Goals:
Physical: Lose 40 lbs. Actually lost 15lbs. Not terrible, but not a complete success either.
Exercise: I have started exercising more, but I'm not currently doing an aerobic exercise.
Mental: I managed to read 3 non fiction books (not including text books). Moderate success. I can do better.
I passed all my graduate courses. Success.
Spiritual: I have begun to define my beliefs and my cosmology. Success.
Scripture study: Moderate, but that's where I want it to be right now. Success.
Writing: Outlined in the writing blog.
Film: 1 Film per year? No film. We've got a kick ass camera+microphone+course to know how to use microphone but no editing software. Partial Success.
Invention: I studied multiple patents and helped Skip. Slight success.
Economic: I still have my job. Jennifer has her job. We've managed to get a slight amount paid down on the credit card and avoid multiple myriad would be disasters. Success.
Friends: Occasional strains (politics) but generally still strong. Success.
Family: Occasional strains that were resolved. Previous two family gatherings were extremely positive and uplifting for all. Resounding success.
Children-Trying but not confirmed. Moderate success.
Broad Life Experiences/Memories:
Trip to Ireland.
Trip to Washington D.C.
Dragoncon 2008
Volunteered for a Political Campaign
Successfully created at least one decent role playing game supplement with decent writing and decent Art (Life Goal)
Created an epic poem for Podcast
General assessment: Success with room for improvement.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Life
Well it has been a busy couple of weeks. Starting with the most recent occurrences and working backwards:
*We saw "Marley and Me" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" over the weekend in a crazy psycho double feature back to back. Jennifer liked Marley better and I liked Curious better. We both liked both.
We are currently watching Lost and Season 4 of La Femme Nikkita. Lost is in Season 2 and excellent. La Femme Nikita....isn't so good any more. The characters are predictable and stale, and the plot seems to recycle through the same several bits over and over again. I just want it to end, but Jennifer wants to watch it out until the last few episodes of Season 5. 5 More discs to go.
*We did a lot of clean up over the weekend putting Christmas decorations away. Jennifer has acrued a rather impressive array of Christmas Character decorations including Spiderman, Peanuts, Disney, Pooh and a few minor abominations (Bratz, Cabbage Things etc). But for the most part it looks pretty cool.
*Listening to a book called Anathem by Neal Stephson. Its....complicated, but if you like Math or weirdness it is very educational. Its a book I might recommend if you liked 'The DaVinci Code'. It has a plot but it also conveys interesting things about math etc, though in a weird way.
*Trip home from Jenny's Wedding went OK. Broke it up over two days. We greatly enjoyed spending time with the whole family there and it was a shame we weren't able to spend more time with everyone.
*We saw "Marley and Me" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" over the weekend in a crazy psycho double feature back to back. Jennifer liked Marley better and I liked Curious better. We both liked both.
We are currently watching Lost and Season 4 of La Femme Nikkita. Lost is in Season 2 and excellent. La Femme Nikita....isn't so good any more. The characters are predictable and stale, and the plot seems to recycle through the same several bits over and over again. I just want it to end, but Jennifer wants to watch it out until the last few episodes of Season 5. 5 More discs to go.
*We did a lot of clean up over the weekend putting Christmas decorations away. Jennifer has acrued a rather impressive array of Christmas Character decorations including Spiderman, Peanuts, Disney, Pooh and a few minor abominations (Bratz, Cabbage Things etc). But for the most part it looks pretty cool.
*Listening to a book called Anathem by Neal Stephson. Its....complicated, but if you like Math or weirdness it is very educational. Its a book I might recommend if you liked 'The DaVinci Code'. It has a plot but it also conveys interesting things about math etc, though in a weird way.
*Trip home from Jenny's Wedding went OK. Broke it up over two days. We greatly enjoyed spending time with the whole family there and it was a shame we weren't able to spend more time with everyone.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
To Pass The UnPassable Class
Let me tell you why I love my wife.
Aside from being beautiful, sexy, smart, cool and the best friend I ever had, she also opens doors when there are no doors.
For three days I sat trying to figure out the @#$@#$#@ dream weaver program. I couldn't do it. It was, literally, impossible for me to do it. Finally after ranting out tirades like a lunatic, Jennifer didn't yell back, she just calmly picked up the book and showed me what I needed to do.
Without her, I would not have passed this class. If Jennifer had been there when I was in Grad School, I would have a degree in Molecular Biology.
Because of her, I will (probably since I still have two classes left) have a masters in science in project management.
Aside from being beautiful, sexy, smart, cool and the best friend I ever had, she also opens doors when there are no doors.
For three days I sat trying to figure out the @#$@#$#@ dream weaver program. I couldn't do it. It was, literally, impossible for me to do it. Finally after ranting out tirades like a lunatic, Jennifer didn't yell back, she just calmly picked up the book and showed me what I needed to do.
Without her, I would not have passed this class. If Jennifer had been there when I was in Grad School, I would have a degree in Molecular Biology.
Because of her, I will (probably since I still have two classes left) have a masters in science in project management.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Epic Movies and Such
The weekend before last on our date we saw Australia. If you like Casablanca or the old thirties style movies, you'd definitely like this. Also we are both fans of Hugh Jackson and Nichole Kidman. Of course it has 3 endings like Hook but some people like Hook....
We both liked Australia a lot.
The last weekend we rented "The Great Dictator" which was.....um......well Mr. Chaplin is still a very good actor when he speaks. Its a shame he didn't take off in the 'talkies' because he was quite good. His writing and directorial skills....not so much. But the speech at the end was pretty cool, especially when you realize it was given two years before WWII. Probably not something I'd recommend though.
We got much Christmas stuff done. Not all of it but most of it.
We both liked Australia a lot.
The last weekend we rented "The Great Dictator" which was.....um......well Mr. Chaplin is still a very good actor when he speaks. Its a shame he didn't take off in the 'talkies' because he was quite good. His writing and directorial skills....not so much. But the speech at the end was pretty cool, especially when you realize it was given two years before WWII. Probably not something I'd recommend though.
We got much Christmas stuff done. Not all of it but most of it.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thanksgiving
We spent it with family and it was a lovely dinner. No major drama, no headaches and the food was all most excellent. We watched "Stephen Colbert's Greatest Gift of All" and "Stardust." Grandma Lawson, Mom, Skip, Julie, Jennifer and I were all there. We played some games Friday night and had a lot of fun.
Jennifer and I got a lot done on the weekend. We removed the annoying air conditioner that was there when we bought the house and finally got the window closed. We also found the heating vent under the bed and opened it.
School is....well. How would you like to start a totally new blog, learn Dream Weaver, Design two web pages, study a 1000 page text book, join second life and surf around and perform a weekly bulletin board class plus a weekly paper. I am quite sure there are worse classes out there. Indeed, my fear of mutagenic chemicals was higher with biochemistry back at BYU...but honestly....this class is insane. Especially since the worst part was that once I finally had the pages done (Jennifer's advice was absolutely invaluable with this. She is far more technical minded than I) I had to upload the pages and there were almost no directions on how to do so.
Nightmarish.
Jennifer and I got a lot done on the weekend. We removed the annoying air conditioner that was there when we bought the house and finally got the window closed. We also found the heating vent under the bed and opened it.
School is....well. How would you like to start a totally new blog, learn Dream Weaver, Design two web pages, study a 1000 page text book, join second life and surf around and perform a weekly bulletin board class plus a weekly paper. I am quite sure there are worse classes out there. Indeed, my fear of mutagenic chemicals was higher with biochemistry back at BYU...but honestly....this class is insane. Especially since the worst part was that once I finally had the pages done (Jennifer's advice was absolutely invaluable with this. She is far more technical minded than I) I had to upload the pages and there were almost no directions on how to do so.
Nightmarish.
Monday, November 24, 2008
The Murder Mystery Went Well
4 couples on Saturday night. The murder mystery was pretty simple. Every person had a little booklet with lines that they read. Jennifer cooked an absolutely awesome dinner including potatoes, mango chicken and little cheese pastry things with a tart. It took three loads of dishes in the dishwasher to clean up after it all though. But we're all enjoying a very clean house. :)
Russel had to leave early because he was mildly ill, but he seems to be better now. Everyone had a really great time and it was all largely stress and drama free, so who could ask for anything more? :)
Russel had to leave early because he was mildly ill, but he seems to be better now. Everyone had a really great time and it was all largely stress and drama free, so who could ask for anything more? :)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Sick. Better.
Jennifer, myself, Mom, Skip and Julie all celebrated Grandma's birthday (she's 88!) last Saturday. We ate at a vegetarian restaurant called the Green Sprout, which was quite nice. We then went to Mom and Skip's house and watched 'Underdog' which is moderately cute, but awesomeness if you're a dog fan (like other members of the family and Jennifer.)
I was sick most of Friday. I was better by the time Saturday came around but I wasn't really back up to full mental capacity until Sunday. This class will indeed be a challenge. 1000 page text bok and about 150 pages of online lecture notes for the final in 3 1/2 weeks. The secret here is going to be figuring out what to study, because cramming all of it into my brain in that amount of time ON TOP of the class work load is essentially impossible.
Otherwise, things go well.
I was sick most of Friday. I was better by the time Saturday came around but I wasn't really back up to full mental capacity until Sunday. This class will indeed be a challenge. 1000 page text bok and about 150 pages of online lecture notes for the final in 3 1/2 weeks. The secret here is going to be figuring out what to study, because cramming all of it into my brain in that amount of time ON TOP of the class work load is essentially impossible.
Otherwise, things go well.
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