512 Days Later...

The last time I reevaluated my goals on this blog was in April 09. I have no idea how far I've come... or how far I've left to go... or if my goals are even relevant to my life anymore!

creativity + productivity
These words are abstract... skip :)

abolishing the snooze button
As you know, this is currently a goal of mine. What you may not know is that I had a few months during which I WAS SO GOOD at this! I never used the snooze button... it was awesome! Since I know I'm capable of it, I'm going to do this for the next week straight and reclaim my good habit.

being healthy + glowing + awake
Five-hundred-twelve days ago, I said I wanted to build more muscle, lose my extra fat, have clear skin, a clean bill of health, and health insurance. I've still got some progress to make. I DID do the 30 minutes of walking that I committed to in my last post. And the next day, I did a bajillion jumping jacks and things of that nature. I've mostly been walking, so I'm gonna kick it up a notch. Do you think I should get into Burst Training or back into running (training for a 5k)?

conquering my apparent fear of housework
I've been doing really well at getting rid of stuff. Still working on it! My at-home office looks great and it's a super-functional space, so I'm excited to keep at this one.

being reliable + available
What I'm noticing about my goals is that they're not really set up to be complete-able... Like, how long do I have to be consistently reliable & available in order to know that I've accomplished this? Good qualities, though...

getting a job that i love
Yay! I'm self-employed!

nourishing my relationships
Another very unspecific goal/good idea...

collaborating
Ditto.

becoming debt-free
I've made some definite progress on this one!

continuing my education
I've been in business/life courses for over a year now. I'd say I'm doing REALLY well on this one.

New SMART goals coming next time!

i love me some public accountability

Image from idontdomornings.com

It's been a long time since we 'dipped' and I've got some thangs to accomplish... so here I am! (I'm also hoping that the conversation will turn once more to silly photoshops ~~ you set 'em up, I'll knock 'em down?)

Backstory: For the past two months, I've been really diligent about getting enough sleep. (Before, I would go days and days averaging 4 - 6 hours per night - ACK!) Deciding to make rest a priority started out really well, I loved the new energy it gave me. Then I swung onto the opposite side of the spectrum and have started oversleeping... like 9 - 10 hours a night. And this is frustrating me because my brain knows when it's time to get up, but my body stays in bed. Also, have you noticed that when you over-sleep, you end up just as tired as if you didn't sleep enough?

One of my healthcare folks asked me if I was exercising -- the answer is 'no' - and he said that (generally) No Exercise = Over-sleeping.

So one of the reasons I'm back here on Da Dip is to create more accountability for myself to exercise. (Plus since we live far apart now, it could be a fun way to keep in touch besides chatting. I know you're busy, but hey, maybe, right?)

I have a few other goals I want to accomplish during 2010, and I'll write about those in the next couple days. As for today, I'm going to.... hmm.... something to do with exercise... I can't sign off without making some sort of plan for my goal...

Okay! I'm going to walk for 30 minutes today.

I would say jog, but I need to film a video this evening, and I've already done my makeup and don't want it to get all runny & sweaty. I'll do something sweat-inducing tomorrow.

PS. Did you enjoy the kitty's superlative apostrophe?

Merlin Mann on Creative Work

OK, I know I generally suck at this whole blogging thing, but you have to listen to this.


The Sound of Young America

eyyyyy....

Nice specs!

Dwyane Wade with Dwayne Wayne flip-up glasses. Perfection.

whirlwind

Image from robinstorm.blogspot.com

Whoa I am doing kind of a lot these days! Work has been waaay busy and it's not going to let up until mid-June. We are overworked and understaffed and sheesh!

Anyway, as if that weren't enough I've (quite happily and excitedly) volunteered myself to head up the print and email newsletters this year for Freewheelin' Farm, my CSA. I spoke to one of the partners, Amy, yesterday on the phone and I learned so much from a 15 minute conversation that my brain just might explode from all the learning come the end of the harvest season! Very interesting stuff and I'll probably be sharing more as it develops.

I'm also riding my bike to work again!!! And by 'my bike' I mean 'my new quite functional and awesome bike'. You can read more on my other blog if you are interested.

Plus, I want to start going to the gym again, and of course I am holding up my Wednesday studio date each week. And I just started this really cool project that I am still learning about with my sponsor, the lovely and talented Miss Noga. I think you have an inkling of what I am talking about, but I'll tell you more when I have more time!

Back to work!

my brakes done broke

I just realized that Bike to Work week is coming up and I broke my bike last week.
I guess one hundred-some-odd miles is a bit much for a cruiser to handle in a week--during my lunch hour last week the brakes were like "We're sooo tiiiired!" and they were definitely not working correctly. Lame-o. Time to balance the checkbook & hit up a bike shop.
I think it would be cool to build my own but I don't think I have the drive to take it that far yet.

specifically

It's been about a month since our last goal check-in, and I am feeling like my goals were a little too vague. I didn't really plan any steps to reaching them... oops, actually I did. I just didn't schedule those plans, so they didn't happen. anyways...
Now to revisit, get specific, and schedule next steps!

creativity + productivity
Specific goals: Utilize my studio space on a regular basis, to a) create some artistic work & b) make the monetary investment of rent worthwhile. I want to create some project-specific goals in the near future, like do more portraits.
Plan: Studio Wednesdays! I will make Wednesday evenings my time that I have to go to the studio. Starting tomorrow. Also, plan Syd's session.

abolishing the snooze button
Specific goal: I want to go to bed at a reasonable hour so that I can wake up happy and rested when my alarm goes off, turn off the alarm, and get out of bed!
Plan: I think Andy & I need to rearrange the bedroom so that we can both have end tables. I will talk to him about that tonight.

being healthy + glowing + awake
Specific goals: I want to build more muscle and lose my extra fat. I want clear skin. I want to have a clean bill of health. I want to fill out my health insurance application and get signed up!
Plan: I've begun biking to work! So there's cardio. Now I need to throw in some sit-ups, something to work my wiggly triceps, and other strength exercises. Any suggestions? Maybe ballet! I've been drinking a lot more water lately--even before this April heatwave--so I am hoping that will have positive effects. I am reading "You: Being Beautiful" which seems to have some good tips sprinkled amidst a lot of ideas I don't agree with. I'm only in part 1, so I'll let you know what I discover. Lastly, I'll call my agent this week to see if he can help me fill out my form.

conquering my apparent fear of housework
I am skipping this one for now because I can only do so much at a time. The kitchen looks great still and we don't live in a sty. Our apartment is just untidy!

being reliable + available
Specific goals: Be a person that people can count on to not leave them hanging, even if my answer is "no." Be on time. Take care of my day-to-day business promptly so that I'm available for anything exciting or urgent that may come up.
Plan: This one's hard to nail down! I know I can do all of it but the specific plan is eluding me... I'll just pick a couple specific things I can do: Be on time for work & appointments. Continue using my planner & don't procrastinate on what I've written in it!

getting a job that i love
skip. I'm happy & busy & really enjoying the long bike commute. I was just thinking, "Oh that would suck to work downtown 'cause then I wouldn't have to ride as far." So I'll just stay put for now.

nourishing my relationships
Specific goals: I actually have really specific goals for this one. I'm supposed to hang out with Richard soon. I've got a date with the fam for the Ducky Derby (You could come, too!). I need to write my cousin a letter.
Plan: Call Richard & my mom. I put my cousin's letter in my planner as a to-do this weekend.

collaborating
I actually did go visit that guy I was talking about last time! He told me to work on shooting in fully manual mode (I use aperture priority right now).

becoming debt-free
Specific goal: Obvious.
Plan: Balance my checkbook tonight and plan out the next month.

continuing my education
Arg. I really want to say "skip" but I know that getting back into school in a reasonable amount of time (read: Fall 2010) could be difficult if I don't take the GRE this year. So,
Specific goals: Learn about the GRE. Take a GRE practice test. Study for the GRE. Pass the GRE with flying colors!
Plan: Sign up for a free test. Use the book you lent me to study.


It was good to get back into these!
Man, how quick does a month go by?!

take that, credit report!

I just finished paying off my credit card debt!
Woohoo!
Only a couple more bills to go!

grips 'n' gears, who needs em?

My cruiser loves me! The feeling is mutual.

My happy news is that I went ahead and did a test ride to work & back last Saturday!
After Andy & I went on a long ride a couple weekends ago, I decided maybe the cruiser could handle the trek--and I wouldn't have to wait for my purchase of a nicer commuter bike. It was a lot of fun and only took me about an hour each way. As much as I love the cruiser -- gears, grips, and a 'tween-the-crotch water bottle holder are definitely on my wishlist. Oh! and, strange to say, I'd be down for some bike shorts with the padding between the legs. Or corn starch. Oh god, am I going to become one of those biker types?

So, now that I know I can do it, I think I need to suck it up and just start doing it. And cancel the gym membership I never use. I was thinking it would be interesting to keep a running tally of the tons of CO2 that I avoid emitting from my Honda. I'm trying to figure out my car's emissions but I'm not 100% sure about the data I've gotten yet. Maybe you know something about this?

I went to CarbonFootprint.com and went to their home calculator. I set the time span for 1 year, then under the "car" tab, I entered "12,000" as my mileage for that time period, then entered my car's efficiency at 23 miles to the gallon. It told me that I emitted 4.57 tons of CO2 last year. ugh. Bill Chameides of the Environmental Defense Fund explains one way of visualizing the gas in his Climate 411 blog post, Picturing a Ton of CO2. I finally get it. I'm just curious to verify the information I got from the CarbonFootprint.com calculator. You can't believe everything you read on the internet... or can you?

Anyways, assuming the information is correct...

1 year : 12,000 miles : 4.57 tons CO2
and
1 day : 19.8 miles : 0.0075409 tons CO2

Math!
1 day of work: 19.8 miles roundtrip
Approx. 244 days of work last year: 4,831.2 miles total
4,831.2 miles/12,000 miles = 1.84 tons/4.57 tons
1.84 tons/244 days = 0.0075409 tons/day

So far my tally is at zero. Time to get on the bike!

pesto tortellini

Image from CanaryGirl's Vox food blog. yum. I knew I shoulda taken my own picture last night!

You said you don't like any of the food you have made so far. Maybe you will like this. We made it last night & it was soooo good. We love buying the pre-made pesto (yay Buitoni! don't go for store-brand on this stuff) and we always eat it with cheese tortellini (frozen store-brand has treated us well so far on these). Last night we made the pesto from scratch!

First, go out and get yourself an herb cutter, food processor, or blender. I started out chopping the ingredients, thinking I could do it fine with a knife. I relented and brought out the blender and it made a nice creamy sauce (not too creamy though - pesto does have some texture).

Homemade Pesto Sauce

1 cup basil leaves, loosely packed
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp pine nuts or walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Salt & pepper to taste

The instructions are simple and you can't really mess it up, especially since the sauce requires no cooking. Chop, mince, dice, tear, blend, puree, whatever! until everything is teeny and mixed up and sauce-like. To save time, put your water on to boil & cook 2 servings of your favorite pasta while you make the sauce. It doesn't seem to yield a lot of sauce but once you stir it all into the cooked pasta it gives it a pretty good coating all around. And you don't want to overdo the sauce:pasta ratio 'cause that raw garlic sure has a kick! (in a good way). We ate our pesto tortellini with a little salad with all the yummies on it like tomato, a bit of avo, croutons, etc.

If you end up trying the recipe, let me know what you think!

bike to work week

Have I told you about Pictures from a Bike?
The blogger is an Aptos woman who used to bike to work in SC every day before she became pregnant with twins last fall. And she stops to take pictures along the way!
I can't even remember the author's name (don't know if I ever knew it), but I just thanked her via comment for the inspiration she has been providing for months now. I think I discovered her last summer, and have since had this tiny idea that maybe one day I would do the same commute in reverse every day and we would wave 'hi' to each other on our way to work. And then maybe she'd let me post my own pictures-from-a-bike, too! I have commented on her blog a couple times before and she was very nice with her response.
The important part is that I've set a date for beginning to bike to work. You may have heard of it, it's this thing called Bike to Work Week. A fitting name, I guess. So now comes the legwork of finding a suitable bike, purchasing it, getting a snazzy helmet & gloves & whatnot, and doing a few practice rides on the weekend. eek - lots to do. All of a sudden May 12th doesn't seem so far away!

the ukulele is blowing up

I totally agree with you.

you lucky duck

I'm supposed to be sharing One Year with you, soooo...
A WHOLE THREE WEEKS PACKED INTO ONE POST!

Week 2: Schedules & Routines

- Get a planner. Consult it often! Remember, it only works when you actually write stuff in it.
- Identify scenes in your life that play out again and again that suck up your time. Put a routine in place to eliminate those scenes. ex. Lost keys all the time. Get a key hook. Make it a Habit to always place your keys on it.
- Learn to say "no" when you need to, in order to create balance between all aspects of your life (including rest and me-time). This step has two sides.
1. You don't have to be responsible for everything, for everyone. If you need some rest, you will be surprised to see that other people can handle what you decide not to (aka moving your friend's couch or something).
2. You think you can do things better or faster than other people ("This project is my baby and no one else touches it!" OR "It'll be easier if I just do it"). Let it go, if necessary. Giving up one responsibility frees up room to learn something new. I just went through this at work. The one thing I totally love doing is putting together the weekly email blast for one of our clients. They recently told us they will soon be doing them in-house to save $. I was like "Damnit! My one joy, gone!" but then I remembered this advice from One Year and I can only look forward to what I will be learning next.

Week 3: Kitchen Questions

- What specifically do you like & dislike about your kitchen?
- How do you use it currently? How do you want to use it & how often?
- What changes can you make to fix the things you dislike?
- Do a speed elimination to get rid of junk and duplicates. Go through every space in the kitchen super fast & get all the crap out!
- Invest in kitchen organizing tools that make sense for your needs. ex. drawer and shelf dividers, stool to reach high areas, spice rack, food canisters, stacking totes, spice rack, caddy for cleaning supplies.

Week 4: Whip that Kitchen into Shape

- Divide your kitchen and its contents into Zones: Regina says: Prep/Cook, Bake, Clean-up/Store but I'd like to add Serve to the list, 'cause when I was organizing our kitchen I discovered placemats and serving dishes and they didn't really fit with anything else.
- So you've separated your kitchen tools into categories--now don't forget to tidy up the pantry/cupboards. Organize your food! ex. baking supplies, snacks, soups & chili, canned veggies, pasta & sauces, etc.
- When you clean the kitchen, don't forget the fridge--inside & out! Visual clutter causes mental clutter.
- Don't be a wimp! Tackle the whole room, even scary areas like under the sink. This goes for every project you take on. Don't do it half-assed!
- Keep a paper pad handy to serve as a shopping list. You should be able to find it and add to it easily.

I've been traveling through One Year like my name was Marty McFly. No worries--still making progress!

I love points!

Ugh. My goals. It isn't pretty. Here is my progress so far. (I like grading myself.)

- Cook more!
Since the chili two weeks ago, I steamed some brussel sprouts. Once. It's so hard for me to cook because I honestly do not like anything I make myself. It's always so bland, sometimes it's not even edible. -1

- Continue learning.
Well, I signed up for an LSAT course which starts on April 13. I'm planning on taking the June LSAT, work on my law school application over the summer and apply to law school in the fall for the 2010-2011 school year. I'm giving myself some major pointage for this. +5

- Finish your upholstery project
Nope. Not a stitch. No attempts. I completely forgot about this goal! -2

- Buy a ukulele and learn how to play it.
Also not done. But I fear that the ukulele is blowing up and becoming a little cliche. 0

- Do laundry more than once every three or four weeks.
Ha! I did laundry this weekend. The last time I did laundry was three weeks ago. I still have that HUGE pile of dry cleaning in my closet. -2

- Spend less cha-ching.
Hmm. Well, I bought $1300 plane tickets last week and just spent $1000+ for the LSAT course, so my net worth is about -$2000. (I have some money saved, but I've also got student loanz, yo!) I think both purchases were necessary but I can't really gauge if I spent money in moderation over the last four weeks. 0

- Do something physical.
Now that it's springtime I walk to and from BART. That's one mile each way. It's not a lot of walking, and I do it as a leisurely pace (although leisurely for me is sort of brisk)--not a whole lot of proper exercise. What I had in mind was going on hikes or buying a new bike (I got rid of my former bike when I moved) and riding around on the weekends. -1

FINAL SCORE: -1

I really have no excuse for not getting out during the weekends. I live in a beautiful place with lots of walking trails. That's the goal I'm going to focus on next. I'll follow that up with laundry and spending less cha-ching.

i feel we may be losing sight...

...of those goals that we laid out over a month ago.
So, Totes, a recap.

on february 11th, I said I wanted to focus on:
creativity + productivity
abolishing the snooze button
being healthy + glowing + awake
conquering my apparent fear of housework
being reliable + available
getting a job that i love
nourishing my relationships + collaborating
becoming debt-free
continuing my education

on february 11th, you said you wanted to:
- Cook more!
- Continue learning.
- Finish your upholstery project
- Buy a ukulele and learn how to play it.
- Do laundry more than once every three or four weeks.
- Spend less cha-ching.
- Do something physical.

How are we doing?

Well, I guess I'll go first...
I am having a hard time getting over to my studio as often as I would like to. Really, I only make it in about once a week. I am using a planner now, though--as of last week! I am going to pencil in all the things I hope to do along with all the things I am supposed to do--like, hey! pay my parking tickets on time to avoid an extra 30 bucks! whaddyaknow!

hmmm, before I move on I want to speak more about my planner. I think I may fall in love with it. It's a teeny 3-ring binder that holds half-sheets of paper. Bought it at Staples a long time ago for work but discovered it was useless for the purpose I had in mind. Now I have outfitted it with little tabs for sections--month-at-a-glance, weekly planner, financial planning (used to be on paper scraps), project ideas, and project planning. And other shit too, like notes and whatnot. DIY Planner inspired me but they have ugly layouts so I had to make my own in InDesign. Plus it was one of the things I was supposed to get according to One Year :)
...and moving on...

Oh my god "abolish the snooze button"! No progress on that one. If anything I have been having more trouble with waking up. Andy lays between me and the alarm clock. It goes off, he slaps the snooze button for me! I don't even have to roll over or get my arms out & cold or anything! This is not working. Either I need to switch places with him or move the clock or something. I need to see the damn time before the snooze button is hit. Or else I have no concept of what time it is and am very happy to continue laying in bed/in ignorance. Going to do something about this tonight. Tally ho!

healthy + glowing + awake. I have not exercised in eons... Although I did shovel a very long driveway clear of a foot and a half of snow on Sunday! With Andy's help. I did at least 50% of the work though! And I was realllllly happy that my back could take it. It didn't even hurt yesterday or today! Which is awesome because I could really feel it getting weak on Saturday when we were helping Andy's mom move her quilt shop. I was caught between wanting to be as helpful as possible and not wanting to relive that week of bedrest I was subjected to last June. That sucked. The other thing I need to do is get my health insurance application filled out. Gotta find that old policy number.

housework. making progress. One Year is helping.

reliable + available. I haven't flaked out on anyone. I've been on-time to work an unusual amount of times recently. I've communicated with my mom a bit more regularly.

getting a job i love... well, I am finding ways to love my job. I am also dreaming about working on a farm, or as a ranchhand, or a photographer, or a book-reader! Know of any job openings for a book-reader? 'Cause I shore do love readin' dem books.

relationships. I've been seeing friends and family. I could do more though. Write some letters. Make some phone calls. See my sister more often.

collaborations. I haven't taken a single step on developing this. There is one guy I should call who offered to take me on a sports photo shoot.

Debt-free! Working on it. Like I said, so close I can almost see the day.

Continuing my education. Recently, I've read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and half of After Photography by Fred Ritchin. I highly recommend the former and would like to chat about its pros and cons if you decide to check it out. The latter is pretty heavy. Mentally. Still need to wrap my head around it. On the other side of the spectrum, I have not looked into grad school at all. I don't know where to start. I'm not particulary interested in committing four more years to UCSC although I loved my time there. And I'm not particularly interested in moving away. What to do, what to do. I suppose browsing is my first step.

I can't begin to list more goals or wishes until I get through some of these... too much for my brain!

And, what about you? What obstacles are you up against? What have you been up to that you are pleased with?

ps I like calling you Totes 'cause it's like Toots.

Chili-less Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

I told you I wouldn't post unless I accomplished something. And what, pray tell, did I accomplish tonight? In honor of Top Chef--though the season finale was two weeks ago--I made VEGETARIAN BLACK BEAN CHILI!! Halfway into cooking, I realized that I didn't have any chili powder, so I just threw in random spices, peppers and such. I wouldn't say it was delicious but it was dinner. Plus, I have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch... and Friday's... and Monday's... etc.

While I was cooking I had to deal with a kitty whose face was swelling up due to exposure to onions. I ended up putting her in the bathroom; at first I tried the trick of sticking our heads in the freezer. (Is that cruel?) The second I put her back on the ground, her eyes would tear up and her face would get puffy. To the bathroom, she went!

Even though I don't have a copy of One Year myself, I followed one of the habits tonight. I did all my dishes after cooking--yes, even the sauce pots, which I almost always just leave dirty on the stove until the next time I need it. (Is that gross?)

Speaking of One Year, I don't know if you noticed this on my coffee table when you were over this weekend--awesome weekend, by the way--but I also did a weekly activities breakdown. Great minds think alike because I didn't do it by percentages either. I already threw away my calculations of actual activities, but I have my goals sitting on my coffee tables. I must have calculated this two or three weeks ago, but I haven't followed it once. Actually, maybe today. I did cooking/eating/cleanup for two hours, and in a little bit I will be watching the second part of my one hour of TV (the first part was, and always will be, Jeopardy!).

the general consensus

Thanks to you and Dana for being good sports and letting me make you uncomfortable for long periods of time. At the beginning of our shoots, I could tell that you two really hated being in front of the camera, but by the end you had gotten used to it. Which means..... we have to plan another one! I promise it will be less painful this time as we are both getting practice.
And...
What an awesome bay area weekend! I came home Sunday night thoroughly exhausted from all the good times. Thanks for having me over and chauffeuring me around and bearing with me when I found treasure at the White Elephant Sale and waking me up with Daisy Dukes.

I'm glad we both took the time to hang out with good people whom we haven't seen in awhile. And I'm glad we got ric rolled at Sangha.

In "One Year" news, I'm a bit behind on the kitchen stuff but still holding strong with the Habits. I am seeing myself adopting the "everything in its place" mindset and also not being so lazy as I have been in the past. CAN I PLEASE SAY THANK YOU AGAIN! Even if I reaped no further benefit from the book for the rest of the year, I am pleased as punch at how our kitchen feels now. Everything is clean and making dinner or even a snack is never a battle because something's out of place or dirty. Yay!

I did complete the exercise that I was avoiding, where you have to find out where you spend your time. I listed everything I do and everything I want to be doing. Then instead of applying current percentages, I just wrote how many hours per week I spend on each thing. Exercise got a zero... Studio time got like a 1... Sleeping got a 56... Jaguar got 45... etc... The second half of the exercise is reworking the percentages (hours) to match your goals. I was incredibly surprised to find that there is plenty of time for me to engage myself in all the activities I want to be working on & doing. At least on paper. So I have this idea inspired by Dylan's workout tracker (which he previously developed into a task tracker for me for logging hours spent on projects at work). I'm going to mock one up to use for the entire week and see if I am realistically able to stick to my new goal times.
Okay! So many words! I'll show you the tracker once I have it put together.
Peeeaaaaaaauuuuuuhhceeeeee!

pretty colors

(I hope you are ready for this weekend because I am going to shoot pictures of you.)

I took this picture last Saturday, during what I believe was my 1st ever shoot of another human being. I always take pictures of trees & flowers & buildings & shapes & what-not. When I do take a picture of someone, it is only 1 or 2 pictures, not a series with the intention of capturing a good portrait.

So this was new for me. A little challenging. But working with Sabrina was easy because she is a friend and likes to be in front of the camera. I'm glad I made an effort to stop napping and get out of the house to do this, as I had momentarily considered putting it off. The fact that it wasn't raining helped a bunch.

I also made it to my studio for an hour yesterday and plan to go work some more this evening. yay.

I'll have the rest of my favorite pictures from Saturday up on the SBPC tomorrow.

excited & nervous

With a whole 3 days under my belt, I can say that I am very excited to be sticking to my Habits of the Month. But I am nervous because each month will add new tasks to the list of things I need to do every day. Shit.
Sounds like a challenge. But at the end of the day, I am thinking, " Yes! I did it! I'm proud! This is all clean!"
So it's worth it.