2010 Goals

 Life  8 Responses »
Jan 072010
 

So last year, I made a modest list of things, that were next to impossible not to reach (even though I did manage to miss one). This year, I’m aiming a bit higher, and I’m going to try and use this space to help me keep some of those goals. So, here are my goals:

Have a fun wedding.
March 13 is coming very quickly, and Alan and I are a bit bogged down with a lot of details that we’d pushed off until after Christmas. Turns out they can’t be put off any longer. I’m trying to get invitations done and sent out right now, as well as having my dress altered, finishing touches put on the ceremony, writing our vows, getting rings, and the list just keeps going. I’m not used to being the person responsible for an entire event, and at times it seems like it’s more expense and frustration than it’s really worth. I think it’s important for me to remember that we’re having this party to celebrate our relationship with our families and friends, and not to get bogged down in the details that nobody is super concerned about. I’m started to get excited about having it done and over with, so that Alan and I can move on to our next adventure, whatever that might be.

Reach some weight loss goals
This one honestly doesn’t have anything to do with the wedding. It’s been a struggle for me to lose and keep weight off for my entire teenage / adult life. I fully expect that it will continue to be a challenge forever. However, this year, I’m going to make it my goal to lose 35 pounds. I know this is an achievable goal if I can only stick with it. In this respect, I will post once a week a roundup of all the things I have done to maintain my fitness, as well as where I stand on weight loss (with a base line of last week). I know that there are no magic hammers I can use to solve this problem, and that instead it will be a gradual change of eating and exercise habits. I am confident that I can do this with the proper motivation and support.

Here’s how I’m going to reach my goals:

  1. I have joined Weight Watchers. I will be tracking points and following their eating programs.
  2. I no longer have two hours of commuting time to get to work every day. My new workplace isn’t near any fast food or corner stores. This is already making a difference.
  3. I will go to the gym three to four times per week. I will participate in the group exercise classes, as I know they will help keep me motivated for the time I am at the gym
  4. I will not get give up when I get discouraged. I will call upon my support structures to listen to me whine and then to get me focused once more on my goals.

Finish Glaxar’s blanket before March 13th
And by ‘finish’, what I mean is have all the quilt blocks made and pieced together, forming the top of the blanket. I will then have to seek outside assistance in actually building a blanket out of it. As of last night, I have twenty blocks finished, and I think I was aiming for about 28 blocks. There are a couple of blocks that are bad and will probably have to be redone, so I have about ten more blocks to make. Then I have to piece them all together and put borders on it. I’ve been managing about two to three blocks per week, so at that pace I should be in good shape to complete the quilt in time. Yay!

Read 50 books
I like reading. I have a lot of books I haven’t read yet. I got like, 12 books for Christmas. I should read a lot of books this year. Right now I’m tackling my first Margart Atwood book, and enjoying it thoroughly.

Smaller goals

  • Never go to bed with dirty dishes
  • Cook something new every week
  • Win New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Alan and I are playing our way through it and are very bad at co-operative play. It’s a different way of thinking, and we are still working out how it should happen.
  • Get my passport. Seriously, how do I not have it? Guess I’m just lazy
  • Take more pictures
  • Go on more adventures
  • Blog because I want to, not out of any feeling of obligation
  • Reinstate pizza and laundry night. I hate doing laundry on the weekend.

I think that’s the list. I know it’s a little rambling and about a week late, but I hope you enjoyed it.

 Posted by at 10:51 pm

Generation A

 Reviews  No Responses »
Jan 062010
 

Generation A - Douglas Coupland

Generation A - Douglas Coupland

Generation A
Douglas Coupland
2009, 297 pages

Set in the near future, Generation A tells the story of a world post-pollination, a world where bees are extinct, and peak oil has turned gasoline into a luxury item, along with fruits such as apples and oranges. One day, a young man combining a penis into an Iowa corn field is stung by a bee, sparking worldwide notoriety. Four more individuals are also stung around the world. These individuals are kidnapped by scientists and put into sterile rooms with all the labels removed, studied, and eventually released and then brought together to a remote coastal island, where they spend their days with the mysterious scientist, Serge, telling stories around the fire and bonding.

Coupland’s future is entirely wired. People are constantly blogging, and vlogging, and broadcasting things live as they occur. Solon, a new wonder drug, has taken over the lives of most of the people in the world, making them yearn for solitude and withdraw from the world. The book is written in a series of first-person chapters from each of the bee sting victims: Zack, Samanatha, Harj, Julien and Diana. In part, this book is a celebration of story telling and of reading. Coupland describes the feeling of curling up with a good book and escaping into another world, comparing that with the feeling of being on the new wonder-drug, Solon.

Overall, I loved Generation A. It was stylistically very similar to a lot of Coupland’s writing, where he jumps from perspective to perspective. The style really works, because his books are less about the external events that occur and more about people’s reactions and interpretations of their worlds. I think my favourite character was Harj, a Sri Lankan tsunami survivor, whose take on American culture comes from watching The Simpsons and Family Guy, and working for an Ambercrombie & Fitch call centre.

Where does this book fit in my Douglas Coupland list? Well, I think it goes like this:

  • Girlfriend In A Coma
  • All Families Are Psychotic
  • Generation A
  • Hey Nostradamus!
  • Microserfs
  • Miss Wyoming
  • Generation X
  • Eleanor Rigby
  • Shampoo Planet
  • The Gum Thief
  • JPod

I haven’t read Generation X for a long time, probably about five or six years. I think I should give it another read.

 Posted by at 11:14 am

Marching As To War

 Reviews  No Responses »
Jan 032010
 

Marching As To War - Pierre Berton

Marching As To War - Pierre Berton

Marching As To War – Canada’s Turbulent Years 1899-1953
Pierre Berton
2001, 632 pages

I have a rather extensive collection of Pierre Berton books. Most of them are gems, but there are also a few duds out there. This one’s pretty good. It’s too long, but it covers a huge swath of Canadian history and its participation in four wars: the Boer War, WWI, WWII, and the Korean War. Instead of focusing on military tactics or small details of the wars, Berton focuses on the what he does best: telling us what was happening in Canada. The majority of this book focuses on politics, both within Canada’s borders and on the international scene. It shows how the rifts within Canada’s borders have affected things like conscription and how the military has been organized. It discusses how we went from a fledgling nation hanging on Britain’s every whim, to an independent country standing on its own, partially as a result of those rifts that make us a nation of nations.

Overall, this book is great. It’s about 100 pages too long, but other than that, great.

 Posted by at 11:25 am

Where’s My Jetpack?

 Pop Culture, Reviews  2 Responses »
Jan 012010
 

Where's My Jetpack - Daniel H Wilson

Where's My Jetpack - Daniel H Wilson

Where’s My Jetpack – A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future That Never Arrived
Daniel H Wilson
2007, 182 pages

Remember watching Back To The Future Part II and loved the hover-board and all the awesome tech that was supposed to be available by 2015? Remember arriving last night into the wondrous future that is this shiny new decade and realizing that we don’t have flying cars, personal robot maids, or jetpacks? I was a little disappointed myself. Daniel Wilson’s book is about the bright and shiny future that never arrived.

The Roomba just isn't cutting it for me. When do I get my very own Rosie the Robot?

The Roomba just isn't cutting it for me. When do I get my very own Rosie the Robot?

In a series of short 2-5 page articles, Wilson examines some of science fiction’s best technologies – jetpacks, flying cars, teleportation, underwater hotels, robot maids, cryogenics, etc – and tells us of their current research status, how we got their, and their potential for real-life application. The articles are snappy, funny, and at the same time informative. For instance, did you know that smell-o-vision actually existed and people just didn’t like it? That makes me upset. I want smell-o-vision, and food pills, and so on.

I got this book from Alan for Christmas, and may I say, it is so pretty and shiny. The cover has reflective silver and blue writing, the pages are gilded blue, and there are wonderful full-page blue, white and gray infographic-style illustrations accompanying each article. It is a really well put together book. The writing is snappy, engaging and witty. My only criticism is that is often seems like a well put together Wikipedia article. In fact, that smell-o-vision link I posted above? It gives identical information that the book gives. I don’t think there’s anything in this book you couldn’t find on WIkipedia. I think the real benefit of this book is it gives a fun, concise overview of cool new technologies that could have been if only our priorities or laws of physics were slightly different. Also, I don’t have an iPhone, so Wikipedia isn’t as portable as books are [citation needed].

This is the first book I’ve finished reading in 2010 and overall, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to reading more awesome books in the year to come. I’m going to try and keep track of them more accurately this year than I did last year.

Slightly off topic, but also relevant: The Future Soon by Johnathan Coulton is an awesome song. Go listen to it right now, I’ll wait. You can thank me later.

 Posted by at 11:13 pm
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