This is amazing and I just joined, please mention me every time there's an update. I'm getting paid on Monday so I'll be able to join a gym, and I just found You Need a Budget (thanks blackbootz). I'm a voracious reader, but right now way to much of my reading consumption is vapid shit like /r/tumblrinaction. Even more of it is stuff from HN, but I think that's worse in a way - it seems like it's good because it's thought provoking and often useful, but it's still undirected ultimately most of it is a waste of time. I'm going to start by not going on reddit or HN every other day, starting tomorrow (should be easy since I'm moving to a new apartment).

As for programming, I love to do it but I'm lazy. I want to (and have started) write a roguelike game. I also want to make money on the side. I'm thinking it'll basically be a simpler version of crawl stone soup and either put it in the store as a paid app, or make it freemium. It seems like freemium is where the money is, but it's also where the terrible unfun games are. My idea is to have it be classic roguelike hard - permadeath, random generation, one mistake and you're dead etc. but have it possible to ease that difficulty by paying me. For example when you die you can buy a continue like a classic arcade game - I might even add a countdown. You'll also be able to buy in game currency to get that awesome weapon that costs 5x your current stash. Of course the problem with the freemium route is becoming a slave to the Canadian devil. To combat this, I'm going to follow the rule "if it's not fun as a free game I've failed". But the problem with that is why would anyone pay if it's fun without doing so? I don't know quite how it's going to work, but I do know I'll never find out if I don't work on it.

I think the hardest goal will be talking to people and having social interaction. I just got a job in a town with about 7000 people, most of them families (there are 4 schools here - 2 elementary, a middle and high school). The job I got is as a programmer, and I got it because I spent all of my free time in middle and high school on the computer instead of socializing, so I don't really know how or where to meet new people. I'm turning 21 soon so I'll definitely go to bars, but it seems like there should be other places. If anyone's in the Corvallis area and wants to meet up, HMU I guess.