2008 Resolutions

31. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

Some people are not making resolutions. Others have themes. Me? I’m a bit of a self-improvement junkie. I love making resolutions and I don’t mind if I don’t make it. It’s the thought that counts. So here’s what I’m thinking for this year.

Personal:
1. Exercise. You knew I’d put this one on the list. I’m planning 3 times a week (Tues, Thur, and Sat) with the possibility of adding more–a class maybe. My goal is to lose 15 pounds which I know can mostly be achieved by moving around more (my diet is pretty good). I’m sticking mostly with walking for now, but I own weights, a yoga pad and a couple of DVDs so I have plenty of tools to work with. I get bored easily, so I’m going to look for opportunities to hike, play games, etc. I’d like to join a women’s soccer team in the spring, but that may be too ambitious. We’ll see.

2. Declutter the house. It stresses me out to see stuff piled in the corners. I think this will go a long way toward helping me relax. Thanks to the Unclutterer blog, I’ve gotten some great ideas. The main idea I’m going to work on is scheduling cleanup time. I’m very organized about my time, so it makes sense to take advantage of that (as I’m doing with exercise). I hate cleaning, but if I’m supposed to clean for 1/2 hour, I will. I’ve scheduled one room per day for 1/2 hour (today is the kitchen/dining area). I’m also creating playlists for musical cleaning. I’m hoping most of this time can be for decluttering and not general cleaning or that it will eventually. For example, the kids and Mr. Geeky are responsible for basic kitchen cleaning. If the kitchen is clean, I can do things like reorganize a cabinet. And once that’s done, I can cut cleaning time to 15 minutes. Yes, I’m very optimistic.

3. One day without screens. Our geeky household spends a lot of time in front of the computer or a video game console. It’s not that I think all such activities are bad, but it definitely takes time away from other possible activities and I think it would be a good example for the kids. I did this yesterday–no screens until 5:00. Geeky Girl followed my lead most of the day and read a book and played with other toys besides her video games or webkins. I didn’t tell her to; she just did. Now if I could get Mr. Geeky to follow suit . . . I’ll admit this was hard for me. But I think it will be worth it.

Work
1. Blog three times a week. I let the blogging slide this semester because I was really busy. I think the blog can be a good tool for getting out information, so I need to do it more. Again, I’ll schedule this time.
2. Schedule time for research/reading. I was doing this, but I let it slide, so I’m reinstating it. In order for this to happen, I have to leave my office–sad but true.

That’s really it. I have a lot of little things I want to try to do–like use LibraryThing and do Project365 again this year. But those are minor.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year’s Eve. Here at the Geeky household, we’ll be finishing a Risk game, drinking champagne and watching Monk.

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Resolutions past

29. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Before I post this year’s resolutions, I thought I’d take stock of previous years’. I make resolutions twice a year, now and at the start of academic years. Let’s see how I did.

According to this post from 2004, recording resolutions for 2005, I wanted to do the following:

1. Walk at least 30 minutes per day (may be substituted with other exercise)
2. Write at least a page a day.
3. Cut my debt in half. Ideally, I’d eliminate it, but I think that’s unrealistic.

That first one has been a perennial item on the list. The desire to exercise in some form or another comes up almost every 6 months on this blog. Earlier this month, I started walking–running even–but then weather and/or illness have prevented me from being outside and/or mobile for a couple of weeks now. I’ve decided that trying to exercise every day is crazy. If I miss a day, I feel horrible and that’s just counterproductive. Three to four times a week is more reasonable. I can almost always do something on both weekend days and that just leaves two days during the week to squeeze in time. I obsess about this for two reasons. One, I’ve gained about 15 pounds over the last couple of years. Two, I’m not getting any younger. I really do want to be in decent shape as I age.

Two and three are pretty moot. I’d like to get back maybe to writing for fun (besides here), but I’m not sure if I’m ready to add that to my life. The debt is more than cut in half, but not eliminated. It seems likely that I could do that this year, but it’s not a top priority.

One new year and one academic year saw finishing the dissertation at the top of the list. There are some other interesting things on that academic year list: taking hikes, going to kid events, quitting the inadequacy schtick. I’ve done okay on the second and third items, but the first, not so much. I might be able to add that this year. January 2007 was also a year of interesting resolutions. Family game night didn’t pan out. We did plenty of stuff as a family, but it wasn’t always game night Date nights worked out pretty well also, especially after the dissertation was handed in. And work is, well, work. I’ll have more to say about that later.

Most recently, of course, I made another set of academic year resolutions. I still think I could work on relaxing. I’m planning some meditation or something. The exercise, of course, a struggle. Publishing something–I think that’s going to happen. We’ll see.

So, I’ve kept a few resolutions, missed others, but haven’t let failure hinder me from continuing to put them on the list. A quick Google search brings up some interesting articles on how to keep resolutions and/or set goals for the coming year. I like the idea from this article of setting mini goals each month that are part of the greater goal. I especially like this post from lifehack.org, which suggests doing what I just did–looking back at past resolutions and seeing what didn’t work and why. What resolutions have you not kept and why? What’s on your list for this year?

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Sniffling my way into the New Year

29. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

I picked up a cold on Christmas Day–worst. present. ever. Almost every year, I get sick over Christmas. Some years, it sets in before the big day. I have memories of being severely drugged up while opening presents or eating Christmas dinner and of being seriously miserable.

This year, the cold didn’t hit until late Christmas Day and we pretty much lay around for the next few days anyway, so it didn’t really cramp my style too much. Only now, I’m starting to get stir crazy and want to start doing something, but my head is stuffed and I have no energy. I started to do something yesterday, but no go. I lasted five minutes.

I would also like to start thinking. But maybe I’ll wait until I go back to work in a few days. Cold or no cold, the down time has been good for me, I think. One of the things I’m thinking about for the new year is a way to be more zen, more relaxed. I’m not as wound up as some people–at least from an outward appearance–but inside, I’m a mess. I had a dream last night where I was seriously pissed because I didn’t have control over a situation–and the situation was pleasant–and I was still pissed. Part of getting to the zen place is controlling what I can–including organizing my house and tasks. I’m working on resolutions for home and work. Tomorrow, I’ll dig up resolutions past and see how I did and where to go from here.

I’ve inwardly chastised myself for spending so much time playing Civilization, watching Monk (an inspiration for organization?), and watching truly bad tv. But sometimes, I need that time to clear my head and not focus on the minutia that tend to run around in my head. If I weren’t on vacation, I suspect I would have popped some pills and gone to work despite being sick even though rest is what I really need. We are a culture afraid to rest. I’m going to try to get away from that fear this year.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Friday Cat Blogging: First Ever

28. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Kali
Originally uploaded by lorda.

This was the only picture I could take before Kali headed under the bed for a nap. She’s a little groggy from surgery and a bit of a cold (there’s medicine already!), but we’re glad to have her home earlier than expected.

She popped right out of her carrier and wandered all around downstairs. We got her loads of stuff to play with, so as soon as she’s up to it, we’re looking forward to playing some good games.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Meet Kali

27. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

This is my Christmas present. We went to the animal shelter yesterday to pick her out. She’s about 7 months old, solid black, and very sweet. She was reaching out her paws to us and when we took her out of the cage, she wasn’t skittish at all, just very snuggly. There were lots of cute cats there. They seemed to be going quickly as well. I was glad to see so many animals getting homes.

Kali won’t be home with us until the 31st. She’s getting spayed and microchipped. We’re going to go get some toys and things to welcome her into the family. Look for future catblogging and lolcat building.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Google is not about privacy–and that may be okay

26. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

There’s a post this morning about how some people are complaining that Google Reader’s new feature where your shared items are shared with your contacts violates their privacy. Robert Scoble says that Google needs more granular privacy controls a la Facebook. I vote with his first response, that people need clarification on what public means.

I’ve written about this before, from the standpoint of being aware that future employers are increasingly eyeing a future employee’s online presence. Increasingly, I think, if you’re using social software, nothing is private. Search, even, is not private. Sure, there are ways to change settings so that your searches aren’t cached, your blogs aren’t pinging services, etc., but most people don’t change the defaults, so they’re just out there. And that’s okay. People just need to understand up front what it means to have so much of their online activity shared. And maybe being more open–online or elsewhere–is a good thing. Maybe it makes us more accountable for our actions. Sure, there are still some parts of our lives and our thoughts that are private, but mostly those parts aren’t being put online and if they are, I’d argue that either a) someone doesn’t understand how public the online space is; or b) they want people to know about those parts. Healthy skepticism is good, but paranoia leads us down a bad path.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

All is calm . . .

25. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

Sunrise with Moon Christmas Eve
Originally uploaded by lorda.

Sort of. It’s been a great Christmas so far. We can barely walk in the living room. We’re completely full. And I need a nap. A roaring success I’d say. I hope you are all have just as wonderful a day, whether you’re celebrating Christmas or just enjoying some time with friends and family.

Entire Christmas set

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Tracking Santa via Google Earth

24. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

We’re tracking Santa via Google Earth this year. It’s really cool. Check it out.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

All too familiar

24. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,


We’ve had many a Christmas like this. Up all night blogging, playing video games, checking email just one more time . . .

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

An opportunity for girls

24. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Study, girls are more likely than boys to create content online. The NYT reports on this phenomenon this morning. I actually discussed this in a talk I gave to the remaining seven sisters schools a year ago. To me, such statistics show opportunities for girls getting involved in a number of fields. Journalism, video production, literary writing, web programming, music production are all areas that using blogs and YouTube and even Facebook can lead to.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure
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