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24 Jun 07 – 24 Jun 07
A few months ago, I wrote up a Renewal Investment Plan (or R.I.P, ha ha). It's a list of significant things I want to accomplish in the next three months. I'm at the end of the quarter, so it's time to review.
Three new skills:
- Drawing heads/profiles, to prepare for my next comic. Done.
- Cooking pasta to al dente every time, no matter the shape. Done.
- Reading and practicing Japanese. Not as often as I'd like, but better than before.
Thirty new people to meet:
- Join Toastmasters. Complete failure.
- Keep in touch with students in my Web Design class. Complete failure.
- Go out on ten dates. I only did two.
Three new major projects:
- Kickstart Project Omega, the game my co-workers and I are designing. Done.
- The Garden Redevelopment Project. This included building a bunch of planters, repainting the fence, and laying down several truckloads of mulch. Done.
- Giant Armors written. Done (wrote the last bit this morning).
One new thing for the resume:
- Firestorm, my side-scrolling shooter for Syllable. Done.
So. I did terribly at meeting new people, which is typical for me. But that's fine. I now know how I did, and can work on that for my next R.I.P.
If nothing else, this has been a great way to keep me in touch with my bigger life goals, the stuff beyond the day-to-day projects that will make me a more interesting, well-rounded person.
23 Jun 07 – 23 Jun 07
Today is Make Day. Thanks to a post on the Accidental Creative blog, I reserved today just to make stuff (and plan to schedule a new one every month).
One of the results: check_syntax, a script that will check the syntax of whatever source code file you give it. Currently supports C, C++, PHP, Perl, Python, and common Unix shells (bash, sh, csh, and tcsh).
22 Jun 07 – 22 Jun 07
Are you an artist?
We're all capable of producing art. Many people compare themselves to world-class art. They look at their drawing or their story or their song, and they see that it's not as good as the artists they see in galleries or read in books or hear on the radio.
But if your goal is to be a world-class artist, isn't that a hollow goal? It might get you there, but you'll never be happy until you are there, and when you're finally there, then what?
Why not just create art? Whatever art you want to.
20 Jun 07 – 20 Jun 07
Things are usually a lot easier than they seem.
I've been stressing out over a project at work. An influential person needed some data from me, and I had to provide it by the end of today.
But it was easy. It wasn't all easy, but my worries didn't lessen the difficulty. I could have spent the last few days enjoying the challenge instead of worrying about it.
2 Jun 07 – 2 Jun 07
You don't get credit for the small stuff.
Mowing the lawn. Cleaning up. Replying to emails. Balancing your budget. Nobody's going to come up and thank you for doing the small stuff.
I'm thirty years old, and I've just realized this. Internalizing it has changed me, for the better. I don't resent the small stuff. I don't get fed up with it. I just get on with it.
And I think that's good.