News of the Week: New Year’s Resolutions, the GOAT Singers, and Words You Should Never Use Again

In 2023 I Resolve To …

Lose weight! Make more money! Move! Be a better person!

Those are some of the typical resolutions we make every January, and we’re so overwhelmed by them that we abandon them by the end of February. Time has some tips on how to keep the promises you make yourself, readers of The Atlantic list the resolutions they’ve made for 2023, and this YouGov poll shows what resolutions Americans have made. Apparently everyone wants to pay down their massive debts but hardly anyone is unhappy with their current job.

Want to lose weight? There’s an app for that (or just do the Mediterranean Diet).

Maybe we should make smaller, more doable resolutions. I’ll no longer shoplift! I’ll watch more TV! I’ll stop punching people in the face!

Oh No, Not Another Rolling Stone List

Maybe we should all resolve not to read any more lists from Rolling Stone.

The latest is this list of the 200 greatest singers of all time, another list that can’t be taken seriously (The Daily Mail has an easier-to-read list). There are many choices no one would argue with — Aretha Franlkin, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Freddie Mercury, and Patsy Cline all make the list — but it’s the placement of the singers on the list and the snubs that have people on social media going crazy. No Celine Dion? No Sting? No Nat King Cole or Bing Crosby? But hey, at least Burna Boy, IU, and Björk made the list!

(And Bob Dylan is one of the best singers of all time? Alrighty then.)

People I would have put on the list, if we’re going by, you know, singing, would be Peggy Lee, Dean Martin, and Tom Jones.

This is another example of why lists like this just aren’t worth doing anymore and are obviously just clickbait and trolling. Of course, here I am linking to the story, so I guess the joke’s on me.

Irregardless, This Is an Amazing List

I just used two of the words on Lake Superior State University’s annual list of the words and phrases we shouldn’t use anymore. Others include “gaslighting,” “quiet quitting,” “it is what it is,” and “GOAT.”

The last one is an acronym for “Greatest of All Time.” It’s still okay to use it if you’re referring to actual goats.

Those We Lost in 2022

Each week I list the notable people who have died, and each year around this time, CBS and Turner Classic Movies do a fine job of reminding us of all of the people we’ve lost over the last 12 months. It’s always stunning to see how many famous people have died and how many you forgot had died during the past year.

Uploaded to YouTube by CBS Sunday Morning

Uploaded to YouTube by Turner Classic Movies

RIP Barbara Walters, Pope Benedict XVI, Anita Pointer, Fred White, Fay Weldon, James Corley, Walt Cunningham, Kelly Monteith, Chris Ledesma, Edith Pearlman, Tony Vaccaro, and Rita Walter

Barbara Walters was an influential journalist who was the first female co-host on Today and then became co-anchor (with Harry Reasoner) on the ABC Evening News. Known for her interviews with newsmakers, she later created and was a panelist on the ABC morning talk show The View. She died last week at the age of 93.

Pope Benedict XVI — born Joseph Ratzinger — was pope from 2005 to 2013 before becoming the first pope to resign in 600 years. He died Saturday at the age of 95.

Anita Pointer was a Grammy-winning member of the Pointer Sisters, known for such hits as “I’m So Excited,” “Jump,” “Neutron Dance,” and “Automatic.” She died Saturday at the age of 74.

Fred White was the drummer for the band Earth, Wind, and Fire, who had such songs as “September,” “Boogie Wonderland,” “Fantasy,” and “After the Love Has Gone.” He died recently at the age of 67.

Fay Weldon was an acclaimed British novelist. She died Wednesday at the age of 91.

James Corley was the “Buster” of the Dave & Buster’s restaurant chain. He died this week at the age of 72.

Walt Cunningham was the pilot of the first manned Apollo mission in 1968. He died Tuesday at the age of 90.

Kelly Monteith was an American comedian and actor who had a popular show in England in the late ’70s/early ’80s. He died Monday at the age of 80.

Chris Ledesma was the music editor on The Simpsons and worked on every episode of the show from its beginning in 1989 to the end of the 2022 season. He died recently at the age of 64.

The Boston Globe called Edith Pearlman “the greatest living American short story writer,” and The London Times called her “the best short story writer in the world.” She died Sunday at the age of 86.

Tony Vaccaro was a veteran photographer known for his war photos and portraits of artists and celebrities. He died last week at the age of 100.

Rita Walter appeared on soaps such as As the World Turns and The Secret Storm but she got her start doubling for Patty Duke on The Patty Duke Show. She died last month at the age of 71.

This Week in History

Isaac Asimov Born (January 2, 1920)

The acclaimed writer penned the short story “Benjamin’s Dream” for the April 1974 issue of the Post.

55 MPH Speed Limit Becomes Law (January 2, 1974)

President Nixon signed the law, and a decade later singer Sammy Hagar told us he couldn’t drive it.

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: “Snowy Morning at Church” (January 6, 1951)

I’d love to have a print of this John Falter cover.

January Is Soup Month

What’s better than a hot bowl of soup after church on a cold winter’s Sunday afternoon or night? (Maybe this because it’s one of the best food photos I’ve ever seen, but let’s concentrate on soup.)

(If the stars had aligned I would have put soup recipes in last week’s column about Campbell’s Soup, but it wasn’t January then.)

Here’s the recipe for Curtis Stone’s Homemade-Chicken-Soup-Makes-Me-Feel-Better Soup, and here’s his Winter Vegetable Minestrone. Taste of Home has recipes for French Onion Soup and Borscht, while The Pioneer Woman has this Stuffed Pepper Soup and this Broccoli-Cheese Soup.

And here’s a dozen soups featured 100 years ago in the pages of our sister publication, The Country Gentleman, including Ham and Pea, Kidney Bean, Tomato, and something called Gravy Soup.

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

Friday the 13th (January 13)

I’m giving you a week’s notice so you don’t walk under a ladder, open an umbrella indoors, or carry a loaf of bread in your left hand (I made up one of those).

International Skeptics Day (January 13)

I bet these people don’t worry about Friday the 13th.