more television. Remember when I was talking about Netflix Watch Instantly? I've had Friday Night Lights languishing on my streaming queue for a year now. If I'm not vigilant, Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica could suffer the same fate. I've been putting off the second season of Sons of Anarchy for a few months, I've only seen four episodes of Community, and I've still never watched a minute of Breaking Bad.