New Year’s resolutions are trite – at least, that’s what we say after going back on our yearly promises of personal betterment. We vow to lose weight, get fit and exercise, but find our inner gourmand calling to us before Valentine’s Day. We hope to halt those bad habits and be more centered, only to find a tough week at work derails everything. And some of us even attempt to learn something brand new. At OhioAuthority, we think the latter is still a very attainable goal, especially with this trio of local events:

New Year’s Eve Insurrection Mass and Possibilitarian Puppet Service

Usher in the New Year with a whole lotta new: ideas, approach, attitude and friends. On Thursday, December 31 at 3 pm, this out-with-the-old “mass” celebration at the Coventry Village Library in Cleveland Heights includes a papier-mâché puppet service (non-denominational), a fiddle sermon and "Funeral March for the Rotten Ideas of 2009" parade, which steps off at 3:45 pm. All ages and participants are welcome, but plan on arriving at 11 am, if you want to walk in the parade. For more information, call 216-771-8287 or email diana_sette@yahoo.com. Don't forget to head back to Coventry for Tommy's Annual New Year's Day Pancake Breakfast to benefit Heights Arts, Friday, January 1. 

Sergio’s Sarava New Year’s Eve Samba Party 

A change in latitude is good for the soul, as evidenced by the hundreds who flocked to Sergio’s Sarava last year for this Brazilian bash. Sarava offers three different incarnations of their New Year’s Eve Samba Party on Thursday, December 31, including two with prix fixe dinners, live music by Samba Joia, sets by world music DJ Kris Koch and more. One too many margaritas, mojitos or caipirinhas? Sarava has set up special overnight packages (including a continental breakfast) through Glidden House for advance purchase. Equal parts Carnaval and cosmopolitan cool, this is a New Year’s Eve party unlike any other in Cleveland. To make reservations, call 216-295-1200.

Cleveland Area Mountain Bike Association’s New Year's Day Poker Run 

Okay, so we all promise to be healthier and more community-minded in the New Year,  but this event tackles both on Day One 2010. Bring your bike and your balaclava, and get your blood pumping with CAMBA’s ninth annual New Year's Day cycle rally. It all starts Friday, January 1 at Tremont's Lincoln Park, located at West 14th Street, between Kenilworth Avenue and Startkweather Avenue. Riders should meet at noon at the bandstand at the center of Lincoln Park. Take in CAMBA’s road circuit, featuring a brisk journey through downtown, The Flats and Tremont, where The tour ends at The SouthSide for some well-deserved food and drink. 

Every holiday season, thousands of Clevelanders are faced with the dilemma of what to do with their families while they're in town. Having drifted off into a food-induced daze, some flock to the local multiplex for Hollywood’s annual blockbuster barrage, while others settle into the tried-but-true routine of continued grazing, imbibing and television marathons. But for those hungering for something more fulfillingly Cleveland, here’s a trio of great local events that are simply too good to pass up (and will encourage people to get out of your house for a bit):

Black Nativity at Karamu House 

This is a Cleveland institution, written by a Cleveland institution and performed at a Cleveland institution. A transcendent gospel meditation, Karamu House's annual production of native Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity is always top-notch. Performed at the oldest African American theater in the country, Nativity centers on the spiritual Christmas story through vivid costumes, dance and melody. It’s been 30 years since Mike Malone, late former Karamu artistic director, found the script (and other Hughes works) on the Karamu property. To say Nativity is inspirational is an understatement; like snow and Christmas Ale, it’s hard to imagine a Cleveland holiday season without it. The production runs through Monday, December 28. Visit online for schedule and showtimes, or call 216-795-7070.

Cleveland Botanical Garden’s WinterShow 

Life around the holidays was different before shopping mall impresarios began conjuring retail theater in every suburb across America. This no-cost, open-to-the-public (with Garden admission) WinterShow is most certainly a throwback: a much-needed dose of Rockwellian nostalgia for the holidays, replete with a timelessly decorated tree, window displays, a gingerbread house competition, a Garden Store and much more. Cleveland Botanical Garden’s seasonal programming is simply the best of its kind in the city; the WinterShow is the best of their best. Finish your visit with a skate on Wade Oval (skate rental is a mere $3) and hot chocolate and cookies at the Garden’s Café. WinterShow runs through Monday, January 4. 

Coffinberry at the Grog Shop 

Coffinberry’s latest, self-titled release is a harmonic epiphany, particularly given the post-punk immensity of their previous effort, God Dam Dogs. Incorporating acoustic and pop elements into their sludgy, garage rock instrumentation, Coffinberry recalls J. Mascis, The Replacements and Ohio's Pere Ubu in the process. This quartet is, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, noisy, casual and “selflessly fashion unconscious.” They’re also one of the area’s best live bands. Check them live at the Grog Shop on Saturday, December 26 at 9PM with special guests The Walkies, Good Touch Bad Touch and Buried Wires, the latter one of Cleveland's other most buzzed about bands. 

For many children of the 80s, there is a longing for simpler times that's been cultivated by feel-good imagery in magazines and on TV. Featured among our idealistic daydreams are visions of family-owned neighborhood storefronts, specializing in everything from household appliances to groceries, medicine to records. We dream of listening to new Elvis, Platters and Everly Brothers singles in the 50s, followed by the excitement of the British Invasion in the 60s. Drive-ins, chrome-laden artistic autos, colorful clothing – swingin' times.  For those raised in tightly knit communities decades ago, there is the inevitable mix of nostalgia tempered with the realities of the day. 

Today's reality is that the number of family owned and operated, independent storefronts is dwindling, though Northeast Ohio is home to many such spots, old and new. Among the latter is Appetite Bakery, Deli and Catering. It's the type of seemingly anachronistic bakery and deli that has been lovingly beamed from the past, delivering plenty of homemade items in a cozy, refreshingly unaffected setting – substance over style. 

At its center are convivial brothers William and Bennet Davis, both classically trained chefs. Bennet uses his pastry background to craft some of the region's tastiest breads and baked goods, including cookies, muffins, cakes, croissants, danishes and cupcakes. William lends his culinary expertise to a menu of perfected deli-appropriate sandwiches, soups, salads and sides. When you walk into the space on Mayfield Road in Lyndhurst, you are immediately engaged in an olafactory massage, with the baked aromas doing the deli justice and quickly whetting your appetite.

During this busy holiday season, Appetite is the ideal place to regroup, stopping in for the type of sandwich that immediately comes to mind when you think of a sandwich. With Bennet's impeccable breads enveloping a host of William's homemade ingredients, every sandwich is delightfully fresh. Among the more than a dozen sandwich choices, the Bacon Bird (turkey, applewood smoked bacon, Swiss, lettuce, tomato and mayo) is a testament to the beauty of simplicity when executed perfectly. It's delicious and a personal favorite. The deli serves breakfast sandwiches all day, and does a brisk catering business - perfect if you need a little extra help feeding all your holiday visitors, young and old. 

With Thanksgiving barely a week past and December in its infancy, I have noticed a sizable amount of holiday jeering, not cheering. While the holidays have an unfortunate tendency to remind us how fragile our bank accounts are, how quickly we are able to gain 15 pounds and how pained the inevitable avuncular annoyances are, there is a great deal of winter - more specifically, Christmas - wonderment to be had. 

Two weeks ago, I was asked to judge the Cleveland Botanical Garden's annual gingerbread house competition, part of the Garden's 2009 Winter Show, which runs through January 3. Despite being met with the unenviable task of critiquing dozens of unique, lovingly crafted gingerbread homes, the experience made me nostalgic and elated that Christmas time is upon us. Amid the Garden's gorgeous, grand and fragrant Christmas tree and the inescapable aroma of gingerbread, the Garden is nothing short of Santa's workshop. The volume of gingerbread homes is astonishing with more than 80 entries in the adult, professional and children's categories. The latter captured the youthful delight beget by the holiday spirit, uniting creative playfulness and wonderfully unpolished creations. Polly Mecaskey's "A Train Station Christmas" illustrated this with a fanciful vision, complete with gingerbread locomotive with sandwich cookie wheels. The adult and professional entries were equally inventive and many the works of true artists. Joanne VanLunteren's "Dorchester Village" [pictured] created an idyllic town with amazing detail and a colorful character that recalled the liveliness of a Rankin/Bass stop animation Christmas special. It is wonderful. You could, and I did, spend hours viewing the gingerbread houses. It would soften even the most curmudgeonly Scrooge. 

Beyond the grand tree and gingerbread houses, the Garden has a variety of beautiful holiday-themed window displays, as well as a remarkable collection of holiday plants in the Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse. In keeping with the spirit of things, the Garden is encouraging visitors to enjoy the University Circle outdoor ice rink, which is made using a special polymer that replicates ice, without using any water or electricity. Admission is free, and skate rentals are $3, so bring the whole family. Happy holidays!

When Cleveland native and Boston area resident Judah Leblang found himself on a Florida vacation without his favorite baseball cap (Cleveland Indians, of course; Leblang hasn't transferred allegiances – yet), he made a quick stop in a strip-mall tourist shop to buy a replacement. Finding one lone cap among the store's motley selection, he quickly paid for it and went on his way. When he arrived at his friend's house to begin his vacation, he displayed his purchase – a white cap with the letters "WWJD" printed above the brim in large black type – and wondered if his friend had heard of this local radio station.

"Wearing my new cap constantly, pleased with bagging a bargain, I walked around town," writes Leblang in his new book of essays, Finding My Place. "Folks seemed even warmer than usual, and Jacksonville had always seemed to me a singularly friendly place." Back in Boston, a chance discussion with a friend revealed the real meaning of the cap's slogan, and Leblang reflected on his experiences in Jacksonville. "For a week, I'd been protected, and passed safely through the land of the moral majority unscathed."

Finding My Place is a memoir, told through a collection of Leblang's essays, many of which have previously appeared in regional publications or were broadcast on various NPR affiliates. In spare, straightforward style, Leblang creates affecting vignettes of his youth in Cleveland and adulthood in Boston and beyond, touching on themes of name and place. This summer, Leblang will return to Cleveland for readings from Finding My Place (keep up with him here) – hopefully, the boys of summer won't give him further cause to start rooting for the Red Sox.

Finding My Place is now available on Amazon, at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights and Visible Voice Books in Tremont.