Here is how I have done so far in 2011:
1. Establish routine writing time each week.
-I have stuck to this so far. It is a relief to have a set schedule, a sacred hour, a mandatory meeting time, for writing. I can't feel guilty for not being productive in other things during this time. I can't say that I have made much progress on my various writing projects during these sessions yet. But at least I haven't forgotten them, and growth is happening in other directions.
2. Run two races this year.
-Info for spring races is vague and disorganized from what I have searched so far. I must settle on a date soon, so that the training schedule can follow. I have been running, but aimlessly (well, as aimless as one can be on a treadmill). Fortunately, January has come to a close injury-free.
3. Refinance the mortgage.
-Haven't begun. I did receive an encouragement to do so from my bank in the mail, and I suppose I might follow through soon.
4. Read at least one book from my To-Read list every month.
I read three:
1) Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (pretty good, not very memorable)
2) A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (I have mixed feelings, but certainly memorable)
3) Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey (Loved it, loved it, loved it. Why had I not even heard of Josephine Tey until recently? What else am I missing out on?)
4) I also began and gave up on Dante's Divine Comedy (for the Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition series that I am working through).
But the two-read list isn't any shorter. The Susan Cooper book is part of a five book series, and I listed it as "The Dark Is Rising series", so it can't be removed yet until all are read (or I give it up, but I am finding book #2 to be better than #1 so far). And then I added another line: "More Josephine Tey books", so that won't be removed for a long time, as it is unlikely that I will tire of her any time soon. And then I added at least five more random books to the list. The Dante was never on the list to start. So, the only line that was actually removed from the list was the Goolrick book. Oh well.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Books Read in 2010
In order:
1. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
2. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
3. Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog
4. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
5. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
5. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
6. The Cry of the Sloth by Sam Savage
7. Foundling by D.M. Cornish
8. Lamplighter by D.M. Cornish
9. Spirituality for the Rest of Us by Larry Osborne
10. The Ghosts of Ashbury High by Jaclyn Moriarty
11. Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan
12. Faithful Place by Tana French
13. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (REREAD)
14. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (REREAD)
15. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
16. Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
17. How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
18. Montana 1948 by Larry Watson
19: The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming
20. Light Boxes by Shane Jones
21. The Odyssey by Homer
22. Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede
23. Metamorphoses by Ovid
24. The Aeneid by Virgil
25. Factotum by D.M. Cornish
26. Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney
27. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemison
The Ones That Impressed Me The Most:
-The Aeneid
-The Lincolns
-Montana 1948 (AMAZING)
-Un Lun Dun
-Factotum
-Half Broke Horses
-The Woman in White
1. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
2. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
3. Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog
4. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
5. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
5. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
6. The Cry of the Sloth by Sam Savage
7. Foundling by D.M. Cornish
8. Lamplighter by D.M. Cornish
9. Spirituality for the Rest of Us by Larry Osborne
10. The Ghosts of Ashbury High by Jaclyn Moriarty
11. Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan
12. Faithful Place by Tana French
13. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (REREAD)
14. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (REREAD)
15. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
16. Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
17. How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
18. Montana 1948 by Larry Watson
19: The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming
20. Light Boxes by Shane Jones
21. The Odyssey by Homer
22. Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede
23. Metamorphoses by Ovid
24. The Aeneid by Virgil
25. Factotum by D.M. Cornish
26. Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney
27. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemison
The Ones That Impressed Me The Most:
-The Aeneid
-The Lincolns
-Montana 1948 (AMAZING)
-Un Lun Dun
-Factotum
-Half Broke Horses
-The Woman in White
2011 Resolutions
I am back. When I left blogging, I LEFT. I stopped liking it, very suddenly, for no reason. And I was too busy eating from my CSA box all summer and fall. It will probably happen again. But I had to come back for New Years resolutions. It's my favorite blogging time of the year.
First, a review of the 2010 resolutions:
1. Buy a piano.
DONE, FINALLY. I am SO GLAD that I made that resolution, because the time limit was the only thing that made me do it in the end. Excuses and unfounded fears delayed this purchase until 3 days ago. I fell in love with a new acoustic upright, to be delivered in two days. I've already signed up for a semester of lessons (starting mid-January) and bought a giant stack of sheet music and exercise books. SO EXCITING. Maybe I'll post a photo of it later, if I don't quit blogging again before then.
2. Plant a raspberry bush.
DONE. And I ate, like 3 raspberries from it, before every leaf and bud was devoured by bugs. Very doubtful that it will survive for another year.
3. Complete a short story.
Not done. No good excuse for it. I did write a fourth NaNoWriMo novel (also unfinished) and took an eight-week writing course in 2010. Lots of writings, but no endings.
4. Complete the Couch-to-5K plan.
DONE. Ran a 5K and beat previous time. Found shoes that magically cured injuries.
5. Read Anna Karenina.
DONE. If I weren't so terrified for my safety, trying to live among the towers of unread books around me, I would find more fat Russian novels to pass the time this winter.
Assessment: 4 out of 5 is not shabby.
First, a review of the 2010 resolutions:
1. Buy a piano.
DONE, FINALLY. I am SO GLAD that I made that resolution, because the time limit was the only thing that made me do it in the end. Excuses and unfounded fears delayed this purchase until 3 days ago. I fell in love with a new acoustic upright, to be delivered in two days. I've already signed up for a semester of lessons (starting mid-January) and bought a giant stack of sheet music and exercise books. SO EXCITING. Maybe I'll post a photo of it later, if I don't quit blogging again before then.
2. Plant a raspberry bush.
DONE. And I ate, like 3 raspberries from it, before every leaf and bud was devoured by bugs. Very doubtful that it will survive for another year.
3. Complete a short story.
Not done. No good excuse for it. I did write a fourth NaNoWriMo novel (also unfinished) and took an eight-week writing course in 2010. Lots of writings, but no endings.
4. Complete the Couch-to-5K plan.
DONE. Ran a 5K and beat previous time. Found shoes that magically cured injuries.
5. Read Anna Karenina.
DONE. If I weren't so terrified for my safety, trying to live among the towers of unread books around me, I would find more fat Russian novels to pass the time this winter.
Assessment: 4 out of 5 is not shabby.
RESOLUTIONS FOR 2011:
1. Establish routine time segment for creative writing each Sunday evening for a minimum of one hour. If the appointment must be interrupted for a necessary event (illness, travel, etc), then the time will be made up on another day within that week.
2. Run two races this year. First will be a 5K. If this proceeds injury-free, then the second race shall be a 10K. (Otherwise, two 5Ks.)
3. Refinance the mortgage.
(I have been putting this off for years. Since I have a piano now, clearly I will not be moving anywhere, ever.)
4. Read at least one book from my To-Read list every month.
This is more difficult than it sounds, now that I am entangled in multiple reading projects. I am also working through a CD lecture series on Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition, and reading all the works that are described therein (and learning LOTS). And I am doing a Women of Fantasy book club, which will be a book per month, with the possibility of being drawn into a series. And then, I am continually assaulted by random beautiful books every time I walk through the library to find something from my To-Read list. So, in an effort to rein in the exponential growth of the To-Read list, I've got to cross off at least one book per month from it.
Anyone else have resolutions for 2011?
2. Run two races this year. First will be a 5K. If this proceeds injury-free, then the second race shall be a 10K. (Otherwise, two 5Ks.)
3. Refinance the mortgage.
(I have been putting this off for years. Since I have a piano now, clearly I will not be moving anywhere, ever.)
4. Read at least one book from my To-Read list every month.
This is more difficult than it sounds, now that I am entangled in multiple reading projects. I am also working through a CD lecture series on Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition, and reading all the works that are described therein (and learning LOTS). And I am doing a Women of Fantasy book club, which will be a book per month, with the possibility of being drawn into a series. And then, I am continually assaulted by random beautiful books every time I walk through the library to find something from my To-Read list. So, in an effort to rein in the exponential growth of the To-Read list, I've got to cross off at least one book per month from it.
Anyone else have resolutions for 2011?
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