Wish Me Luck, I May Need It

I’ve loaded up multiple iPods for my long drive to mom’s tonight.

Well, Christmas is almost here. Once again I must admit that this Holiday Season was another in a series of letdowns, although seeing my mother will boost my mood. Who knows, I may even convince her to sit for a portrait with me. I’d like to thank the ITP-Readers who have taken me in for Christmas over the past few years to make sure that I wasn’t alone; you are the tops.

Unfortunately this year I failed to watch, or completely watch all of my favorite Christmas movies and specials. Dangen! I did get to “The Santaland Diaries” so at least I’ve got that going for me this year.

Five Of The One Hundred Simple Secrets Of Happy People
I am currently, and deliberately slowly, reading a super-easy read called The 100 Simple Secrets Of Happy People. Each morning I read three of these “secrets.” (Remember when I mentioned exercising my mind?)

Here are five “secrets” on which you can ponder

• Don’t accept television’s picture of the world. [Dude, lay off the TV! The “secret” to my “happiness” is that I can pay my mortgage each month thanks to TV]
• You always have a choice. [If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.]
• Be agreeable. [Okay]
• Don’t ignore one part of your life. [But ignorance is bliss.]
• Listen to music. [Now you’re talking my language.]

You may find this hard to believe, but I’m trying to live my life under the concept that it’s the only one I’ll ever have so I better enjoy it.

All I Want For Christmas Is A New Attitude And Outlook On Life
Santa, I really don’t want a pony, I’d rather a girlfriend with whom I have mutual attraction and hobbies. And if it’s not too much to ask I’d like to regain my faith in Mankind, have a rosy outlook on my future, and understand what I am supposed to do with the rest of my life.

Oh, and a new Mac computer.

I Want To Wish You A Merry Christmas And/Or Happy Hanukkah
I hope that all of you ITP-Readers and your families have a safe, healthy, and happy Christmas and/or Hanukkah.

There won’t be a blog tomorrow. I’m not sure if my mother has teh Internets and I’ll be traveling back to Atlanta on Monday so I doubt that there will be a post on Monday either. However, I do suggest that you come back on Tuesday as I begin my epic “2009: The Good”, “2009: The Bad”, “2009: The Ugly” series to wrap up the year.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – I have very mixed emotions today.
Current Music – Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, Channel 6004 — “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” by Andy Williams
Website Of The Day – Thanks to the good folks at NORAD (“Shall we play a game?”) we can track Santa’s progress using the NORAD Santa Tracker. Don’t try and track my progress toward Florida as I drive like a ninja.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check, but wish that I had

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 10* (10)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 22
Marta Rides – 0

December Goals
– Not get fired from my job

2009 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
РEarn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalape̱o Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]