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Some Things to Do In 2011: Revisited

Friday, December 30th, 2011 No comments

It’s the time of year for reflection and introspection. I figured I should look back on the list of things I wanted to do in 2011.

  • Move. I decided not to move to a new place in Starkville, because I was pretty certain I would be leaving Starkville. I’ll be moving to Portland in February. Not quite 2012, but close enough.
  • Go to my first convention. I went to San Diego Comic-Con in July and had a blast. If I don’t go back this year, I may go to one of the Seattle-based conventions.
  • Keep exercising. I kept up the good work I started last year. I’ve lost about another 40 lbs this year. Hopefully, I can maintain my good habits in the new year.
  • Buy new clothes. I bought a few pairs of jeans and some underwear before Comic-Con, but other than that I didn’t do so well. Losing weight gave me an excuse not to buy more. The jeans I bought are already feeling a little too big. I’ll do better next year.
  • Learn something new. I learned some new stuff for my old job and I’ve already started learning new stuff for my new job.I think that counts.
  • Meet new people. I met a lot of people at Comic-Con, but I didn’t meet any local people. I can’t wait to get out and start meeting people in Portland.
  • Listen to music more often. I did well at this at the beginning of the year. I even unsubscribed to a lot of podcasts. At Comic-Con, though, I met a lot of podcasters and started listening to all of their podcasts. I’ll work in that next year
  • Blog more. Once again, I started out well, but slacked off. I lot of times I do have things to say, but by the time I get around to writing about it, it doesn’t seem like it’s worth it. With all the changes coming in the new year, I’m sure I’ll be blogging more.

I think I did well for the most part. Soon I’ll come up with a list for 2012.

Some Things to Do In 2011

Friday, December 31st, 2010 2 comments

I came up with a list of things I want to do in 2011. I hate to use the term “resolution”. I reserve the right to change my mind of any of these without feeling guilty. I didn’t do this last year, so I can’t whether I was successful this year or not.

  • Move. I want to move either to a better place in Starkville or out of Starkville. One or the other is going to happen. The time is right now.
  • Go to my first convention. I want to go to San Diego Comic-con, but if that doesn’t work out I’ll go to Dragon Con in Atlanta.
  • Keep exercising. I’ve lost 45 pounds so far. I just need to keep it up, even if my gym becomes unusable because of all the new people in January. I also want to start strength training.
  • Buy new clothes. I need new clothes, especially new underwear. I hate shopping. The only clothes I get are the ones I get for Christmas presents. I need to change that.
  • Learn something new. I want to learn something new and cool tech-related.  Unfortunately, my job doesn’t provide me with many opportunities to learn new things.
  • Meet new people. Most of the time I’m happy to sit at home, hang out with Reese, and catch up on TV. I just don’t feel like going out. I don’t know how to meet people around here since there’s nothing to do and I’m not a student anymore. It may be that I don’t meet any new people until after I move.
  • Listen to music more often. I listen to too many podcast and neglect the music collection that I’ve spent so much time on.
  • Blog more. I’ve done well this week, but normally I blog only once a month. I want to do better without setting an arbitrary frequency that I might struggle to stick to.

I think these are pretty simple and very doable. Hopefully, I won’t forget to look back at these throughout the year and at the end of the year.

Happy New Year!

Update, 1/5/2011
The title originally said 2001 instead of 2011.  Thanks to Morning Toast for pointing that out.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel

Thursday, December 30th, 2010 1 comment

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A NovelHow to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel by Charles Yu. This was the Sword and Laser’s latest pick and I decided to read it since I haven’t read one of their selections in a while. The title made me think of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I don’t know if they have any similarities since I have read Hitchhiker’s Guide, but other Sword and Laser listeners are making that comparison, so I guess there are some.

The book is about a time machine repairman, Charles Yu, who is searching for his father who left his family and is somewhere out in time. You learn about Yu’s broken family and how Yu feels responsible for his father going away. To me, this book was just okay. It’s was interesting, sad, and funny in parts, but mostly I was just trying to get through it so I could get back to my Wheel of Time book. All the sci-fi references and jargon were cute at first, but after a while I got annoyed with it. Maybe if you liked Hitchhiker’s Guide, you’ll like this one more than I did. Or just wait until they make a movie out of it.

I said this was a 2010-2011 list, so I just deleted what I’ve already read and carried the rest over. I also added a few.

Book List 2011

  • Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings
  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
  • Go, Mutants: A Novel, Larry Doyle
  • Serenity Found, Jane Espenson
  • Incarceron, Catherine Fisher
  • Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, Mick Foley
  • The Associate, John Grisham
  • The Fourth Hand, John Irving
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 4: The Heart’s Desire, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 5: The Best Defense, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 6: This Sorrowful Life, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 7: The Calm Before, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 8: Made to Suffer, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 9: Here We Remain, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 10: What We Become, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 11: Fear the Hunters, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 12: Life Among Them, Robert Kirkman
  • The Walking Dead, Volume 13: Too Far Gone, Robert Kirkman
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larson
  • The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larson
  • The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest, Stieg Larson
  • The Stormcaller, Tom Lloyd
  • The Giver, Lois Lowry
  • The Day Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
  • The Twilight Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
  • The Final Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
  • Busted Flush, George R.R. Martin
  • Suicide Kings, George R.R. Martin
  • Kraken, China Mieville
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
  • Either You’re in or You’re in the Way, Logan and Noah Miller
  • The Final Crusade, Chaite Naasiri
  • The Darker Mask, George Phillips
  • The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson
  • The Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson
  • The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson
  • Towers of Midnight, Brandon Sanderson
  • A Memory of Light, Brandon Sanderson
  • Titus Andronicus, William Shakespeare
  • Private Parts, Howard Stern
  • The Dragonbone Chair, Tad Williams
  • Stone of Farewell, Tad Williams
  • To Green Angel Tower, Tad Williams