After doing a lot of digging the past few days at the office because it's a bit slow work-wise I've made the decision to move over to Wordpress for my blogging needs going forward.
I'll leave this blog here so nothing gets lost, but new updates and news from me can be found here:
20four12.wordpress.com
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tonight I Will Shrug an Atlas for the First Time
Just moments ago I finished reading the final book of the Millenium series. The last book took a bit of effort because I wanted to finish it before beginning Atlas Shrugged, but I also wanted to just put it on the back burner and begin Atlas Shrugged immediately. I stayed strong though and finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest first.
Now I get to start figuring out who John Galt really is. I'm really excited but I'm also really, really nervous. What if over the past couple of weeks I've gotten my hopes up far too much and I'm disappointed by what I discover? What if I have no idea what's in store and things are even more awesome that I could imagine in my wildest dreams?
It's going to be good. I'm pretty sure about that.
I intend to write numerous posts about reading this book. I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot to say about it. I want to read all of it tonight, but I also want to digest each piece very, very carefully. My goal is to finish by the end of the month, but I may take a little longer than that in the end. We'll see.
Now I get to start figuring out who John Galt really is. I'm really excited but I'm also really, really nervous. What if over the past couple of weeks I've gotten my hopes up far too much and I'm disappointed by what I discover? What if I have no idea what's in store and things are even more awesome that I could imagine in my wildest dreams?
It's going to be good. I'm pretty sure about that.
I intend to write numerous posts about reading this book. I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot to say about it. I want to read all of it tonight, but I also want to digest each piece very, very carefully. My goal is to finish by the end of the month, but I may take a little longer than that in the end. We'll see.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Perhaps I Should Watch a Political Debate Someday
My wife's cousin Cari will probably smack me upside the head for making this admission, but I've never actually sat down and watched a political debate of any kind. Yep, it's the truth. I'm not a very politically active individual beyond sort of knowing the general stance of the major candidates once all of the primaries are finished. It's just never something that has interested me all that much.
Everyone talks a lot about how it's so important to vote, and I did the first time I was able to vote even though I had to do it using an absentee ballot. Four years ago I didn't vote though. I wasn't pleased with the idea of either McCain or Obama being elected president at the time so I decided I didn't feel like wasting my vote since it's pretty clear nobody outside of the Democratic or Republican party is ever actually going to win.
For whatever reason I'm feeling a tickle in the back of my mind like I should start paying attention to politics a little more at this point in my life. Why, I'm not really all that sure because my opinion is that a lot of things being discussed by politicians don't have much overall impact on me given my position in society and life. But, that tickle is still there for whatever reason.
Right now, if I were forced to walk into a voting booth at gunpoint and place a vote I would vote for Mitt Romney, but I couldn't give you a very good reason why beyond the fact that I haven't been all that impressed with the work Barack Obama has done and I'm not convinced he deserves another four years in office and the fact that Newt Gingrich looks weird and I think foreign dignitaries that see him walk into a meeting with them are going to think it's a joke of some sort and that the president is still out in the hallway. He just doesn't look presidential to me.
So, I think I'll watch a debate and actually pay attention even if I'm not sure what I'll learn from it. The question is, which one should I actually watch at this point in the campaign?
Everyone talks a lot about how it's so important to vote, and I did the first time I was able to vote even though I had to do it using an absentee ballot. Four years ago I didn't vote though. I wasn't pleased with the idea of either McCain or Obama being elected president at the time so I decided I didn't feel like wasting my vote since it's pretty clear nobody outside of the Democratic or Republican party is ever actually going to win.
For whatever reason I'm feeling a tickle in the back of my mind like I should start paying attention to politics a little more at this point in my life. Why, I'm not really all that sure because my opinion is that a lot of things being discussed by politicians don't have much overall impact on me given my position in society and life. But, that tickle is still there for whatever reason.
Right now, if I were forced to walk into a voting booth at gunpoint and place a vote I would vote for Mitt Romney, but I couldn't give you a very good reason why beyond the fact that I haven't been all that impressed with the work Barack Obama has done and I'm not convinced he deserves another four years in office and the fact that Newt Gingrich looks weird and I think foreign dignitaries that see him walk into a meeting with them are going to think it's a joke of some sort and that the president is still out in the hallway. He just doesn't look presidential to me.
So, I think I'll watch a debate and actually pay attention even if I'm not sure what I'll learn from it. The question is, which one should I actually watch at this point in the campaign?
Thursday, February 2, 2012
A Look Back on My Reading in January 2012
I've got this big goal to read a whole bunch of books in 2012 and I think I did a pretty good job getting ahead of the curve in the month of January. Overall I finished seven books, which averages out to just a bit under two per week, which is good by any definition.
Granted, some of the books were of the slightly shorter variety being from authors who are fairly new or from a series where the books aren't that long, but the others were of above-average length, so in the end I think it evened out pretty well.
The final tally is five science fiction or fantasy books, and two popular fiction books. Not too bad I think coming from someone who doesn't read much popular fiction. If I could down one or two popular fiction books each month until the end of the year I would feel pretty good about things.
I was curious, so I spent a few minutes on Amazon looking up page counts for the books I did read since I read them all on my Kindle and don't have that sort of information readily available. It turns out that I read the equivalent of 2,205 pages, or an average of 71 pages per day. That's kind of cool. In more abstract terms I like to think of it as having read two Wheel of Time books, which is pretty impressive in its own right.
So what is on tap for February? Do I think I'll get another seven books finished? Well, I don't think I'll get seven more finished in February, but I should get at least two or three. Right now I'm about a third of the way through the final book of the Millenium series, which I think will only take me another day or two, but then, well... then I get to start Atlas Shrugged, and I have a feeling it's going to take me at least a week or two which means I might sneak in another book (if it's short), maybe two right at the end of the month, but no promises on that front.
Right now I'm trying to stay ahead of my "one per week" idea so I can indulge in a couple of really long books later in the year such as a re-read of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of the Kings and the final Wheel of Time book due out sometime late this fall. So far so good, but we'll see if I can keep up in the coming months.
Granted, some of the books were of the slightly shorter variety being from authors who are fairly new or from a series where the books aren't that long, but the others were of above-average length, so in the end I think it evened out pretty well.
The final tally is five science fiction or fantasy books, and two popular fiction books. Not too bad I think coming from someone who doesn't read much popular fiction. If I could down one or two popular fiction books each month until the end of the year I would feel pretty good about things.
I was curious, so I spent a few minutes on Amazon looking up page counts for the books I did read since I read them all on my Kindle and don't have that sort of information readily available. It turns out that I read the equivalent of 2,205 pages, or an average of 71 pages per day. That's kind of cool. In more abstract terms I like to think of it as having read two Wheel of Time books, which is pretty impressive in its own right.
So what is on tap for February? Do I think I'll get another seven books finished? Well, I don't think I'll get seven more finished in February, but I should get at least two or three. Right now I'm about a third of the way through the final book of the Millenium series, which I think will only take me another day or two, but then, well... then I get to start Atlas Shrugged, and I have a feeling it's going to take me at least a week or two which means I might sneak in another book (if it's short), maybe two right at the end of the month, but no promises on that front.
Right now I'm trying to stay ahead of my "one per week" idea so I can indulge in a couple of really long books later in the year such as a re-read of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of the Kings and the final Wheel of Time book due out sometime late this fall. So far so good, but we'll see if I can keep up in the coming months.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Movie Review: Contagion
There are a lot of movies that try to depict how things would be like in the real world if certain events were to transpire. Very few of them accomplish their goal and do so in a manner that comes across as anything close to believable. I've always been interested in the idea of worldwide trouble for some reason, I think it is really interesting to see how different people think different things would affect the entire human race. That's what got me to watch Contagion. Everything I've seen or heard about it points to its incredibly realism.
THE RUNDOWN: Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Contagion features a rather star-studded cast which includes Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, and many others. The film deals with what would happen if some sort of completely unknown virus/disease were to be unleashed upon humanity at some point and there was no known treatment or vaccination. Beyond just depicting the attempts to find a treatment of some sort, Contagion has moments where it focuses on the fallout in society when dealing with a horrid medical disaster.
THE POSITIVE: First and foremost, as a movie buff, this cast is amazing. There are big names all over the place and each of them was slotted into a role that fit them perfectly. Soderbergh is known for being a director that lots of actors want to work with and he clearly puts that reputation to good use here, grabbing individuals who convincingly fit every piece of the overall puzzle.
Most impressive to me was Jude Law in his role as Alan Krumwiede, a freelance journalist/blogger who is one of the first to start the media frenzy about the MEV-1 virus. His screen time is limited, as it is for most of the characters in a cast this large, but he makes the most of it. I completely believed that his portrayal of Krumwiede was spot on as he tried to make the viewer believe he was an opportunistic writer who was trying to get his message out. In this case, that the government powers that be were in bed with pharmaceutical companies looking to make the biggest profit from the research into a vaccine for the virus.
Laurence Fishburne also turned in an excellent performance as the head of a government health agency looking to keep control of the media frenzy, the research into the origin/treatment of the virus, and the inevitable fallout of both situations. I think I'd like to know that someone like his character was in charge of things in such dire circumstances.
The story was superb. The chain of events were presented in a way that left me believing every single step along the way was completely probable in a real-world situation. From the unexpected death of a mother and son to the looting and mob mentality as the epidemic reached its most dire point, everything seemed like I could be watching out my living room window and see it happening in real time. Even the sub-plots that are revealed once the vaccination is finally discovered were something I could see happening, and as a matter of fact, I think I would be shocked if they didn't happen to be honest.
I've only seen a couple of Soderbergh's movies, but it seems he likes to keep dialogue to a minimum as much as possible. I'm okay with that as he does an excellent job telling the story with imagery that you can follow, adding your own internal dialogue as you watch. At this point I'm beginning to think I should find some of his other work to watch as well.
THE NEGATIVE: This isn't an action movie, it isn't a thriller, it isn't even a drama. It's more of an observation if anything, which took a little getting used to. At no point did I feel lost, or disinterested in what was happening during the film, but when I finished I felt like I had a hard time pinning down where I felt the film fit as a whole.
As a result, I feel like Contagion is missing a piece of its identity, but not in such a bad way that I can't get past it and see all of the good things it had. The only other knock against the film is that outside of Fishburne and Law, the remaining actors, while excellent in all of their roles, were left with characters that felt a little bit under-developed. It's probably a result of Soderbergh having to decide if he wanted to focus on the individual stories, or the overall picture most, but I do sort of wish I had been given more to go with on Matt Damon's immune husband/father character, or some of the other peripheral characters as well.
WHAT I THINK I THINK: Stay inside if there is ever a worldwide airborne viral epidemic. No, seriously, if you see serious news that a crazy disease is wiping out millions of people around the world, stay home, don't go to work, don't visit your friends. That's not paranoia, it's common sense if you ask me.
Although, after watching Contagion I find myself wondering how I would react if I was in a quiet suburban neighborhood and saw looting and robbery commencing all around me by those who were in panic mode and searching for food or other supplies. I think I would keep my cool fairly well, but you never know, it might depend entirely on if my entire family had been wiped out by the epidemic or not.
Food for thought to be sure. If nothing more, it got me thinking that living in a house someday rather than an apartment complex in close quarters with other families might not be such a horrible idea in such situations.
WHO SHOULD WATCH CONTAGION: Anyone who likes a realistic story will enjoy this film. It's probably not a great date or party movie due to the heavy nature of the subject matter, but if you are at all interested, definitely give it a watch, you likely won't be disappointed. Also, anyone who likes good soundtrack music should enjoy it as well, I was captivated by the soundtrack Soderbergh put behind the imagery he was using. It really drew me in.
FINAL SCORE: 9 out of 10
THE RUNDOWN: Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Contagion features a rather star-studded cast which includes Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, and many others. The film deals with what would happen if some sort of completely unknown virus/disease were to be unleashed upon humanity at some point and there was no known treatment or vaccination. Beyond just depicting the attempts to find a treatment of some sort, Contagion has moments where it focuses on the fallout in society when dealing with a horrid medical disaster.
THE POSITIVE: First and foremost, as a movie buff, this cast is amazing. There are big names all over the place and each of them was slotted into a role that fit them perfectly. Soderbergh is known for being a director that lots of actors want to work with and he clearly puts that reputation to good use here, grabbing individuals who convincingly fit every piece of the overall puzzle.
Most impressive to me was Jude Law in his role as Alan Krumwiede, a freelance journalist/blogger who is one of the first to start the media frenzy about the MEV-1 virus. His screen time is limited, as it is for most of the characters in a cast this large, but he makes the most of it. I completely believed that his portrayal of Krumwiede was spot on as he tried to make the viewer believe he was an opportunistic writer who was trying to get his message out. In this case, that the government powers that be were in bed with pharmaceutical companies looking to make the biggest profit from the research into a vaccine for the virus.
Laurence Fishburne also turned in an excellent performance as the head of a government health agency looking to keep control of the media frenzy, the research into the origin/treatment of the virus, and the inevitable fallout of both situations. I think I'd like to know that someone like his character was in charge of things in such dire circumstances.
The story was superb. The chain of events were presented in a way that left me believing every single step along the way was completely probable in a real-world situation. From the unexpected death of a mother and son to the looting and mob mentality as the epidemic reached its most dire point, everything seemed like I could be watching out my living room window and see it happening in real time. Even the sub-plots that are revealed once the vaccination is finally discovered were something I could see happening, and as a matter of fact, I think I would be shocked if they didn't happen to be honest.
I've only seen a couple of Soderbergh's movies, but it seems he likes to keep dialogue to a minimum as much as possible. I'm okay with that as he does an excellent job telling the story with imagery that you can follow, adding your own internal dialogue as you watch. At this point I'm beginning to think I should find some of his other work to watch as well.
THE NEGATIVE: This isn't an action movie, it isn't a thriller, it isn't even a drama. It's more of an observation if anything, which took a little getting used to. At no point did I feel lost, or disinterested in what was happening during the film, but when I finished I felt like I had a hard time pinning down where I felt the film fit as a whole.
As a result, I feel like Contagion is missing a piece of its identity, but not in such a bad way that I can't get past it and see all of the good things it had. The only other knock against the film is that outside of Fishburne and Law, the remaining actors, while excellent in all of their roles, were left with characters that felt a little bit under-developed. It's probably a result of Soderbergh having to decide if he wanted to focus on the individual stories, or the overall picture most, but I do sort of wish I had been given more to go with on Matt Damon's immune husband/father character, or some of the other peripheral characters as well.
WHAT I THINK I THINK: Stay inside if there is ever a worldwide airborne viral epidemic. No, seriously, if you see serious news that a crazy disease is wiping out millions of people around the world, stay home, don't go to work, don't visit your friends. That's not paranoia, it's common sense if you ask me.
Although, after watching Contagion I find myself wondering how I would react if I was in a quiet suburban neighborhood and saw looting and robbery commencing all around me by those who were in panic mode and searching for food or other supplies. I think I would keep my cool fairly well, but you never know, it might depend entirely on if my entire family had been wiped out by the epidemic or not.
Food for thought to be sure. If nothing more, it got me thinking that living in a house someday rather than an apartment complex in close quarters with other families might not be such a horrible idea in such situations.
WHO SHOULD WATCH CONTAGION: Anyone who likes a realistic story will enjoy this film. It's probably not a great date or party movie due to the heavy nature of the subject matter, but if you are at all interested, definitely give it a watch, you likely won't be disappointed. Also, anyone who likes good soundtrack music should enjoy it as well, I was captivated by the soundtrack Soderbergh put behind the imagery he was using. It really drew me in.
FINAL SCORE: 9 out of 10
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Atlas Shrugged is On the Horizon...
It won't be long before I start reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I posted a little while back that I wanted to read it pretty badly after watching the movie, but despite my desire I couldn't bring myself to start a book of that size without finishing the other two series' that I was currently in the middle of.
I'll admit I'm extremely excited but also terrified that I'll be let down after my own rather immense expectations have now taken root. At the moment I'm thinking that I may blog about some thoughts as I go through, perhaps summarizing here and there about what is happening so I don't lose sight of the big picture, which happened a little bit when I was reading The Fountainhead a few years ago.
So, all I have between me and finally discovering who John Galt really is is to finish the final book of the Millenium series which I have started just a few moments ago. I think I'm going to read like a man possessed until I finish it so I can get started solving the mystery of John Galt.
I'll admit I'm extremely excited but also terrified that I'll be let down after my own rather immense expectations have now taken root. At the moment I'm thinking that I may blog about some thoughts as I go through, perhaps summarizing here and there about what is happening so I don't lose sight of the big picture, which happened a little bit when I was reading The Fountainhead a few years ago.
So, all I have between me and finally discovering who John Galt really is is to finish the final book of the Millenium series which I have started just a few moments ago. I think I'm going to read like a man possessed until I finish it so I can get started solving the mystery of John Galt.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Music I've Recently Added to My Collection This Week
I don't buy albums anymore, nor do I buy songs dependent entirely upon genre, style, or artist. I buy songs because I think they sound cool. Even more specifically, I buy songs that I think have cool sounding "hooks" in the chorus or verse. That's just how I do things. As a result, I have a rather mixed bag of music in my iTunes library.
New songs in my collection happen whenever I've had the chance to listen to the radio for a little bit, or when I see a music video of something I hadn't heard before. I tend to let the list gather a few songs and then download them all at once.
Here are the four I added to my collection this past week:
New songs in my collection happen whenever I've had the chance to listen to the radio for a little bit, or when I see a music video of something I hadn't heard before. I tend to let the list gather a few songs and then download them all at once.
Here are the four I added to my collection this past week:
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Want to See Something Embarrassing? Let Me Share Some Old Creative Writing
A long time ago, in a town far, far away I thought myself to be an aspiring author of awesome proportions. I did lots of reading and said to myself, "You know what? I bet I can write a pretty decent story."
That thought may still have some kind of merit if I was still actively writing new things to this day, but unfortunately a two year LDS mission to Ohio got in the way of that, and then I never managed to get back into the habit. I regularly kick myself in the metaphorical junk over it, I promise.
If I were to make a list of things I desperately want to accomplish someday, writing a book, or even a novella would be very, very near the top. But, being so out of practice makes me very hesitant to try and jump back into that world. Having a blog helps, but let's face it, that really isn't the same kind of writing.
Anyways, to get to the point, I dug out some of the few writing pieces I still have from my more youthful days and thought it might be fun to share some of them. So, today we'll start with a short piece I wrote for the Creative Writing 218R class I took at BYU as a freshman. As a result, this post will be pretty long, so continue at your own risk. The piece deals with me trying to keep myself under an instructor-imposed word limit of 1500 while trying to be what at the time I thought was rather creative.
See if you can't figure out what the piece is actually about when you are finished, it shouldn't be too hard if you give it a little thought. So, join me after the jump.
That thought may still have some kind of merit if I was still actively writing new things to this day, but unfortunately a two year LDS mission to Ohio got in the way of that, and then I never managed to get back into the habit. I regularly kick myself in the metaphorical junk over it, I promise.
If I were to make a list of things I desperately want to accomplish someday, writing a book, or even a novella would be very, very near the top. But, being so out of practice makes me very hesitant to try and jump back into that world. Having a blog helps, but let's face it, that really isn't the same kind of writing.
Anyways, to get to the point, I dug out some of the few writing pieces I still have from my more youthful days and thought it might be fun to share some of them. So, today we'll start with a short piece I wrote for the Creative Writing 218R class I took at BYU as a freshman. As a result, this post will be pretty long, so continue at your own risk. The piece deals with me trying to keep myself under an instructor-imposed word limit of 1500 while trying to be what at the time I thought was rather creative.
See if you can't figure out what the piece is actually about when you are finished, it shouldn't be too hard if you give it a little thought. So, join me after the jump.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Welcome To My Reading List
One thing I've always loved doing since I was a little kid is reading. My parents instilled in all of their children a love of reading. Every birthday and Christmas we could bank on the fact that we would get at least some books, often a fairly decent stack of them, and during the summer months between school years going to the public library was a pretty regular occurrence.
Over the course of my life I've read a lot of books and in previous posts here I've made it pretty clear that I gravitate towards the science fiction and fantasy genre's. For a long time I was reading nothing but the Star Wars Expanded Universe, but then a few friends introduced me to things like BattleTech, Wheel of Time, and the Shannara books. These gave me plenty of things to read and re-read time and time again.
In the past couple of years I've wanted to expand my reading, but never really knew a good way to find new authors I might be interested in, or find other genre's I might enjoy as well. I thought that obtaining my Kindle a couple years ago would help with that, but I'll admit that while I've used the hell of it, its library is still filled with pretty much just science fiction and fantasy novels.
That's where this new page I spent all day yesterday working on comes into play. I've dubbed it my Kindle Reading List because every book on it is available on the Kindle which is pretty much the only way I read books now unless it happens to have been written by Brandon Sanderson. This reading list includes mostly science fiction and fantasy because that's what I love, but you'll notice a few entries for both modern fiction and classic fiction. I figured I would expand my horizons slowly at first, staying within the genre I love the most, but with new authors as well as re-reading some of my old favorites.
You'll also notice there is a page in the sidebar for the Star Wars Expanded Universe. I was going to include it in the main list, but there are far too many books for that, so I decided I would split it out to its own page. I am still working on the Expanded Universe list, but should have it finished in the next day or two in case anyone is interested.
My end goal is that these lists will help me to keep track of stuff I've always wanted to read as well as motivate me to read stuff I've never read before. Furthermore, I'm completely open to suggestions of books to read, and if you leave me a comment I'll be sure to give all suggestions a good hard look and add them to the list accordingly. Feel free to recommend as many as you want. I really want to have a massive list to pick from moving forward.
Over the course of my life I've read a lot of books and in previous posts here I've made it pretty clear that I gravitate towards the science fiction and fantasy genre's. For a long time I was reading nothing but the Star Wars Expanded Universe, but then a few friends introduced me to things like BattleTech, Wheel of Time, and the Shannara books. These gave me plenty of things to read and re-read time and time again.
In the past couple of years I've wanted to expand my reading, but never really knew a good way to find new authors I might be interested in, or find other genre's I might enjoy as well. I thought that obtaining my Kindle a couple years ago would help with that, but I'll admit that while I've used the hell of it, its library is still filled with pretty much just science fiction and fantasy novels.
That's where this new page I spent all day yesterday working on comes into play. I've dubbed it my Kindle Reading List because every book on it is available on the Kindle which is pretty much the only way I read books now unless it happens to have been written by Brandon Sanderson. This reading list includes mostly science fiction and fantasy because that's what I love, but you'll notice a few entries for both modern fiction and classic fiction. I figured I would expand my horizons slowly at first, staying within the genre I love the most, but with new authors as well as re-reading some of my old favorites.
You'll also notice there is a page in the sidebar for the Star Wars Expanded Universe. I was going to include it in the main list, but there are far too many books for that, so I decided I would split it out to its own page. I am still working on the Expanded Universe list, but should have it finished in the next day or two in case anyone is interested.
My end goal is that these lists will help me to keep track of stuff I've always wanted to read as well as motivate me to read stuff I've never read before. Furthermore, I'm completely open to suggestions of books to read, and if you leave me a comment I'll be sure to give all suggestions a good hard look and add them to the list accordingly. Feel free to recommend as many as you want. I really want to have a massive list to pick from moving forward.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Upcoming Movies I Really Want to See in Theaters
I'm a massive movie buff. I will watch just about anything as long as it isn't incredibly offensive or crazy. The other thing with me is that I absolutely love going to see movies in the theater. The big screen is where it's at for movies. If I was a millionaire tomorrow one of the first things I would do is find some way to procure or construct my very own private theater. One with actual full size movie screens, not some private screening room in a basement with a wall-sized projector.
If I never had to watch a movie again on anything other than in a theater I would be in heaven. Seriously. I'm not making this up. I love movies in the theater. Which, of course, means that 2012 is going to be a big and exciting year for me movie wise. This year is going to be huge for movie releases and I won't be surprised if several records are broken in the process.
While my list of movies I want to see is far longer than these few, here are the trailers for a couple I want to see in the next couple of months:
All three of these movies look awesome to me. I love movies with airplanes and dogfights, I'm a huge Gina Carano fan from her time on the American Gladiators reboot a couple years ago, and the John Carter movie just looks epic on the scale of something like Avatar in my opinion.
Cannot wait to see these!
If I never had to watch a movie again on anything other than in a theater I would be in heaven. Seriously. I'm not making this up. I love movies in the theater. Which, of course, means that 2012 is going to be a big and exciting year for me movie wise. This year is going to be huge for movie releases and I won't be surprised if several records are broken in the process.
While my list of movies I want to see is far longer than these few, here are the trailers for a couple I want to see in the next couple of months:
All three of these movies look awesome to me. I love movies with airplanes and dogfights, I'm a huge Gina Carano fan from her time on the American Gladiators reboot a couple years ago, and the John Carter movie just looks epic on the scale of something like Avatar in my opinion.
Cannot wait to see these!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Atlas Shrugged May Have to be the Next Book I Read
Except one. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
When I first met my wife, we went on five dates in six nights the week before winter break at BYU. On one of the last dates that week we went to the local Barnes & Noble bookstore because she wanted to show me some book known as the The Color Code and I needed to pick up something to read during the break while I was at home.
Long story short, I thought I would be pretty smooth and told her as we walked in to go get me a copy of a favorite book of hers. She did, and I bought it along with the book I was there for, promising to read it over the break so we could talk about it when I got back. In my mind it was a pretty slick way of setting myself up for another date when we both got back to campus.
The Fountainhead was pretty good. It's long as hell, but the story was pretty good, and I liked a couple of the characters a lot. Blah, blah, blah, we wound up married. Cool, eh?
Anyways, a few days ago, my wife and I went to the Redbox down the road and grabbed the Atlas Shrugged movie to watch. It's her favorite book of all time, hands down, and she was intrigued to see how the low-budget film that was released in 2011 stacked up as far as character depiction and so forth. I, having absolutely no clue what the book was about except that it involved trains in some fashion, had no sort of preconceived notions as to what was going to happen.
Yeah... shouldn't have watched that movie.
No, the movie wasn't horrible. As a matter of fact, as someone who had never read the book or had any idea what the story was about I was quite intrigued and enjoyed it far more than I was expecting to. The problem lies entirely in the fact that now I'm obsessing over two things:
Who the hell is John Galt?
What the hell does he have to do with Atlantis?
I'm not kidding. I've thought about it every single day since we watched that movie, and if I hadn't just started reading Fate of the Jedi: Conviction the day before I probably would have downloaded Atlas Shrugged to my Kindle immediately that evening. For all I know, the movie is completely off-track from the actual book. I won't allow my wife to tell me either way as I have a burning desire to discover for myself.
As a result, I did have plans to read the other Fate of the Jedi books and then finish the rest of the Millenium series books, but now those plans may have to change. My only hesitation is that Atlas Shrugged is long, and I worry I may lose myself in it if it really does have anything to do with Atlantis for some reason.
My wife should know better than to expose me to these things.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Finding a Laptop Bag is More Difficult Than I Want it to Be
I've had a laptop for a long time now. Ever since I started college to be exact. The problem is that I've never had a great bag to transport my laptop in. This is something that constantly eats at me for reasons I am completely unable to explain. Something about not having the perfect bag to carry my things to and from the office, or to and from campus in the past drives me up the wall.
What do I need from a laptop bag you ask? Not much to be honest. I need a nice safe pocket or slot to house my trusty 13" MacBook. On top of that, I need someplace in the bag to conveniently store my Kindle, my power cord to the laptop, and my wireless mouse. Beyond that the only other consideration I can think of would be to possibly have some sort of cell phone pocket or perhaps a place to store a generic type of notebook if I needed to.
See, not really all that much in the way of complexity, but to this day my efforts have been frustrated.
Working in an office environment has led me to feeling that I need to appear a little more "grown up" if you will. Whether or not that is really all that important is debatable, but I feel like using the same backpack that I used to go to class at BYU leaves me stuck behind in the not-so-grown up world I wish to leave behind.
I've looked at a lot of bags, but they all seem to have far more pockets and hidden areas than I need, or they are all shoulder bag style, or look far to "trendy" and "hip" for my taste. I want something that feels like a sort of casual briefcase without looking like I'm being pretentious if that makes any sense.
The search continues, and someday I will be successful, it is just taking a really, really long time. Finding a bag is not something I'll allow myself to simply do online looking at pictures. I need to pick it up, give it a look, and fall in love with it. Otherwise I'm positive I'll just be frustrated by what shows up in the mail when the order arrives.
Of course, the problem with that is there aren't many places that have much of a selection on hand for me to look at in the store.
What do I need from a laptop bag you ask? Not much to be honest. I need a nice safe pocket or slot to house my trusty 13" MacBook. On top of that, I need someplace in the bag to conveniently store my Kindle, my power cord to the laptop, and my wireless mouse. Beyond that the only other consideration I can think of would be to possibly have some sort of cell phone pocket or perhaps a place to store a generic type of notebook if I needed to.
See, not really all that much in the way of complexity, but to this day my efforts have been frustrated.
Working in an office environment has led me to feeling that I need to appear a little more "grown up" if you will. Whether or not that is really all that important is debatable, but I feel like using the same backpack that I used to go to class at BYU leaves me stuck behind in the not-so-grown up world I wish to leave behind.
I've looked at a lot of bags, but they all seem to have far more pockets and hidden areas than I need, or they are all shoulder bag style, or look far to "trendy" and "hip" for my taste. I want something that feels like a sort of casual briefcase without looking like I'm being pretentious if that makes any sense.
The search continues, and someday I will be successful, it is just taking a really, really long time. Finding a bag is not something I'll allow myself to simply do online looking at pictures. I need to pick it up, give it a look, and fall in love with it. Otherwise I'm positive I'll just be frustrated by what shows up in the mail when the order arrives.
Of course, the problem with that is there aren't many places that have much of a selection on hand for me to look at in the store.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
57% Finished With "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," and Loving Every Bit
There has been a lot of buzz in the blogosphere and entertainment news outlets about the recently released movie entitled The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Since seeing the first previews a few months back I have been trying to decide if I wanted to see the movie in theaters, or wait a little longer and grab it from the local Redbox at some point.
Normally, if a movie looks like it is probably going to be pretty good I will just go see it in the theater, but this one has had some interesting news surrounding it. According to internet rumor, the movie originally received an NC-17 rating, which while I'm definitely not opposed to seeing R rated movies, NC-17 is pushing it even for me, and I likely would never have seen it if that were the case. The reasoning behind the first rating was apparently due to a specific rape scene found in the book, which has a pretty dramatic impact on the story as a whole.
So, instead of going to see the movie when it first came out, I figured I would read the book it is based upon first, and then make my decision. I grabbed the Kindle version of the text with some money from a gift card I received for Christmas and have been working my way through it ever since. I've been reading for about four days now, and while the story started a little bit slow and took a little getting used to it has begun to pick up quite a bit.
Stieg Larsson, the author, has a very interesting way of telling his story. The prose isn't quite like anything I've read before given my background in science fiction and fantasy novels, but despite that I've found that I'm riveted. The easiest way to explain the prose is to imagine someone is trying to tell you a very, very good story, but is doing so while trying to read you an essay at the same time. It's quite fascinating really. The dialogue between characters is minimal at best, and the type of prose I'm used to where the author depicts the various actions of the characters from moment to moment seems almost nonexistent, but I have yet to feel like anything is being left out.
It's definitely a writing style that is different from most, and the only way to appreciate it would be to read it for yourself, which I highly recommend, and I haven't even finished the book yet.
At some point I knew I was going to reach the rape scene that has caused so much conversation about the movie, and when I did it was pretty tame to be honest. Not that rape is a "tame" thing in any fashion, but as far as the depiction of what was happening is concerned it was done in a very non-graphic manner that said just enough to make it clear what was happening, but never crossed the line into making the reader uncomfortable. In fact, I happen to know some fairly innocent minded folks who tend to shy away from books and movies that depict anything remotely taboo and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the book to any of them.
As a result, I think I will see the movie whenever I have the chance, but I probably won't rush it. Right now the book has me hooked well enough that when I get it finished (probably in the next day or so) I will likely jump directly into the second book of the series before I do anything else.
It isn't often that I stray from my science fiction/fantasy background for pleasure reading, but I'm glad I did this time because the result has been extremely good.
Normally, if a movie looks like it is probably going to be pretty good I will just go see it in the theater, but this one has had some interesting news surrounding it. According to internet rumor, the movie originally received an NC-17 rating, which while I'm definitely not opposed to seeing R rated movies, NC-17 is pushing it even for me, and I likely would never have seen it if that were the case. The reasoning behind the first rating was apparently due to a specific rape scene found in the book, which has a pretty dramatic impact on the story as a whole.
So, instead of going to see the movie when it first came out, I figured I would read the book it is based upon first, and then make my decision. I grabbed the Kindle version of the text with some money from a gift card I received for Christmas and have been working my way through it ever since. I've been reading for about four days now, and while the story started a little bit slow and took a little getting used to it has begun to pick up quite a bit.
Stieg Larsson, the author, has a very interesting way of telling his story. The prose isn't quite like anything I've read before given my background in science fiction and fantasy novels, but despite that I've found that I'm riveted. The easiest way to explain the prose is to imagine someone is trying to tell you a very, very good story, but is doing so while trying to read you an essay at the same time. It's quite fascinating really. The dialogue between characters is minimal at best, and the type of prose I'm used to where the author depicts the various actions of the characters from moment to moment seems almost nonexistent, but I have yet to feel like anything is being left out.
It's definitely a writing style that is different from most, and the only way to appreciate it would be to read it for yourself, which I highly recommend, and I haven't even finished the book yet.
At some point I knew I was going to reach the rape scene that has caused so much conversation about the movie, and when I did it was pretty tame to be honest. Not that rape is a "tame" thing in any fashion, but as far as the depiction of what was happening is concerned it was done in a very non-graphic manner that said just enough to make it clear what was happening, but never crossed the line into making the reader uncomfortable. In fact, I happen to know some fairly innocent minded folks who tend to shy away from books and movies that depict anything remotely taboo and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the book to any of them.
As a result, I think I will see the movie whenever I have the chance, but I probably won't rush it. Right now the book has me hooked well enough that when I get it finished (probably in the next day or so) I will likely jump directly into the second book of the series before I do anything else.
It isn't often that I stray from my science fiction/fantasy background for pleasure reading, but I'm glad I did this time because the result has been extremely good.
Monday, January 9, 2012
I Subscribed to My First Podcast Ever Today
I've been a consumer of Apple products for a long time. My laptop is a Mac, my wife has a Mac, I use a Mac at work, etc. We've had several iterations of the iPod in our home and someday I'll probably own an iPad of some sort whenever the time is right.
One thing that came about with the invasion of the iPod into modern culture was the podcast. A short (or sometimes long) recorded broadcast on whatever topic you can possible imagine thinking up, and then you can make them available to anyone in the world at the push of a button. Things started out slow for the podcast community, but quickly picked up steam and now it seems like every outlet in the world has some sort of podcast version available for user consumption.
Podcasts have always seemed pretty cool to me, I tend to listen to the Extra Hot Great podcast a lot of the time with my wife in the evenings while adventuring around Azeroth while she folds the laundry, but I've never subscribed to a specific podcast to listen to myself.
Until today that is. Today I finally got around to subscribing to the ESPN First Take podcast on my iTunes so I can listen to it each day. I'm a big fan of sports analyst Skip Bayless, and I figured it might be nice to mix things up at the office a bit each day by having it available to enjoy. It's an easy way to get some up to date sports news without trying too hard.
Wish me luck in my podcast listening, who knows, maybe I'll subscribe to another one someday.
One thing that came about with the invasion of the iPod into modern culture was the podcast. A short (or sometimes long) recorded broadcast on whatever topic you can possible imagine thinking up, and then you can make them available to anyone in the world at the push of a button. Things started out slow for the podcast community, but quickly picked up steam and now it seems like every outlet in the world has some sort of podcast version available for user consumption.
Podcasts have always seemed pretty cool to me, I tend to listen to the Extra Hot Great podcast a lot of the time with my wife in the evenings while adventuring around Azeroth while she folds the laundry, but I've never subscribed to a specific podcast to listen to myself.
Until today that is. Today I finally got around to subscribing to the ESPN First Take podcast on my iTunes so I can listen to it each day. I'm a big fan of sports analyst Skip Bayless, and I figured it might be nice to mix things up at the office a bit each day by having it available to enjoy. It's an easy way to get some up to date sports news without trying too hard.
Wish me luck in my podcast listening, who knows, maybe I'll subscribe to another one someday.
Friday, January 6, 2012
5 Songs I've Had on Repeat This Month While Working
Working as a web developer means you spend a lot of time alone. Well, it means you spend a lot of time in your own little world concentrating on all the numbers, letters, and symbols that make the internet work for most people. As a result, just about every web developer I've ever met constantly has a set of headphones jacked into their iPod, laptop, or work computer listening to music, watching videos, or just blocking out the white noise of the office.
I'm no exception, and because I still to this day haven't found a way to convince myself that listening to podcasts is a viable way of entertaining myself I tend to listen to music while I'm coding, and watch Netflix or DVDs while I have downtime.
So, today I'd like to share five of the songs I've been listening to on repeat in my Work Mix for the past few weeks:
I'm one of those people who tends to find individual songs that they like and then listen to them in small groups over and over for a few weeks to months at a time until I happen across something new that piques my interest.
Of course, that means that sometimes I know words to songs I never thought I would know. Especially when the songs are sometimes a little risque and I only really listen to them because I think the hook is pretty cool.
Cue my wife shaking her head in dismay and confusion.
I'm no exception, and because I still to this day haven't found a way to convince myself that listening to podcasts is a viable way of entertaining myself I tend to listen to music while I'm coding, and watch Netflix or DVDs while I have downtime.
So, today I'd like to share five of the songs I've been listening to on repeat in my Work Mix for the past few weeks:
I'm one of those people who tends to find individual songs that they like and then listen to them in small groups over and over for a few weeks to months at a time until I happen across something new that piques my interest.
Of course, that means that sometimes I know words to songs I never thought I would know. Especially when the songs are sometimes a little risque and I only really listen to them because I think the hook is pretty cool.
Cue my wife shaking her head in dismay and confusion.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
A Few Books I'll Read This Year
Yesterday in my post regarding some of the things I might like to try and do this year I mentioned wanting to read a lot of books. Well, I did some thinking last night and I think I've got a pretty decent list to start with that should keep me going for the first couple months at least. Thought I would share them with you in case anyone else was looking for some ideas on what to read, or wanted to make some suggestions themselves in the comments.
SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
Obviously, since I do tend to read books mostly from this genre, there is going to be a fair amount of them that I read over the course of the year, but I figured I would start with these:
Fate of the Jedi: Conviction by Aaron Allston
Fate of the Jedi: Ascension by Christie Golden
Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse by Troy Denning
X-Wing: Mercy Kill by Aaron Allston
A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
(no link available at this time)
The three books from the Fate of the Jedi series are the final ones in a story arc I haven't gotten around to reading yet. They go pretty quick for me, but the story is pretty good and I've read all of the other Star Wars Expanded Universe stuff since I was a teenager. The new X-wing book is one I just discovered today on Amazon, and it comes out in August. There is no way I'm going to miss that book since those books were my favorite of all-time when I first started reading the Expanded Universe.
The last Wheel of Time book comes out sometime this year by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson and you better believe I will be secluding myself in a closet somewhere and not emerging until it is finished.
POPULAR FICTION
I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what to call this category. It's supposed to be books that are currently popular in today's world. You know, the stuff you hear people talking about at the water cooler in the office, or the stuff those strange lunch-time reading groups like to read. I'll just go with popular fiction, it seems to fit alright I guess.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
THE CLASSICS
I really do need to read more of the novels from days gone by that people seem to think are important. There are an awful lot of them, but I may only work in a couple this year because they tend to be a little to deep-thinking in nature for me.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
My wife is in love with Atlas Shrugged, and I may have possibly read The Fountainhead to impress her at some early stage of our dating history. I figure if I can make it through one Ayn Rand book I can likely make it through another. As for the other two, well, you can't blame me for targeting the classics that are more adventurous for my first foray into the genre now can you?
And of course, all of these books will be read on my trusty Kindle, which has brought me much enjoyment over the past two years. Seriously, if you don't have a Kindle and you do a lot of reading you are doing yourself a major disservice.
SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
Obviously, since I do tend to read books mostly from this genre, there is going to be a fair amount of them that I read over the course of the year, but I figured I would start with these:
Fate of the Jedi: Conviction by Aaron Allston
Fate of the Jedi: Ascension by Christie Golden
Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse by Troy Denning
X-Wing: Mercy Kill by Aaron Allston
A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
(no link available at this time)
The three books from the Fate of the Jedi series are the final ones in a story arc I haven't gotten around to reading yet. They go pretty quick for me, but the story is pretty good and I've read all of the other Star Wars Expanded Universe stuff since I was a teenager. The new X-wing book is one I just discovered today on Amazon, and it comes out in August. There is no way I'm going to miss that book since those books were my favorite of all-time when I first started reading the Expanded Universe.
The last Wheel of Time book comes out sometime this year by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson and you better believe I will be secluding myself in a closet somewhere and not emerging until it is finished.
POPULAR FICTION
I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what to call this category. It's supposed to be books that are currently popular in today's world. You know, the stuff you hear people talking about at the water cooler in the office, or the stuff those strange lunch-time reading groups like to read. I'll just go with popular fiction, it seems to fit alright I guess.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
THE CLASSICS
I really do need to read more of the novels from days gone by that people seem to think are important. There are an awful lot of them, but I may only work in a couple this year because they tend to be a little to deep-thinking in nature for me.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
My wife is in love with Atlas Shrugged, and I may have possibly read The Fountainhead to impress her at some early stage of our dating history. I figure if I can make it through one Ayn Rand book I can likely make it through another. As for the other two, well, you can't blame me for targeting the classics that are more adventurous for my first foray into the genre now can you?
And of course, all of these books will be read on my trusty Kindle, which has brought me much enjoyment over the past two years. Seriously, if you don't have a Kindle and you do a lot of reading you are doing yourself a major disservice.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Things I Might Do in 2012. They Aren't Resolutions Though.
It's a new year, which means new goals, resolutions, or whatever you want to call them. It's a fad sort of thing in my opinion. Everyone feels obligated to make all sorts of grand promises to themselves, sometimes doable, sometimes not, and everyone at some point during the year feels a bit ashamed of themselves for not realizing the full potential of said declarations.
So, this year, I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to make a list of things I would like to see myself do in 2012, but I'm not setting myself up by saying that these are "goals" or "resolutions" of any kind. They are simply things I would like to work towards, and if I don't get them all done, I'll be honest, I probably won't worry about it.
Buy a Suit and Wear It Regularly
I haven't owned an actual suit in a long time. I had one during my two-year mission to Ohio, and I had one for a little while after I got home and returned to BYU, but after getting married and putting on a few pounds I couldn't fit into it anymore, so I just didn't bother wearing it. Instead I went with nice dress slacks and a white shirt and tie, sometimes accompanied by a rather dapper sweater vest, but never a suit coat anymore. I think I've finally gotten to the point about five years later that I would like to own a suit again, not some $700 monstrosity, but perhaps a nice $200 one that is tailored to fit nicely on my sexy mountain man frame.
It would be nice to wear it to church instead of my current approach. I guess I think it would make me feel a little more grown-up to be in a suit coat again instead of a sweater vest.
Stop Using a Backpack to Go to Work
This is one of those things I'd like to do because it makes me feel like I'm still stuck in college, or that I'm some sort of intern to be coming to the office each day with a backpack over my shoulder carrying my laptop, Kindle, and other assorted goodies. What will I replace my backpack with? I'm not entirely sure because shopping for bags is a lot more difficult than you might think. There aren't many stores where you can just go in and browse different laptop bags or briefcases. Most of the shopping has to be done online, and I'll admit to being rather wary of wanting to purchase something like a bag when all I can do is look at the picture before paying.
Ultimately, I'm pretty sure I don't want a hard case type of briefcase like you see lawyers and so forth carrying into court. That is almost assuredly far too formal for my work environment, so what I'm thinking is probably some sort of a professional looking laptop bag that isn't too bulky or overly complex. I just need to carry my laptop, wireless mouse, power cord, and my Kindle. That's it. Maybe some papers from time to time. Oddly, it's much more difficult to find something to fit my needs than I ever thought it would be.
Build a Website That Isn't Work Related
Last year I had grand plans to build the greatest website ever known to man for amateur writers and provide a way for them to share their work and get great feedback from their peers. I had all sorts of ideas in my head, I had talked to my brother-in-law on how to approach the project and then I discovered this. Someone had beaten me to the punch. My dreams were ruined!
Well, not really ruined, but I was pretty bummed about it for a few days. Guess that's what I get for not being very proactive in actually making the idea happen in the first place. This year, my plan is to get on board the whole "Christmas Newsletter" bandwagon that is prevalent in human culture for whatever reason, only I'm going to do it better than everyone else. I'm going to make a website, and then in our Christmas cards I'll send a note with the link and everyone will see fancy photo galleries, videos, updates, etc. Trust me, it's going to be great and everyone is going to be incredibly jealous for the rest of their lives.
Establish Myself as a Blogger
My wife has already got this on lockdown with her modest following surrounding her blog, and I'm pretty sure she'll probably top 100 or more regular subscribers by the end of this year, if not more. I on the other had have always had big dreams of blogging regularly, but I've never followed through.
This year I'd like to work towards hitting 100 posts on 2412 for the entirety of the year. That's what, twice a week or so? I can do that I think. Writing is something I've always enjoyed, but ever since leaving high school I've never found the time to make it happen. Perhaps this year can be the year I find a little more balance in my free time and spend a bit less time gaming in Azeroth and a little bit of time writing down some thoughts. How cool would it be if I had 50 subscribers like my wife at some point?
Well, if I did I might wonder about the sanity of the human race.
Spend Less Time Sitting on the Couch
I'll be honest. I spend a lot of time sitting and a lot of that time sitting on the couch at home. Now, this isn't because there isn't anywhere else to sit, or because of any negative influences, but rather because we live in a modest apartment and the kids like to play in the living room, so the couch it is.
Problem is, lately I've been feeling a lot like I spend all of my waking hours in two places: my desk chair at the office and the couch in the living room. I sleep in the bed, take a shower in the bathroom, and that's about it. So, I'd like to vary my locations a bit more. Spend a little more time sitting in my comfortable desk chair at home at my desk instead of with my laptop on my lap on the couch, perhaps do a little bit of work on the treadmills over in the recreation room in the mornings before work. Sit at the kitchen table for various activities, that sort of thing.
I'm not talking about taking wild trips, or moving, or anything. Just varying my static location a bit more so I don't feel like I live in the same spot all the time.
Save Up for Something Completely Gratuitous and 100% Awesome in Nature
What this thing might be, I'm not sure. Maybe a shiny new super-powered laptop. Maybe a desktop computer built from scratch for playing my games, maybe a new updated Kindle, maybe a trip to Oklahoma, or perhaps some random item I haven't discovered yet. Regardless, I want to save up for something that is all mine, all fun, and all gratuitous.
Why? No real reason other than I haven't had something super, super awesome to look forward to actually saving up and earning over a long time in a very long while and I feel like that kind of excitement in life would do me good in life. I'll probably use a salsa jar to save in.
Read 50 or More Books
I have a Kindle. It's awesome. All of you should be so jealous it makes your body hurt. However, despite having this Kindle, I've never actually managed to meet my dream of reading at a rate of one book per week. Where this dream came from I'm not sure, but I still think it's a cool dream.
To go along with this I think I want to branch out in my reading a little more and break away from reading almost exclusively science-fiction and fantasy novels. I love them, I really do, but I also sometimes feel like I've stunted myself by reading nothing but them for so long. I'm thinking I could mix in a few classics, perhaps some current popular fiction, and then branch out into some new authors in the science-fiction and fantasy scene as well.
So, this year, I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to make a list of things I would like to see myself do in 2012, but I'm not setting myself up by saying that these are "goals" or "resolutions" of any kind. They are simply things I would like to work towards, and if I don't get them all done, I'll be honest, I probably won't worry about it.
Buy a Suit and Wear It Regularly
I haven't owned an actual suit in a long time. I had one during my two-year mission to Ohio, and I had one for a little while after I got home and returned to BYU, but after getting married and putting on a few pounds I couldn't fit into it anymore, so I just didn't bother wearing it. Instead I went with nice dress slacks and a white shirt and tie, sometimes accompanied by a rather dapper sweater vest, but never a suit coat anymore. I think I've finally gotten to the point about five years later that I would like to own a suit again, not some $700 monstrosity, but perhaps a nice $200 one that is tailored to fit nicely on my sexy mountain man frame.
It would be nice to wear it to church instead of my current approach. I guess I think it would make me feel a little more grown-up to be in a suit coat again instead of a sweater vest.
Stop Using a Backpack to Go to Work
This is one of those things I'd like to do because it makes me feel like I'm still stuck in college, or that I'm some sort of intern to be coming to the office each day with a backpack over my shoulder carrying my laptop, Kindle, and other assorted goodies. What will I replace my backpack with? I'm not entirely sure because shopping for bags is a lot more difficult than you might think. There aren't many stores where you can just go in and browse different laptop bags or briefcases. Most of the shopping has to be done online, and I'll admit to being rather wary of wanting to purchase something like a bag when all I can do is look at the picture before paying.
Ultimately, I'm pretty sure I don't want a hard case type of briefcase like you see lawyers and so forth carrying into court. That is almost assuredly far too formal for my work environment, so what I'm thinking is probably some sort of a professional looking laptop bag that isn't too bulky or overly complex. I just need to carry my laptop, wireless mouse, power cord, and my Kindle. That's it. Maybe some papers from time to time. Oddly, it's much more difficult to find something to fit my needs than I ever thought it would be.
Build a Website That Isn't Work Related
Last year I had grand plans to build the greatest website ever known to man for amateur writers and provide a way for them to share their work and get great feedback from their peers. I had all sorts of ideas in my head, I had talked to my brother-in-law on how to approach the project and then I discovered this. Someone had beaten me to the punch. My dreams were ruined!
Well, not really ruined, but I was pretty bummed about it for a few days. Guess that's what I get for not being very proactive in actually making the idea happen in the first place. This year, my plan is to get on board the whole "Christmas Newsletter" bandwagon that is prevalent in human culture for whatever reason, only I'm going to do it better than everyone else. I'm going to make a website, and then in our Christmas cards I'll send a note with the link and everyone will see fancy photo galleries, videos, updates, etc. Trust me, it's going to be great and everyone is going to be incredibly jealous for the rest of their lives.
Establish Myself as a Blogger
My wife has already got this on lockdown with her modest following surrounding her blog, and I'm pretty sure she'll probably top 100 or more regular subscribers by the end of this year, if not more. I on the other had have always had big dreams of blogging regularly, but I've never followed through.
This year I'd like to work towards hitting 100 posts on 2412 for the entirety of the year. That's what, twice a week or so? I can do that I think. Writing is something I've always enjoyed, but ever since leaving high school I've never found the time to make it happen. Perhaps this year can be the year I find a little more balance in my free time and spend a bit less time gaming in Azeroth and a little bit of time writing down some thoughts. How cool would it be if I had 50 subscribers like my wife at some point?
Well, if I did I might wonder about the sanity of the human race.
Spend Less Time Sitting on the Couch
I'll be honest. I spend a lot of time sitting and a lot of that time sitting on the couch at home. Now, this isn't because there isn't anywhere else to sit, or because of any negative influences, but rather because we live in a modest apartment and the kids like to play in the living room, so the couch it is.
Problem is, lately I've been feeling a lot like I spend all of my waking hours in two places: my desk chair at the office and the couch in the living room. I sleep in the bed, take a shower in the bathroom, and that's about it. So, I'd like to vary my locations a bit more. Spend a little more time sitting in my comfortable desk chair at home at my desk instead of with my laptop on my lap on the couch, perhaps do a little bit of work on the treadmills over in the recreation room in the mornings before work. Sit at the kitchen table for various activities, that sort of thing.
I'm not talking about taking wild trips, or moving, or anything. Just varying my static location a bit more so I don't feel like I live in the same spot all the time.
Save Up for Something Completely Gratuitous and 100% Awesome in Nature
What this thing might be, I'm not sure. Maybe a shiny new super-powered laptop. Maybe a desktop computer built from scratch for playing my games, maybe a new updated Kindle, maybe a trip to Oklahoma, or perhaps some random item I haven't discovered yet. Regardless, I want to save up for something that is all mine, all fun, and all gratuitous.
Why? No real reason other than I haven't had something super, super awesome to look forward to actually saving up and earning over a long time in a very long while and I feel like that kind of excitement in life would do me good in life. I'll probably use a salsa jar to save in.
Read 50 or More Books
I have a Kindle. It's awesome. All of you should be so jealous it makes your body hurt. However, despite having this Kindle, I've never actually managed to meet my dream of reading at a rate of one book per week. Where this dream came from I'm not sure, but I still think it's a cool dream.
To go along with this I think I want to branch out in my reading a little more and break away from reading almost exclusively science-fiction and fantasy novels. I love them, I really do, but I also sometimes feel like I've stunted myself by reading nothing but them for so long. I'm thinking I could mix in a few classics, perhaps some current popular fiction, and then branch out into some new authors in the science-fiction and fantasy scene as well.
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