Lumpy's Corner

I also belief that one should set there goals high,in fact, almost out of reach and impossible is best. This means that the human nature to fail will make you fail better. In other words, aim high and shoot low...

Why the whole 12 goal thingy? Because, when I did it before it was very effective. Often the goals tend to overlap and interlock. This adds direction to their achievement. There are twelve months in a year and twelve goals seem reasonable. Most importantly, past experience has proven to me that this method works. Today's blog is my start on those twelve goals... Comments will be open on this one for your feedback and suggestions. (And, no spammers I am big enough. TY. I wish not make that one of my goals.)

So with out further ado;

1. Blogging and writing - I put this one first not because it is the most important but because fulfilling it will require 365 days of consistent effort. I will write daily. Way back in the day when I took creative writing in high school the teacher, Miss Fisher, insisted that we write, at least something, in our journals daily. She collected them and checked. She never announced when. She would even reserve the right to ask for it outside of the class time. (This was really tough, especially since we still used chisels and stone tables in my high school.) I know not all writers agree with this idea but it does work for me. I must get back into this habit if I ever wish to be a writer. I do like to write and I do want to write... Therefore I must do what works in order to become a "writer". This is even more so true because I basically write some decent material only due to "blind squirrel method". (Meaning that, on rare occasions, a blind squirrel finds a nut.)
   
   Furthermore, writing has always been an out let for me. I like to write satire, poetry, lyrics, editorials, humor and just about everything else. (I have even expressed my geekiness by writing an "Ode to Code". If I am going to achieve all I wish this year, I will need this outlet.
   
   I had best be specific on this goal though. I am not going to blog daily. I will blog more frequently but I am focused on writing and not bloging.
   
   I am also going to be clear on one more point regarding writing daily. Revisions count as writing. They always did and always will. So I wish not hear about not writing on a given day if I say I was revising stuff.
   
   
2. Read the Bible - This is not something I have never done before. I have read the "Good Book" from cover to cover before. I have decided to read the Bible in a year using a track my church had lying on a table last year. Grinny and I are going to do this together. We feel this is a great thing to do our first full year as a couple. We are both very happy that the other is a Christian and both ready to attack this one wholeheartedly.
   
   The track we have from is a very decent one that has 25 readings per month. This is a nice plan and doesn't pressure us as much as having to read it each and every single day.
   
   
3. Becoming a non-smoker - I have struggled with the coffin nails of this vise forever and a day. I actually had about three weeks of success on this goal earlier this year. I know what I have to do... I have to make it four days and then NEVER succumb to "I'll just have one". It is just that simple. I think I have, at the time of this writing, gone three full days without a smoke. I think I agree with Mark Twain "quiting is easy, I've done that thousands of times"... the real trick is to never start again.
   
   I must be specific here as well. I do not care if I have and occasional cigar. Cigars are a social event with me and I hoard them in a humidor and patiently wait the moment to share them with a friend.
   
   
4. Graduate - I do not care if I have to camp in the university president's office in protest. I am taking no more BS paperwork excuses from the school. I am getting my degree or an attorney and I are going to get busy. I have been trying to sort thought the uni's BS paperwork for two years now... No wonder they call it a BS degree. Two years is enough... I am going to get my degree or else!
   
   
5. New Web Site and New Engine - Although I am pleased with moveable type for the most part and like its free license for multiple blogs and authors, I am defeated by it's inability to preview comments before they are posted. I will be upgrading to Movable Type 3.0. Lumpyscorner.com seems to draw a lot of people who are not only interested in the mild tech/geek stuff I post but at the same time feel that online casinos, sexy girls and organ enlargement are relevant to the subject. (It is also interesting that they started the postings right after I blogged about spam.)
   
   I have also been threatening to learn PHP and more about SQL for some time. I have an idea for a web site that might be an asset to a lot of people but it will require a login, a searchable database and some other server side scripts. I always say I learn more about programming out of school than in and since I will not be in school for the first part of the year now is the best time.
   
   
6. JAVA - For those of you who know me on IRC, you may well know me as I_hate_JAVA but I must just hunker down and learn this language. I will do so this year. Despite the fact that I personally dislike JAVA it does seriously have some positive things to offer. Portability, strict OOP and security are only a few of them. The new version also offers generics (templates to us C++ junkies) so there is hope for me on this front.
   
   
7. PHP - I hear good things about this script language. I need to get into it and away from CGI. It is also part of my new web site idea mentioned above but the bottom line is I want to get good at it.
   
   This is one of those "overlapping" goals. The learning of PHP will allow me to add some server side options to my site and, as you will read below (assuming you continue to read that long), it id s requirement for my site idea.
   
   
8. $$$ - My love life is great. Grinny has only one beef with me... I am horrible with my money. Now don't get me wrong, I am great at making it but even better at spending it. For now, I have given her full control but I must pull a miraculous improvement off here.
   
   
9. Learn Japanese - This is important to me. I think it is unfortunate that most Americans only learn to butcher one language. I wish to learn to butcher at least two. I do know a wee wee bit of Spanish and even less Polish. (Although, thanks to my late grandmother I do know a few "choice" Polish words. I think I learned those few words right cause when I try them around my Polish friends I get my face smacked.)
   
   Grinny is Japanese, she is intelligent, a great teacher and a golden opportunity for me to learn another language. I bet she won't teach me to cuss though.
   
   
10. Church - I have always admitted openly to being a Christian. I have been only marginally involved in any type of church for most of my life. I have always intended to get things right with the Lord and walk right again. Grinny attends this Southern Baptist Church. I was baptized Southern Baptist, I like the church, I like the Pastor, I like everyone I have met from this church and have, frankly, run out of excuses.
    
    
11. Music - I have missed my music studio for some time now. I am rusty and out of practice. It feels like I have gloves on every time I go to play. I am setting up the studio again. I am going to record.
    
    
12. Income - I must simply earn more. I want to spend more so I must earn more. I have several things in the works but I must capitalize on at least one of them.