Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Out of Season

I seem to do things out of the season in which they would make sense. When I did two months straight of hot room yoga, it was during the warm months of summer, now I'm volunteering to take tickets at a garden where I must stand for two hours outside during the coldest months of a very cold P___ winter. I used to go boating in the dark of night during a similarly cold and stormy winter a few years ago.

This, when I keep insisting I won't eat salad in winter because of the cold nature of the food, but instead enjoy frozen boba treats and avocado smoothies.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Statistics

In addition to my unorthodox feelings about time, I make things up about statistics. I heard somewhere that __% of any given joke is actually truth and in fact, that this % is what makes the joke funny. I have forgotton the source as well as the value, so I fill it in at random. The number really doesn't make any difference, because in my experience, there has always been some part of any given joke that does, in fact, fall into that category.

Unfortunately, I've also forgotton what I was thinking that lead me to want to share that with you...there was some statistic I was going to tell...

Monday, January 28, 2008

Teenagers

I've always said that I wanted to work with young adults - high school and college aged kids. Sometimes I question that - teenagers can be so sullen. At work, I see all kinds, though:
  • A young woman came in with her mom because her face had broken out after using her mom's heavy facial products. She just sat there with a dull expression on her face while her mom tried to negotiate finding a better product for her.
  • A young man confidently approached me at the store for service and impressed the hell out of me by making direct eye contact, smiling and using my name. It was a little disconcerting, but I'm not too proud to admit that I wanted to be more like that teenage boy.
  • A young woman came in looking for sweet smelling shampoo and we took every bottle off the shelf to sniff at them until I had to walk away with my head pounding.
  • A young man cruises around the store without making any eye contact while he pulls up his too big pants and nods his head to the tune of whatever song is currently playing on his iPod.
  • A couple of college kids come in passionately discussing politics, completely oblivious to the angry stares of those around them.
Teenagers are such a mixed bag, but I guess that's sort of their magic, too.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Playing Catch Up

I told A not to come over today. He stays with me more often than not, so we both usually assume he's coming over, but today I took a day for quiet and catch up. It seems like I never have enough time... I was going to say enough time to get things done, but it's just generally enough time. Enough time to get things done, enough time spent on my thesis, enough time off, enough time with my dog, enough time to prepare a good meal...

I don't like this so I'm going to change my thinking about it:

I am grateful that every day,
in every way,
there is the perfect amount of time.

Tonight, I've been playing catch up and it's been nice. Here's some of what I've accomplished tonight:
  • Took down massage table and reclaimed my living room
  • Started the laundry - which is silly because I've had a full load of towels in the washing machine all weeks, but just never started it!
  • Vacuumed the livingroom and bathroom - both of which needed it badly and now my house looks 10x cleaner
  • Talked to my good friend Jeff
  • Talked to my good friend E
  • Prepared and enjoyed a delicious dinner
  • Poured the bulk spices into new glass jars, labelled them and put them in the cupboard, clearing up 1 more foot of counter space
  • Cleaned out the refridgerator - no, I'm never going to eat that funky old tofu
  • Drank the remaining kombucha from yesterday
  • Came up with a new supplement plan - instead of trying to force myself to take 30-40 pills everyday, when I know I won't do it, I made a plan to take 4-5 a day. Not only is this more realistic, but I feel like it's healthier, too!
  • Realized that I don't want really want to just watch crappy movies every evening, but would prefer to read during evenings in.
  • Made a list of upcoming fun events and adventures that I will see everyday
  • Contacted prospective business partners
  • Responsibly replied to my business partner
  • Walked the dog (twice)
  • Took the recycling out
  • Made the dog a blog (I know that one is for fun and doesn't really count, but it is still something I did tonight that has some meaning for me!)

Whew, I can't believe I got all that done! And with the perfect amount of time to spare for reading another chapter before going to bed.

Mantra

Catch phrases and mantras - I love them. I shared this, my favorite mantra, with my business partner tonight:


If not this, something better.

Competancy

"You should only be incompetent at one thing at a time." - Source unknown (to me)



I need to remember that. I feel so bad lately because there is a task I have set for myself that I cannot seem to get done. I met with my business partner and was so jazzed that I felt I could do that task, but I still didn't do it. And it made me feel bad about other aspects of my life - maybe if I'm not good at ___, I won't be good at ___. So silly, really. I'm just not that good at ___, because it triggers some buttons for me and I feel scared about the outcome.

Blogging Politics

I think blogging can be a really brave act. Either you put your thoughts, opinions and experiences out there in a public way or you keep it private and limited to a select audience. Either way, you're still opening up a journal or diary, traditionally something very private, to the reactions of others. I have been on both sides of taking a blog personally and reacting to it - it's no picnic.

My mantra now when I read blogs is: It's not about me - it's not about me.

I think the blogging experience might be a bit smoother if more people tried that.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Aggressive Behavior

I noticed something at work this weekend: sometimes people behave aggressively to cover up that they don't know something. Now, this may not be news to anyone else, but it's like another layer of revelation for me.

Sometime in college, I came to the realization that most everyone I met was insecure. Maybe it was about their looks or their clothes, maybe their public speaking or their grades, but there was always something. This made it much easier for me to relate to the people around me. When I felt insecure and uncomfortable, I just remembered that the people around me had fears too, and I was able to more clearly express myself and move onward.

That people would behave aggressively to cover their insecurity is just another part of that, but one which played out this weekend with a demanding customer. Now, I'm always happy to help my customers find what they are looking for and I love talking about food, so it's fun to explain and educate people, but this woman's tone of voice and physical positioning were very aggressive. Lucky for me, she was asking the cheese clerk and the baker about the cheeses used in the New York Times fondue recipe and the difference between French and sourdough bread, so I just observed this.

The next step is wondering where I might behave aggressively to cover my insecurities.

Friday, January 25, 2008

What I Have Learned That I Need

I need a day off.

Just one.

Two days or a whole weekend is what most jobs allow, but I really need one day.

What I mean is that I need one day in which I am not required or suggested to accomplish anything. Just one day per week to watch TV, read a good book, eat whatever food comes to hand, play with the dog and maybe stay in my pajamas all day. As the weeks carry on and my schedule remains full with working at the store 4-5 days/week, business meetings and business related goings-on and many personal tasks, including my unfinished thesis (guilt, guilt, guilt), house cleaning and personal finance projects during my supposed days off, the days that refuel me are the ones where I don't accomplish anything. I thought I was tired and didn't have enough energy, but I think it's more like having a finite amount of accomplishment in a week. I took Wednesday off and watched TV on the computer, read a book and relaxed all day - it was wonderful.

I need a day off and I'm going to take it.

At least, most weeks, I'm going to take it. There are sometimes urgent decisions or actions needed and I have to get food and have clean underwear. But those basic needs met, I'm taking a day off each week, without even the goal of having fun, without even the goal of having no goals and without the expectation that I will not accomplish anything. It's just a day off - the only list allowed on that day is this one:
  • no need to get anything done today
  • it will keep til tomorrow
  • this is not procrasination, it is nourishment
  • no lists
  • have a nice day

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Tibetan Buddhism

"Some Westerners follow Tibetan Buddhism and adopt the dress - this is too extreme. The important thing is to take the spiritual aspects and not the cultural side."

-Dalai Lama

Also, from the Taiji Classics:

Many make the error of giving up the near to seek the far, or what is called "being off by a hair's breadth is to miss by a thousand miles."

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

My Best Friends' Weddings

My friend is getting married, but she's not having a wedding. Or a reception. Okay, that's not entirely true, because she and her partner are having a very small ceremony to exchange vows and rings, but they aren't inviting, well, anyone. And I am having a reaction to this. It has happened before and that's part of it. She deserves better and that's part of it. But probably the biggest part of it is that it's hard when the nature of friendships change. It's hard to swallow that my presence is not only not the most important thing, but seemingly not even a little bit important.

Seems like there's a lot more to say about this and all the thoughts I've had about weddings lately, but I just find the whole subject exhuasting.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Inspiration

I have lots of notebooks around with little notes scribbled randomly throughout them. I'm actually working on keeping one handy and then transferring the information to a more usable format, such as here, before recycling the pages. Here's a few excerpts from the one I'm using right now:
  • Integrity <--> Integration
  • Individuation
  • Being honest means you have less to keep track of. (Less worry about who knows what!)
  • Feedback, not Failure
  • Do I dislike to consequences enough to make a change?
  • Value yourself first
  • You should only be incompetant at one thing at a time. [A personal quote relating to my own feelings of overwhelm.]
  • Feeling --> Trying to feel (How get there? Be specific!)
  • Will this matter in 6 months?
  • If you're bored, maybe you bore others.

Pizza Disappointment

You know when you say something is "THE BEST!" and then when you have it again, it just isn't as good? Well, I had a sad moment last night when I realized that my absolute favorite pizza in town had turned...just so-so. I allow that my language around that pizza might be part of it and that it's possible they were having an off night or the pizza wasn't so fresh, but I was really disappointed.

Escape from New York Pizza in NW P___ has been my favorite pizza since I moved to town 8 years ago. When I first arrived, fresh faced and naive, I was staying in a flop house on that side of town with a bunch of strangers, so eating out was a must. I ended up having pizza for every meal of the day and it was always Escape. I've been a loyal fan for years and my far and wide exploration of P___'s pizza scene hadn't revealed a better for crust consistency and sauce flavor. Granted I did develop a love for Papa Murphy's Veggie Delite pizza, but that's a whole other animal altogether. Last night's slice, my first slice of Escape in about 6 months, was a disappointment with an overly bready crust, so-so sauce and a lack of cheese. I just know they've done a better slice and that knocked them out of my number 1 position.

For a P___ favorite, I'm now onto Pizza A-Go-Go. I liked this pizza so much that I had my graduation dinner there! It's a tiny place to eat in, but cozy with interesting art visible just across the street and great service. Nationwide favorite may have to be Bostone Pizza in Boston, Mass, where A and I tried both the Sicilian and the Neapolitan pizzas to gastronomic delight. I'm eager to get to New York and Naples (as part of Goal #101), the birthplace of pizza, for more pizza explorations.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Home and Family

I came home to the nicest thing today: a quiet house.

I don't have kids or roommates, so my place usually isn't noisy, so I'm speaking metaphorically. What I mean is, my dog is not at home. A must have taken him along with him as he often does on the weekends and it's SO NICE! As I walked in, still blabbing away on my cell phone, hands full of purse and bags, I didn't have to hold Chibo back with my foot and then immediately take him outside. I'm actually a little at a loss as to what to do with these few golden moments of peace and quiet before "the boys" get back. Mom (to whom I was speaking when I walked in the door) suggests a hot bath with a glass of wine and stay put until A gets back and takes the dog out for me. She's funny, but it's not a bad idea.

Another way she's funny is that she doesn't ever want to live with me and "impose" on my "new" relationship. Granted, A and I have only been together for a year, but by the time she would have to live with me, I imagine we'll be feeling pretty settled. It's ironic, because her mother lives with her, so she's setting the example. I've always thought, hoped and planned that she would live with me in her elder years, though. I'd like very much for her and my children (as yet unborn) to have a close relationship through living together, and I'd like to ease her elder years with my knowledge of healing. I don't know quite how to convince here that my desire is sincere and not just obligatory.

I'm so grateful that A feels similarly, although if we move both our mothers and his father in, we're going to have a very full house! As much as I like living alone and having this quiet moment to myself, I also think that's a really nice thought, too - coming home to those I love best: partner, parents, children and dogs, noisy or not.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Listening

Thanks to my friend FB I've been listening to a lot of new music online through Pandora Radio. A also turned me on to radio websites, so I've checking into Movin 107.5 and K103 online as well. Then I got the word that I could tune in to HD Radio online (which I learned, is not the same as Satellite Radio) through any number of webpages. Now with all this listening to the radio, you'd think I'd be getting hip to some new music, but it's funny that it's working exactly opposite.

I have been driving in silence, listening to an educational CD at home and watching TV at the gym instead of listening to music. Seems like strange behavior, but I also noticed (last night while listening to FB play live - go FB!) that I still like my "old" favorite songs. I think I just don't have as much brain space for listening to a ton of new music all at once. The first time I heard a song from Rent, I didn't like it, but after seeing the show five times, I love the soundtrack and can sing much of it verbatim. Maybe I just need more time to let some of this new music sink in after not listening to radio for so many years.

I'm still not sure it'll get me to like that Nelly Furtado song, though.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

(Young?) Adult Reading

Sundiver by David Brinn - Returned unread.
Armegeddon's Children by Terry Brooks - Returned unread.
The Girl Who Heard Dragons by Anne McCaffrey - Read the first story, then realized it was a collection of short stories, so I returned it.

Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey - Very interesting read, but seems incomplete...maybe there's a sequel that I missed? If so, I would happily read it as this one was good.

Dragonflight - Really liked this introduction to the Pern World series. After returning the above books, I checked out Dragonquest and The White Dragon to complete this trilogy. I finished reading all three with the vague sense that I may have read them before, but no confirmation. I also found that these books are shelved in the Young Adult section, which surprised me. What surprised me more though, was the fact that I really don't want to be seen reading YA books. It seems an arbitrary distinction, since Dragonflight was in the general fiction section and the rest of the trilogy was in YA, but it still affected my desire to read other works.

I checked out a few others in the Pern series that were also from the YA section. I'll probably start on them, but in addition to their YA distinction, they are very short which is always less interesting to me since I like a meaty book.

Not sure what's coming next, but thinking about getting the Chronicles of Narnia since I never read that as a child - how did I miss this?

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Cell Phones Take Over the World!

I have a pet peeve that is getting harder and harder to avoid. It happens with my partner, my best friends, my business partners, random strangers and family. It's something that almost everyone, including myself, has done at some point and which sometimes seems pretty innocuous. It's just answering your cell phone - what's the big deal?

I'll tell you what the big deal is: it's rude.

When I'm spending time with someone and our intimate or friendly conversation is interrupted by an annoyingly ringing cell phone and then, even worse, my conversational partner picks up said annoyingly ringing cell phone and proceeds to start another conversation, I am APPALLED. I could make a list of all the reasons and ways that this is disrespectful, but I'll just give two variations on one: a) you aren't valuing my time and b) you aren't valuing our time together. I could also go into lengthy explanations of that, but it's really self-explanatory and I value my time enough not to take it up explaining that.

I just wanted to get that off my shoulder - it's been it's own little chip world there for a little while now. Please, please, please, people, take into consideration that the technology we have is supposed to enhance our communication and our lives but not take them over. Spend quality time online or on the phone with friends and family, but don't disrespect or disregard the people who are with you right now. Just like at the movies, silence your cell phones, unless you truly are expecting an important call. If that's the case, let your companions know in advance and beg their pardon when you have to walk away to take the call. Ninety-nine percent of the time (I'm making that up) you won't miss an emergency (and the 1% of the time that you do, what could you have done anyway?).

Friday, January 11, 2008

A Night on the Border

A and I ran for the Border(s) tonight - not Taco Bell, but the bookseller. I tend not to go to bookstores too often since I try not to purchase books, and I especially avoid big box bookstores, but we had a nice evening and I accomplished yet another of my 101 goals.

Number 47: Identify my favorite section of the bookstore - Completed.

I added this to my list of goals, because shortly before starting the 101 goals project, someone asked me which section was my favorite and I didn't have an answer. Not just because I don't visit bookstores, but because whenever I do, I'm overwhelmed by the many sections and subjects that I find interesting. A pointed out tonight what a balm it was for the soul to look at great photographs - while I enjoyed that part, too, the section that really made me happy to be there was the FOOD section! I read about vegan cooking, cupcakes, wine and wok cooking tonight and learned a lot. More importantly, I learned which books were worth another look and which ones I really didn't need. I didn't purchase any books, but I did order a couple from the library, including Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Can't wait!

Yum....

Thursday, January 10, 2008

How do people have a life...after work?

My momma taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all...but I think that goes for blogging sometimes too. Maybe another idiom: don't accomplish nothin' to dwell on your problems. Feeling negative-Nancy today.

Relationship aggravations. Missing my family. Missing my dad. Tired. Hand injury acting up. Loads to do for work and for business. Laundry not done. Etc., etc., etc.

Positive thought for the day...? I'm going to take the dog, the binoculars and the camera out to the pond and see if I can find one.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

On West Village Pond


I just saw a Common Merganser on the pond at my complex. I was walking the dogs, something I enjoy and which needs to be done, but which is also another distraction from getting the work done. I came back and looked her up in my book and thought for a while about getting the binoculars and my camera and heading back out, but instead I've sat down at the computer for the last hour editing my thesis. I'm so pleased to have seen some interesting birds (there were also mallards, a great blue heron and several song birds) and to have gotton some work done today.

Sallie Mae, I do it all for you...

When I was in my second year of graduate school, a near-graduate performed an original song he'd written the title of which I borrowed for this post. It was funny as he listed out all the degrading things he had done or would do for "Sallie Mae" who I'd yet to become acquainted with. Well, let me tell you, I do it all for Sallie Mae now too.

It's no joke that loans and overextended credit drive the American political and economic climate through incredible fear. I doubt that the US will ever embrace free medical care and much less free education, but how many serious problems could be helped by an educated and healthy populace? Uneducated people may be easier to control and manipulate though - it's easy to jump on the bandwagon of the conservative Christian right (or the left-wing faction, to be fair) based on faith alone when you don't know any better.

At any rate, my financial future is getting better and better, but for the next 30 years, I'll be in bed with Sallie Mae, although hopefully I won't have to do anything too degrading.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Finishing Touches

New Year's Eve I started playing a game of Guitar Hero while waiting for A to pick me up. He arrived on IST and we had to bounce immediately to make it to dinner on time. I had paused the game midsong to answer the door, so it was still there when we got home in the wee hours. For some reason, before I went to bed, I picked up the guitar and finished the song. I didn't play another, I just finished the one I had started and then turned the game off.

I've been making a conscious effort to finish other things I've started, too, including putting together a box of supplements to send home to my family, finishing reading several books I started and making A's scarf. And I'm more committed to completing my 101 goals list. Those things that I've decided not to do or finish, I'm finishing off with some kind of clear ending. Closure.

I'm not sure why this bug is in my ear, but I think it's a good one. I'm sleeping better, too.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Not Your Usual Valentine's Day Rant

At work today, my friend pointed out that the Valentine's Day cards are already out. Since Christmas started before Thanksgiving this year, I'm not surprised to see that Valentine's Day is starting before...Martin Luther King Day, Groundhog Day, Save the Eagles Day, Superbowl Sunday or even Chinese New Year. What I am surprised about is the sudden increase in tension in my body as Valentine's Day was mentioned. No, I don't hate Valentine's Day - I hate the hating of Valentine's Day.

I'm so sick of hearing people rant about Valentine's Day: It's too commercial. It's just a Hallmark Holiday. It makes you feel pathetic if you don't have a partner. It's designed to make you feel pathetic if you don't have a partner. It's just a marketing gimmick - meant to sell more stuff. Celebrating a martyr through giving chocolate and poems is inappropriate. You should show your love every day. It's over rated. It's trite. It's ... blah blah blah. Maybe it's all the RED colored hearts/flowers/etc that's overstimulating people and making them angry?

I love Valentine's Day. Every since we put little brown paper bags on the back of our chairs at school and filled them with notes from our classmates, I've enjoyed giving and receiving tokens as a celebration in February, a dark and cold month well into winter when I'm about ready to pull my hair out with the desire for some sun! When I learned that there were saints involved with the holiday, I enthusiastically picked up the habit of calling it St. Valentine's Day and found that a lovely affectation that only increased my affection for this most affectionate of holidays.

Is it too commercial? Is Christmas? All holidays are going to marketed to death, but that's the society we live in. Holiday's are just one more convenient hook to get us into purchasing mode -we're bombarded by marketing and the COMMAND to buy, buy, buy more and more crap that we don't need, but... it's a personal choice to respond to these gimmicks or not. I read about one family who doesn't purchase any Christmas gifts within the family, but instead celebrates birthdays with verve and buys Christmas gifts for an adopted family. What a creative solution! I'm sure there are similar ways to get creative about Valentine's Day - spend time with someone(s) that are special to you by making them dinner, take a walk, play a game they really enjoy - you don't have to spend money to make someone feel special. And if it's just all the Valentine's Day crap at the stores that makes you see red, deal with it. We all see things in our shared environments that we find offensive and often the mature response is to walk away.

In regards to the thing about feeling pathetic if you don't have a partner, I imagine that anyone who feels pathetic on Valentine's Day probably feels pathetic a lot of the time anyways. We all have moments of low self-esteem, but that's no reason to be a negative-Nancy about yet another thing. Does down-talking Valentine's Day make one feel better about themselves? Maybe - these days it seems like the latest cool thing. Everybody's doing it.

Regarding the complaint about how we shouldn't just say "I love you" on Valentine's Day - thank you, new-agers, the world over for reiterating what we all have read on nearly every page of Chicken Soup for the Soul. I love you, gentle readers, today and every day, but I especially love you on Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day just makes me feel a little more romantic, a little more amorous and a little more open-hearted. Not because of the lace edged red heart Valentine's, not because someone gives me chocolate or a teddy-bear, but because it's a romantic notion. We could set aside Lover's Day as October 15 and I'd celebrate it as enthusiastically - alone, I'd romance myself with a hot bubble bath, candles and an ice cold glass of sangria; with friends, I'd share sweet cakes and laughter and with my partner, any form of activity that celebrates our love. Valentine's Day is for more than saying "I love you," it's for romance.

The complaint about it being over-rated just strikes me as bitter and these days I would say that Valentine's Day is decidedly underrated. We could enjoy it and really have a good time if we just embraced the parts we like and excise those parts we don't like. Since A doesn't enjoy turkey, we had a very different Thanksgiving this year and Christmas with friends was celebrated with white elephant gifts, but none of these events were labeled anti-Thanksgiving or anti-Christmas just because we celebrated differently. I will continue to avoid anti-Valentine's Day events and will remain, as ever, stupid for cupid.

[Hmmm...speaking of holiday rants, why doesn't anybody hate NYE? There is kissing involved at midnight and loads of supplies, although most of those are alcohol and I rarely hear people complain about that.]

Sunday, January 6, 2008

I ♥ Calendars

I have a wall calendar from last year still turned to November because the calendar is in an inconvenient place. I have a Palm pilot with software on my computer to manage my schedule. It's a pleasure to put all the little blocks in place and stretch them to cover the full length of any given event. Because A has a hard time understanding the vagaries of my work schedule, I also have a Google calendar to help him with planning. (He's come to assume that I work everyday, which in some ways is accurate and only likely to become more so as things progress!)

But I've purchased another calendar. A pocket engagement calendar. I love it. I have gotten up this early to shower and eat breakfast before work, but instead I ended up filling in this week and next in the tiny calendar. My intention was that it would be a goals based calendar. Write down when I've drunk soda or eaten eggs or flossed or done breath work (see 101 Goals), so that I know exactly when I've met my goals and/or so I am motivated to just finish it! I know I've come close many times and might even have completed these goals, but without a written record, it's hard to say.

But it was fun penning in my work schedule. And relevant - I can't exactly set aside an afternoon for sending birthday cards if I'm working all day and have a meeting in the evening, can I? So, my goals calendar is likely to be an event record as much as it is likely to contain enigmatic symbols indicating my goal progress and other items I want to track. I'm just such a dork that I don't mind writing my schedule in three separate places.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Quotable

Sometimes the best thing about email is the quote at the bottom of it. I particularly liked this one:

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." - Yogi Berra

Friday, January 4, 2008

Goals Update: New Year, New Format!

Time: 281 days (28%)

Completed Goals: 26 (26%)
1. Complete my list of 101 things to do - completed 3/30/07
3. Reorganize the music on my MP3 player - completed 11/24/07
6. Finish my last case paper - completed 6/15/07
8. Graduate NCNM - Walked 6/25/07
9. Build/commission a professional website - I count it that my business has a website!
13. Visit Rebecca in Trinidad or elsewhere - her recent move to P___ made that much easier!
18.Go to the next staff or company meeting at work - completed 7/11/07
21. Memorize Tai Ji Yang Style form - completed approx 7/27/07
22. Take a Tai Ji class outside of NCNM - completed 7/9/07, three week course
24. Volunteer anywhere - completed 9/21/07 Chinese Garden
25. Walk to Fred Meyer instead of driving as needed for 2 weeks - completed 7/8/07 (didn't even realize I had done it!)
32. Go kayaking - completed 7/14/07
33. Learn to straighten my hair - completed 5/8/07
36. Go to a live sporting event at least 4x per year
42. Sign up for 401K at New Seasons - completed 7/18/07
57. Get a facial completed 11/8/07
58. Find a good facial moisturizer with SPF - completed 7/3/07
61. Cook a meal for my housemate completed 5/7/07
62. Cook a meal for my boyfriend completed 5/7/07
63. Cook a meal for friends (more than E and A!) completed 4/8/07
64. Try a recipe out of the vegan cookbook - have tried several!
77. Hang wind chimes - completed 6/20/07
82. Backup Computer - External Drive for Christmas, backed up today!
84. Acquire a new camera and learn to use it -Camera for Christmas!
94. Clean out garage at Center Commons - Completed by virtue of moving 8/2/07

Still on the drawing board: 74 (73%)
2. Finish putting my hard copies of photos and scraps into albums
4. Get names/artists for the currently un-labeled music on my computer
5. Try rock climbing

7. Write my Masters Thesis
10. Finish my mom's afghan
11. Walk Chibo everyday for 2 weeks
12. Drink no soda for 1 month (excluding soda water)
14. Sell or donate crafting supplies not in use
15. Sign up for Bikram Yoga new member package and use it at least 2x
17. Get a basket or pannier for my bike
19. Apply for Mercy Corps business grant
20. Do deep breathing exercises every night for 1 week
23. Teach a QiGong class
26. Sell my Pathfinder

27. Go outrigger paddling again
28. Go for an overnight backpacking trip
29. Go backpacking for more than one night
30. Get caught up on filing and data entry
31. Take another obedience class with Chibo

34. Consult with a dermatologist
35. Consult with an adoption counselor
37. Pay off my Citibank credit card
38. Reduce by 1/2 my primary credit card
39. Request my credit report

40. Cancel out of date creditors
41. Finish updating my name with relevant resources (such as credit reporting agencies)
43. Take guitar lesson/class
44. Take dance class
45. Take ceramics/pottery class

46. Find an acceptable news source and read it daily for 2 weeks
47. Identify my favorite section of the bookstore
48. Eat no processed food for 1 week
49. Plant an herb garden (or at least 4 kinds in pots)
50. Plant a vegetable garden

51. Plant Tiger Lily's bulbs
52. Buy a book on Lily's or orchids
53. Read a book every week for 2 months
54. Crochet something to wear
55. Crochet something as a gift

56. Spend an important anniversary with mom
59. Hike 2x per week for 2 months
60. Visit Pete and Sara in DC/NY
65. Make a supplement list and take consistently for 2 weeks
66. Go 1 day without swearing

67. Set aside an afternoon 1x per month for 3 months to send birthday greetings and other mail
68. Make a reasonable budget
69. Find a good calcium supplement and add to regular supplement list
70. Put videos onto DVD
71. Learn to sharpen dad's knives
72. Renew SCUBA certification and go diving!
73. Learn 3 prayers
74. Memorize 1 poem
75. Floss nightly for 2 weeks
76. Teach Chibo to lay down

78. Consult financial advisor
79. Lose 25 pounds
80. Go to the zoo
81. Have a day of gracious living - tell people about the concept
83. Get a fish or bird

85. Go to my 10 year college reunion - scheduled 10/2009
86. Find out if Math/Science Center is still running and contact the director
87. Tune up sewing machine
88. Take a sewing class
89. Eliminate eggs from diet for 1 month

90. Make a recommended reading list for professional development
91. Find a resource to keep up to date on research (list serve etc.)
92. Go to AANP and/or NWNPC conferences
93. Drink 8 glasses of water daily for 1 month
95. Take the train to Seattle
96. Fast for 24 hours
97. Have a cocktail party - make a new drink for friends!
99. Get a new membership somewhere when Chinese Garden runs out
100. Go to Olympic National Forest
101. Visit Italy

Undone: 2 (<2%)
16. Ride my bike to school or clinic at least 5x in spring term
98. Go to the Garden at least 3x before membership runs out
I can get creative about how I word these, but the intention was really for 2007, so these are unlikely to get done. The thing about this project is that you can learn as much from the goals that don't get done as the ones that do. I learned that I really don't like bike commuting unless it's really easy and that I won't necessarily keep going somewhere just because it's free. (It's funny that I now volunteer there, love the garden like crazy and still don't really hang out there much.)

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Reading List: January

Without guilt, I've taken more books out of the library. I'm enjoying reading again so much that I think it's a worthy distraction. Though I had a reminder today at work that I can do anything I set my mind to, including finishing my thesis. Considering hiring a thesis coach to help me get it out of my hands.

At any rate, I'm reading Love in the Time of Cholera, which was a slow start for me, but after the unfortunate death, when we go back into history, it gets really interesting. It's actually quite a sexy book.

From the library, I currently have:
Dragonflight, Freedom's Landing and The Girl Who Heard Dragons, all by Anne McCaffrey; Sundiver by David Brinn and Armegeddon's Children by Terry Brooks. I decided to expand my knowledge of fantasy authors and check these out.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Permission Slip: Never to Read Good Books

Life is too short for me to have long reading lists of books I think I should read, for whatever reason, including that I think I would enjoy it. I was going to just put the citation for my latest "note to self" book, but I decided to unload the entire reading list that I carry around in my Palm Pilot. I have permission NEVER to read these books. But, now that the list is here, I can always look here if I need something to read.

The book listed on my scrap of paper is from this Sunday's New York Times Business section in an article called Innovative Minds Don't Think Alike. The book is Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath, 2007.

The sideways string of queries that comes to me with all my attention on reading these days is: what does an author have to do these days to get their book published? Is it easier or harder than in previous times? And do electronic media and the ease of inter library loan affect book sales greatly? Is publishing (of books) still a lucrative business? Will the authoring of books as a creative endeavor cease to be possible except for one's own edification?

The list from the Palm:
Diet for a New America
Diet for a Small Planet
Stolen Harvest
Diabetes Solution
Phantoms in the Brain
Walking the Tiger - Peter Levine
Passing - Nella Larson
Unweaving the Rainbow - Dawkins
Remarkable Recovery
Emotional Intelligence
Spontaneous Healing
Cancer as a Turning Point - LeShan
Minding the Body, Mending the Mind
Love and Survival
Reviving Ophelia
Prozac Nation
When Things Fall Apart - Pema Chodron
Getting Comfortable with Uncertainty - Pema Chodron
Silent Spring - Rachel Carson
The Art of Happiness
On Doctoring
The Minds of Billy Milligan
The lost art of Healing
Coyote Medicine
Chicken Soup and Other Folk Remedies
Rx for Living
Best American Science Writing
Botany of Desire
Potatoes not Prozac
Toxic Psychiatry - Breggon
Loving Kindness - Soltzman
Body Outlaws
The Body Project
CUNT
The Hero's Journey - Campbell
The Power of Myth - Campbell
The Four Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary - Anglese Arrien Ph.D.
Consumers Guide to Effective Environmental Choices - Union of Concerned Scientist
My Grandfathers Finger
Fried Green Tomatoes
The Mother Tongue - Bill Bryson
Significant Others - Craig Stanford
The White Bone
The Lost Sisterhood - Ingerham
Holy Blood, Holy Grail - Ingerham
The Benefactor - Susan Sontag
Death Kit - Susan Sontag
Volcano Lover - Susan Sontag
In America - Susan Sontag
I, etc. - Susan Sontag
Illness as a Metaphor - Susan Sontag
Refuge - Terry Tempest Williams
Secret Life of Bees
2150 AD
ProEvo
Cold Mountain
All About Love
The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You - Dorothy Bryant
The Way of The Peaceful Warrior - Dan Millman
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Waiting for Godot

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Reading List

These one's are going back to the library:
Assassin's Quest
Moloka'i
Raising Fit Kids in a Fat World
Banewreaker
Godslayer
Rant: an oral biography of Buster Casey

1. Assassin's Quest - read almost the entire book before remembering that I had read it already. My memory seems to be a bigger problem than I thought. I can't remember most of high school, either. Seems that fantasy as a genre still has a great hold on me as well as people I wouldn't expect. While volunteering in the garden, several patrons asked about my book. I wouldn't have imagined some of them readers at all and definitely not of fantasy fiction. I had to hunt this author down several times using the Web-based librarians to help me, because I couldn't remember the her name or the name of any of the books in the series though I remembered loving them. The second time through was just as moving and I look forward to reading the next trilogy.

2. Moloka'i - about a patient with leprosy a.k.a Hansen's Disease living on Moloka'i Leprosy Colony in Hawai'i. A great combination of history, medicine, beautiful scenery (I love reading about Hawai'i and can't wait to visit!) and emotion.

3. Raising Fit Kids in a Fat World - I seem to have lost this book somewhere in the condo and it's overdue and on hold, so I can't finish my read, but since I don't have children, that's probably okay. I started reading it more for the ability to share it with my patients. It's Christian based philosophy, but I think it's accessible for non-Christians as well. The little I read seemed interesting and positive. A couple articles in this month's Utne also discussing our focus on fat - such an important and double edged topic.

4. Banewreaker and Godslayer - I loved Jaqueline Carey's Kushiel series, but I just didn't get into this one. I was interested to discover, however, that there are two authors with this same exact name.

5. Rant - I decided not even to start this one. His other books, especially the one where the people got locked into the old theater, made me nervous and I don't need anything to add to that these days!