My dear friend Jill shared her personal manifesto in our Mothers Who Write class last fall, and it got me thinking, of course, about my own. (Jill’s is magnificent — like she is. Included on it: “I will judge you by your playlist.” She’s inspired us to post them on the New Times culture blog, phxculture.com, so keep an eye out for that this year.)

I could have gone to 100, but here’s a start. I strongly believe manifestoes (mainfesti? manifestee?) are meant to change over the years, or even the days. Some, like my grandmother’s mantra regarding butter, will not change. But I reserve the right to switch things up.

Today seems like as good a time as any to share my manifesto, particularly since I’m resolving to not make any New Year’s resolutions this year, other than one: to be more sure-footed. That’s vague enough to sound do-able, don’t you think? And it applies to many things. I’m pleased with my choice.

And now, Amy’s Manifesto (with thanks to Jill):

1. Start fresh every day.
2. Try to never use a thesaurus.
3. Physical humor is very rarely funny, but when it is, there’s nothing funnier.
4. Do not trust a person who says he or she does not like The Beatles.
5. Nothing will ever take the place of a handwritten letter.
6. If you want something to taste good, use butter.
7. Never own a pet smarter than you.
8. Use both exclamation points and glitter sparingly.
9. Don’t hang your pictures too high or set your expectations too low.
10. You have to know the rules to know when to break the rules.

Happy New Year!