Ch-Ch-Changes

Hello new month! Hello old habit of not having much time to blog!

I have a lot of changes with my life in store starting today, most of which I am going to keep close to my vest until the plans and actions take better shape. Suffice to say that I am using today’s beginning of a new month as an artificial launching pad for the rest of my life.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Pretend you are a rag doll by bending over very slowly and letting your upper body go limp.

Bending the spine – whether it’s forward or backward – strengthens the muscles in the thighs and knees. Having a good stretch also provides relief for all the back, neck, and shoulder muscles that can get tense during the day.

I do this often.

Window Shopping At The Farmers Market
I left the office later than I desired, and by the time I arrived home and put BlackJack away I was in no mood to shop for vegetables that I’d have to consume by next week. I went up to the farmers market, and almost sprung for a King of Pops, and ran into some friends. Then, I received a text from ITP-Reader Betsy saying that she was headed up to the market with two others.

After the ladies picked up their desired items from the market we headed over to SoBa for some beverages and dinner. Perhaps it was because I was tired, or perhaps it was because I had exercised earlier, I was able to curtail my drinking and eating — though I did manage to spend $30 of my found booty. Oh well, easy come, easy go.

Halifax Here I Come?
One of the odd conversations that occurred during dinner was Betsy’s mentioning that she is planning to go to Nova Scotia in August. At first I thought Betsy was mocking me for those who know me well also know that I have been talking about visiting the Canadian Maritimes for the past few years. In fact, my goal was to go last year, until the bicycle accident threw my whole year into a tizzy, and had been concocting a while plan to take an Amtrak train from New York to Montreal, and then a VAI Rail Canada train from Montreal to Halifax this summer.

While I have no desire to glom on to Betsy’s vacation, there is a possibility that our paths could cross in Canada. Strange brew.

Nearer Plans
Tonight I’ll be going to a “going away” happy hour for one of my coworkers. After happy hour, assuming that happy hour doesn’t go all night, I need to head home and do a bit of organization. With the start of a new month there are certain chores which need to be done (cleaning, paperwork, etc) and there will be no better night than tonight to do them.

This weekend will involve bicycle riding on Sunday, and perhaps even a little yard work on Saturday. I think that I will even try to make some time to do a little photography.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – decent
Current Music – silence as I try to knock this out
Website Of The Day – I heard about this ukulele website last night, and while its official name is Ukulele Hunt, clever ITP-Readers will quickly figure out what everyone calls it.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – biking, ~17 miles (but that was in May, so no June credit scored)
Morning Weigh-In – I didn’t check

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 0
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore
6. How We Decide — Jonah Lehrer
7. Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson

June Goals
– Post at least ten new photos during the month
– Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
– Finish two books (audio or otherwise, comic books do not qualify)
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
– Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
– Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than one one 10K
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
– Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
– Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions
– Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
– Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
– See more live concerts than I did in 2011
– Eat more pancakes
– Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]