Recently, gossip columnist Lloyd Grove decided to start the New Year without Paris Hilton. He says that because of her antics, her hypocrisy, and her inanity, the goofy heiress will never again show up in his NY Daily News column (barring her discovering a cure for cancer, or, y’know, getting a high school diploma).

Which not only do I wholeheartedly agree with, but which prompted Boingboing.net blogger Xeni Jardin to go without using the overused word “blog” for– well, only 72 hours, but the thought’s the important thing.

And I’m all for all of this. Once the media starts realizing how repetitive and cliched it is, that’s when we’ll start seeing some actual originality. In fact, I’ve got my own phrase to abandon as a New Year’s resolution.

Never again, in any of my writing, will I use the idea that something is “better than all the other garbage out there.”

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I’ve used it before, multiple times. Though I can’t find the actual references, I know that on Retarded Jimmy’s I’ve lauded a television show for being “better than all the other crap on television,” and that I accept a movie with at least a few special effects as being “better than anything else that’s out there right now.” But no more.

No more will I let anything exist just by being better than all the other garbage out there. No more will I accept mediocrity, or simply assume that everything that’s not the thing I’m talking about is junk. I will never say “at least xxx is better than all the other xxx out there” again! Starting now!

I can hear you arguing with me right now, saying that this isn’t a big deal. That there is a lot of junk on TV, and it’s ok for something to merely be better than all the other junk.

But I say no! I say, I’m giving it up! And when I do, I’ll finally be great! I’ll be a terrific writer! My talent will be renowned wide and far, and people will read my work and speak my name for years to come! I’ll be in the history books– no, I’ll write the history books! I’ll be the best writer there ever was!

Or, at least I’ll be better than all the other crap writers out there.

Ok, starting now!