1. Read 30 books, including at least one from each of several categories

The categories are:

Poetry
Classics
Philosophy
Graphic novel
Art/exhibition book
Anthony Burgess
Robert Silverberg
William Shakespeare

The last category includes seeing the play performed as well, and as such constitutes a resumption of my 2014–2015 Shakespeare challenge.

2. Listen to 10 specific albums

Tubeway Army: Tubeway Army (1978)
Tubeway Army: Replicas (1979)
Gary Numan: The Pleasure Principle (1979)
Gary Numan: Telekon (1980)
The Stooges: Raw Power (1973)
Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska (1982)
Sleeper: Pleased to Meet You (1997)
White Stripes: Icky Thump (2007)
Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
Pulp: More (2025)

The choice of the first four albums means this is essentially an attempt to get into early Numan as well. The others are by artists or bands that I already love, and are big or recent albums that I’ve somehow passed over until now.

3. Watch 10 specific films

A Trip to the Moon (1902)
Un Chien Andalou (1929) / Land Without Bread (1933)
Freaks (1932)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Blow-up (1966)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Badlands (1973)
Dark Star (1974)
Dazed and Confused (1993)
The Rubber-Keyed Wonder (2024)

4. Complete Pokémon Blue

Carried over from 2025.

5. Start writing a diary, and publish two blog posts

I want to get back into writing more, and I think the discipline of keeping a diary will be good for me.

6. Establish a routine of exercising four times a week, run a half marathon, and maintain a 10% parkrun volunteer ratio

I’m signed up for the Manchester Half in October.

My parkrun volunteer ratio is already close to 10% after what was with hindsight an over-ambitious volunteering target in 2025. I should be able to maintain it there with about 4-5 volunteer roles in 2026.

7. Give blood 4 times

Another crack at this one as a resolution, before hopefully converting it to a habit thereafter.