So here we are, the first check-in for over a month. Maybe you thought it had disintergrated, but the morale menagerie is always watching, waiting... In all seriousness though, I thought it would be interesting to leave a longer gap to change it up a bit. Come share how you have all progressed!
The document of compiled goals can be seen here. Feel free to add yourself if you have not yet done so. If you didn't participate in the past thread(s), that's okay too. You can also join in whenever you like, so go ahead.
Shoutouts, let me know if you wish to be adder or removed: nowaypablo, ghostoffuffle, kleinbl00, thundara, veen, OftenBen, lil, thenewgreen, swedishbadgergirl, doesntgolf, blackbootz, Cumol ,ButterflyEffect, kingmudsy
I was wondering when this would show up again! I have to admit that it does help. Graduating: just finished some finals. Only one test (and one thesis) this year between me and a graduation. My thesis is going really great so far - if all goes well, my supervisor might help me get it peer-reviewed and in a transportation journal. While it might be a shoot-for-the-moon kind of thing, it's incredibly motivating. Road trip: still going through. The car I wanted to drive in broke down, but I have a pretty good backup. I'm submitting my Esri Young Scholar submission this week, which might / maybe / perhaps / idk win me a trip to San Diego the week after the roadtrip. Crossing my fingers for that one. Write for veenspace: yeah I'm gonna count my thesis (which is in English anyway) as working towards this goal. It's occupying nearly all of my time anyway. Which also influences... Sports: I've hit the goals I wanted to hit, and I've actually noticed some pretty decent changes to myself. I'm not gonna focus on gains now, I prefer to put that energy towards academic progress. But I'll try to keep fit. Books: Next month I'll have multiple 2 to 4 hour travels, so I've bought 3 audible credits and one book in the sale a week ago. I've finished Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman, Trust Me I'm Lying by Ryan Holiday and Flash Boys by Michael Lewis in the last month so I'm pretty happy with how much I'm reading. Short reviews of the three books: entertaining, holy shit Gawker and Politico are the absolute worst, holy shit barely anyone gets how the market works. Thanks kleinbl00 for the book tips, I'm a couple of hours into Debt: The First 5000 Years. I'm also starting to listen to Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz.
Reading Debt, and though only less than a hundred pages in, I'm pretty sure I'd get his next book already. bl00 and I have said before that sometimes you find an author that's just at a point that you could follow them around, point at random shit, and just listen to them because they're that interesting. Michael Lewis is one such author.
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.
Thanks lil for the shoutout. I'm in Fossil (about an hour and half south of The Dalles). I drive into Portland frequently to see my fiance, and the idea is to move to Portland in September.
If ever you're around PDX, message me and we'll see about meeting up.
cgod is in Portland too, he's a nice guy. Works at a bar and is opening up a cafe soon. He'd probably get you a drink.
Hey, nice to have you aboard. It takes a while to meet people here (just like in real life) but we eventually find you, if you're active. There is at least one hubskier in Oregon, but he's on the other side of Willamette National Forest , due west from you and a little north: about 4.5 hour drive. check out IRC sometime here but watch out for the bot. Let me know if you have any questions about navigating this site. BLOB_CASTLE -- oregon.
Ugh. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - Move out of LA Got back from Seattle day before yesterday. I now have a buddy who runs one of the largest production companies in Seattle, whose key grip is the president of the IATSE local up there. Confidence is high. - Rebuild wife's business in another market Currently have:
1) An architect
2) An interior designer
3) A graphic designer
4) Almost but not quite a lease
5) A floor plan - Learn WWise & FMod Have not so much as fired up WWIse in two months. However, I'm now officially a developer for Avid so I can write code to go between two pieces of software I barely understand... - Add another industry to roster Jesus christ. I have like five weeks to un-write about 200 pages. It's gonna suh-uuuk. - Log into MyFitnessPal every goddamn day 60 days bitchez
I feel like it's tedious to others to catalog my battles with this habit. Yet, what I've learned so far is that I'm much weaker when I don't have a structure and I'm around others who smoke. My job keeps me super active (I just ordered a knee strap and some knee pads for preventative measures) and I work out between 3 and 5 times a week. Also including some finger strength training on my new rock rings Personal finance goal, mainly, tracking my expenses. Just finished reconciling the application with my bank account. What's interesting is how my awareness of my expenses has indirect benefits. I still spend a lot, but instead it's less guiltily... I've been keeping track of these. This week is kind of a fresh start, since I've moved out of Detroit and am starting my summer camp job, so I'm excited to start building streaks of habits (my morning brushing is seriously approaching 200 times. Evening brushings, a bit spottier).
-- I'm starting to think, I kind of want to add to my goal checklist. The ones I have here have become a daily thing, and I feel like I have room to challenge myself. Will ruminate on this.Smoking cessation
Regular exercise
Regular You Need A Budget (YNAB) updates
Keep a track of daily habits (Read. Write. Exercise. Brush. Floss.)
SATs are done (2200, no complaints), I joined spring track as planned and I'm hauling ass so far. I'm done with the kush for now so those are a few checks off my list already. Got a performance at my musical school on Saturday and after that I can focus on APs and SAT subject tests. whew.
Honestly, I've been sucking at almost all of my goals. I have had a few good stints, but I have far from kept my meditation up every day. My subscription to Headspace ran out to, not that it's necessary to meditate. I just fell out the habit. I also have been on Treehouse or tried to develop my coding for at least a month now. Again, I have no excuse. I have been reading every day which is something. I also started this document where I type out what I thought of articles and pieces I've written. I say what I agreed or disagreed with, questions I would ask, etc. This is to promote a sense of question and curiosity to what I read, as well as acting as a tool that helps me retain what I've read. I just checked the goals document and saw I had this one: I think in some ways I have progressed with this goal, but I do still have a strong tendency to put a precedent on 'originality' or uniqueness. I'm not sure whether it's because want to be seen as a 'special snowflake' or whether it's an innate inkling. At this point with my music, I just don't see the point in composing if I'm not trying to push a boundary in some way, however small. It's what makes it an interesting pursuit for me. What can I do that's different that will still resonate with me/others? Not that I don't enjoy falling back into making a 'genre piece' every so often, but it's a balance.Reassess my past desire to be different, instead strive to be better
For the record, I added a new goal to the goals list. Inspired by eightbitsamurai: add a blog a day during Ramadan. Question for 8bit: Does fasting help?
OK, exams will be over in 2 weeks and I though I'd add myself to the morale menagerie with my summer goals :) Goal 1: Make a boatload of monies. I'm willing to compromise on this goal if I find some kind of amazing internship but as of right now, I have 2 personal projects in the works and I'm planning to find a part time job in the summer so I can save up to go traveling after school's done. Goal 2: Read all the books. I've been wanting to read a bunch of marketing/business books for a while now but school took priority over that lately. I hope to get at least 5 books done by the end of the summer. (jab,jab,jab right hook ; trust me i'm lying; how to win friends and influence people etc). Any recommendations of other good books in this category? Goal 3: BIKE! Biking season is finally upon us and I really want to take a longish trip to a neighboring city at least once. I'll start training going longer distances little by little and hopefully I can bring myself to have a bike trip over multiple days by the end of it all :)