In search of something new to kick-start 2006? None of the following items are likely to inspire your new year’s resolution, but they may provide you with a little amusement while you’re going through nicotine withdrawal or starving away those extra 10 lbs you’ve vowed to lose...

In search of something new to kick-start 2006? None of the following items are likely to inspire your new year’s resolution, but they may provide you with a little amusement while you’re going through nicotine withdrawal or starving away those extra 10 lbs you’ve vowed to lose.

Watch: So there’s this show called Veronica Mars. The show has apparently been around since 2004, but since I am the Nick-at-Nite, M*A*S*H rerun type of person, it didn’t cross my radar until recently when my mother asked me to watch the first season on DVD with her. At first, I refused. The back of the DVD box billed the show as “a little bit Buffy,” which is the quickest way to get me to hate something. I would rather gouge my eyes out with a spork than watch Sarah Michelle Gellar fight vampires. But my mother wanted to watch the show, and so I eventually agreed. And of course, it hooked me. Spunky teenage outcast-turned-private-eye seeks her best friend’s killer while juggling schoolwork, boys and smaller mystery cases like: who stole the school’s mascot? who’s making fake IDs? Did her former friend’s mother really commit suicide or was she faking it? Anyway, it’s a cute show. I give it a mindless thumbs up.

Read: My father received this book for Christmas and promptly made me read some of it. I am not a war buff, but this book was fun. The stories are told in succinct 1-2 page increments, perfect for the on-the-go reader, or the reader who is easily bored. For example, did you know that the Greeks had a gay army?

Eat: In general, I avoid meat-and-threes. But today I ate at the White Trash Cafe on Bransford Avenue, and you know, it was pretty good. I recommend the mashed potatoes. In keeping with the atmosphere, my waitress expressed her secret desire to fasten electric lights to her fake beehive hairdo. Anyone who wants colored lights in their hair is fine by me.

Hear: If you saw Leslie and the Lys the last time they came through town and you want something else to fill the horrifyingly tacky void in your life, you might want to check this out. I don’t know where it came from. I don’t understand it. I don’t want to understand it. I just want to share the crazy Mike Ditka love.