Shouting Out To New Readers
To the one new reader I’m now aware of… I’m impressed by your subtlety.
Introspection
It’s that time of year when Nick’s mind turns inwards. Some people think about resolutions around New Year’s. I think about them about this time of the summer.
For the first time in a number of years, I’m feeling aimless… I’ve always had long term goals… For some reason, this year, I don’t. I feel I’ve been in survival mode for the last little bit.
So… it’s time to brainstorm goals… I’m not going to do all of them… but here’s a list to start off with… These are things to consider. I’m not necessarily going to do all of them. In fact, I’m going to specifically not do some of them. Since this is a public blog, some things are censored. If you want full details, email me.
I’m very open to suggestions. Any feedback, anonymous or onymous, serious or snide, big or small, on pretty much any subject. Anything you want me to improve on? Anything I do that bugs you? Now’s your chance to have me fix it.
Financial
- …
- Save n$ per year.
- Open a day-trading account, and day-trade.
Career
- Learn LAMP
- Learn .Net 2.0
- Learn To love / like my job, or find one I like.
- Get an MBA / write the GMAT.
Learning
- Swim / Scuba Dive
- Language
- Italian
- German
- Spanish
- Classes
- Cooking
- Photography
- Open Courseware
- Cont Ed
Hobbies
- Photography
- Unicycling
- Juggling
- 5 balls
- Cutting w. Clubs
- Dancing
- C3B
- C4
- Calling ( This is probably an anti-goal. I’m probably going to cut back on it. Various assholes should be happy. Sing it Carly Simon. )
- Swing Dancing ( Love to do this, doesn’t seem in the cards for this year. )
- Tango ( Ditto above. )
- Poker
- Vegas
- Tunica
- Atlantic City
- California
- Foxwoods
- Online
Health
- Posture. Listen to my parents, i.e., sit up straight.
- Set a target weight (165lbs?).
- Be able to touch my toes.
- Exercise daily
- Exercise Ladder.
- n Push-Ups
- n Sit-Ups
- n Minutes
- Walk
- Run
- Bike
- Exercise Before Shower
- Be able to do a n km run.
- Be able to do a nkm bike.
- Get up to n km on bike odometer.
- Get up to n steps on pedometer.
- Bike to work.
- Run an n km run / marathon.
Habits
- Be more diligent about brushing teeth.
- Get to bed earlier / get enough sleep.
- Communicate better with friends. Especially those that are remote (suggested by Marc).
Bad Habits
- Be less impatient.
- Be less unhappy when doing ‘nothing’.
- Spend less time online.
- Watch less TV.
- Be less grumpy (apparently, some of my friends call me “Mr. Grumpy”).
- Be more assertive in what I want. State my desires more clearly / better.
- Say what I’m thinking. Communicate more clearly anad more often.
- Stop obsessing, talking, and analyzing. Start doing.
- Be happy. Appreciate the life I have.
- Don’t complain so much.
Appearance
- Shave my head.
- Dress better.
- Shave more often.
Mental Well-Being
- Learn to meditate.
- Stop fretting and worrying. I prepare and plan so as to worry less… not to worry more.
Marriage / Dina
- Set Dina’s expectation levels. Notably in the morning / for day-to-day things.
- …
- Ask how her day was / how she’s feeling.
- Motivate each other to exercise.
- Pick and choose appropriate times for discussions.
- Devote more time to us instead of all the things that make our lives busy.
- A little cousin for Malcolm (Suggested by Vic & Hélène)
Portent
Our office has mice.
On another note, it doesn’t seem like people are hungry to make money at the current company.
Weekend
Went to Baltimore this weekend to hang out with the guys and see three Red Sox vs. Orioles games. Lots of things to say… maybe I should wait ’til I’m in a better mood to write… maybe not…
- Went with Dan, Jim, and Smooth. Stayed at Smooth’s friend, Frank’s. Frank rocks. He was a great host. It’s not surprising that he and Smooth are good friends.
- The drive there and back sucked. 10.5 hours there. 9.5 hours back. I’d expected a 6 hour drive based on Smooth’s estimates. Suck.
- Camden Yards is a beautiful, beautiful park. I haven’t had as nice a time at a baseball game since I was a kid at the Big O in Montreal watching the Expos. Fenway just isn’t the same. The view at Camden is great. I spent Sunday reading a book (re-reading Terry Pratchett’s “Equal Rites”) and watching the game. It was great. I lack the vocabulary to describe it. It was everything that the clichés say a baseball game should be.
- Ate a lot. Carballa Wrap (Chorizo, Gouda, mashed potatoes is great food, drunk food, and leftover hangover food). Soft Shell Crab Wrap (with Old Bay, prolly one of the top 10 foods I’ve ever tasted). Crab legs. Crab cakes. Blue crab. Beer. National Bohemian. Ball park hot dogs. I Michael’d 4 blue crabs. It wasn’t worth it.
- Saw two movies during down-time. “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle” was funny. Surprisingly, I’m the only one who’s been to White Castle. “Team America, World Police” was awesome. Every single moment of it was satire of either the action movie genre or the current geo-socio-political climate. Parker & Stone surprised me with the South Park movie. They surprised me again with this one. One of the best satires / comedies of the last 5 years.
- We’re getting olde. We needed naps on Saturday. We needed a day to recover on Monday.
- The ATMs offered the choice of withdrawing $10, $20, $30, $40, $50, and other. They dispensed $10s. Interesting to contrast that with Boston.
- Daniel was fascinated by bugs. First a lightning bug. Then, Dan says “Hey! A June bug.” Uhm… Dan… that’s a cockroach.
- I actually had a lot of fun. In some ways, this kind of weekend, hanging with the guys, watching baseball, drinking a lot of beer, isn’t my cuppatea… Somehow, I got myself in the right frame of mind. At one point, I was in the car, listening to some sort of hip-hop, and realized… I was enjoying myself…