Menu

resolutions

New Year, Who Dis?

/ / , / 0 Comments

Follow Your Dreams Douchebag

As I do every year, I try to make some resolutions to better myself in the upcoming year.  This year is no different in that regard, but some of my goals will be a little more specific.  Let’s see how that change of tactic goes.

Continue the Health Trends

I want to maintain the current weight, or lose some more.  I’ll continue counting the calories, but I will also endeavor to work out once a week.  I know, mind-blowing right?  Since I never exercise, this will at least be a start.

Read

I don’t read a lot of books generally. I spend some time every day keeping up on a vast list of blogs and news sites through my feedreader, so I do read a LOT, just not generally novels.  So, this year I endeavor to read one book or graphic novel a month.  I’ll also count listening to a book via Audible.

Keep up with Photography

I will try to spend at least one hour a week on photography related things.  Whether it is culling the library, keywording and tagging, picking out prints for the house, learning Photoshop and Lightroom tricks, developing with new tools, or simply TAKING photos, I want to make sure to do something photo related for at least one hour a week.

Focus on music

The most tangible thing is that I want to create one playlist a month in my Apple Music subscription.  It could be based around moods, or genres, or my favorite songs by an artist, but I want to hand curate some playlists that I will enjoy listening to and sharing with others.  I may try to write more reviews this year, and at least share with folks new music I’m finding that I really enjoy.  Maybe I can even come up with a Top Ten list of albums at the end of the year.  We’ll see.

De-clutter even further

I have some stuff to still clean up in the Man Cave as well as my office, so I want to finish up both of those.  I also want to take all the old DVD and Blu Rays and alphabetize and catalog them like I did with music this past year.  I’ll also continue to donate old clothes and streamline my wardrobe.

2017 was a rough year in the world, and with all of the negativity out there I’m simply going to try to do things that make myself and my family happy.  If that means blocking some trolls or taking breaks from social media and the like, so be it.  But I’m going to concentrate of removing negativity and replacing it with positive things.  Let’s hope I’m successful.

2017 Goals Recap

/ / , , / 0 Comments

Weightloss GraphWell this year was pretty shitty huh? Horrible natural disasters like the hurricanes and wild files, White nationalists emboldened, the greed of our politicians, the dismantling of all of the good things done by prior administrations, obvious evidence of Russian collusion while much of the country just sticks its head in the sand, oh and all the sexual assault cases. All in all it’s been a disaster of a year in those regards. On the bright side, I personally have had a decent year with myself and my family. But how did I do on my goals for the year?

Create instead of Consume

Abject failure. Seriously, I’ve been so depressed about the state of the world that I’ve escaped more into entertainment than ever just to avoid it. I’ve spent a lot of time playing Gears of War 4 and other games on my Xbox. It’s been a good stress relief, but hasn’t lead itself to creating anything of value.

Declutter and Organize More

Knocked this one out of the park. Alphabetized the music collection and put it on shelves, donated a ton of old clothes that no longer fit, cleaned up the photo libraries, totally cleaned the man cave including the tub which had become a filthy storage facility for junk. I still want to do more, but I feel very accomplished here.

Concentrate on Health

Another one I’m proud of. I’ve used the app “Lose It!” to count calories and for the year I’m down about 40 pounds. I didn’t use any pyramid scheme shakes and alkaline crap that it seems many of my old high school classmates are pushing. I just ate whatever I wanted, but when I hit my calorie count for the day, I quit eating. No exercise at all, although I made sure to hit my move and stand rings on the Apple Watch. I feel better and breathe better and don’t want to go back. I’ll definitely keep it up this next year.

Be Vigilant

I haven’t seen anything to defend so much in the wild because I live in a diverse city that isn’t so closed minded. I have had to defend black lives matter and the fact that NFL players have the right to kneel for the anthem, and more importantly WHY. So when I’ve heard folks denigrate that, I have spoken up. Luckily I haven’t had to fight much more than that.

Pick My Battles Online

I’ve done well here. I’ve avoided jumping into battles online for the most part. I don’t see a point any longer, and I only really jumped in when things like Charlottesville happened. For the most part, I’ve tried to make my Facebook reflect happy things in my life. My family, great photos, funny situations. I’ve been happier there removing the vitriol for the most part. So, another goal I did well on.

Most years I’ve done a pretty poor job of hitting these goals, but I’m pleased with how I did this year. I’ve got ideas for next year that are more specific and I think I may actually accomplish. Here’s hoping the world does better as well.

Resolutions 2017 Edition

/ / , / 0 Comments

I know it’s already the middle of January, but I’ve just not been able to gear up to write this like every year.  I imagine it’s because I’m kind of afraid of where 2017 will take us.  Well enough with my lethargy, it’s time to stand up and get to work damnit.

So here we go:

Create instead of just Consume

I need to be more creative to be fulfilled.  So this year I’m going create more.  Write longer pieces, write poetry/song lyrics, blog, take pictures, make music, code.  A little less consumption, a little more creation.

Declutter and Organize More

I have more things to clean up at home.  Clothes to get rid of, closets to clear out, photos to tag, all of my old CD’s to sort.  I also want to do more to organize my day to day life.  I’m going to put what’s going on into To Do lists so I can more easily remember everything I need to take care of. The more I can declutter, the better I feel.

Concentrate on Health

This past year had my mother fight and beat cancer, and my Dad dealt with back issues that resulted in spinal surgery.  Take that and all of our childhood idols dying and it’s made it very clear to me that I need to get more healthy.  I know I say it almost every year, but damnit I need to make it a reality.

Be Vigilant

I believe in empathy for all humans.  I’m against racism, misogyny, xenophobia, anti-LGBTQ sentiments and anything else people do to make others feel small.  I’m a straight middle-class white male.  A lot of the hate and the vitriol in the world isn’t directed my way. It’s definitely a place of privilege.  So if I see things in real life that go against my firm belief that we are all equal, I’m going to speak up for those being attacked or belittled.  I’ll do this in real life, at work, in the store, on the plane, at the restaurant and anywhere else I happen to be where I see crap like this taking place.  We all have to stand up to this kind of hatred, wherever we see it.

Pick My Battles Online

I know it kind of goes against what I posted about being vigilant, but I need to do much better at picking my battles online.  You see, this last year I got into a lot of debates online, and spent a lot of time debunking stories that just weren’t true.  And for some people, no matter how much I cited facts, they still believed the false news.  So screw it, I’m basically unfollowing (not unfriending) people for whom you simply can’t have a debate around facts.  I do have conservative friends with whom I can debate, and I’ll continue my efforts around those conversations.  To the other folks who post nothing but articles that have been proven false, I’m not wasting my time.  You only believe the world view you wish to believe, and won’t be swayed. You aren’t worth my time any longer.

I think it’s going to be a rough year, but I certainly hope I’m wrong.  Either way, I have things to work on.

2016 Recap

/ / , , / 0 Comments

My girls at Universal Studios

As I do every year, I like to recap how I did on my resolutions from the previous year.  I’ll get to that in a minute, but I wanted to touch on 2016 for a bit.

2016, in general, was a shitshow.  The election had us more divided than ever, Brexit did the same.  And it seemed that in both, common sense and decency lost.  More icons died than you can count. Many of them profoundly influential to me.  Prince was probably the hardest one for me.  My mother got cancer and my Dad had back problems that resulted in surgery.  Wars, refugees, and pussy grabbing.  It was all kinds of surreal and depressing.

The good news is that it’s almost over.  My mother is cancer free, my Dad’s surgery went fantastically and he’s without pain and those two things are huge.  So 2016 sucked, but at least my parents kicked its ass.

As for my resolutions, let’s see how it went.

Maintain or Lose Weight.   It went well until the summer.  We got really busy and stopped cooking at home as much, ate out more, and I gained weight when I was supposed to lose.  I was trending down again, but then, you know, the holidays arrived.  I *WILL* do it this coming year, because after my parents health scares, and every childhood icon dying, I have a renewed urge to get healthier.  I want to be here writing these for several decades to come.

Focus on Photography.  This was okay.  Once again, earlier in the year I did really well, and had a wonderful time taking pictures on our vacation at Universal Studios.  I also did clean up some stuff in the photo library, and got everything organized on Google Photos.  I even took one of my favorite pictures of all time.  So I did okay.  I could still do better.

Work/Life Balance.  This went wonderfully.  Since I now have a CIO running the show and another director on the team, we’ve split up a lot of the duties that were solely mine in the past.  This has meant less travel and less stress overall.  It was a hard transition from owning the whole team, and now being a part of the team, but for me personally, it’s been good.

Read More.  I did actually read more than last year.  That isn’t saying I did a ton, but I did enjoy reading several full length novels, a bunch of magazines, and comics.  I do need to continue on this upward trajectory because I really do love to do it.

Clean Up My Stuff.  This one I knocked out of the park.  I redid my office and it looks fantastic, I redid the Man Cave and I really like how it turned out, and we redid furniture in our bedroom that totally cleaned things up.  It also allowed me to get rid of a bunch of clothes that we donated.  On the digital side I cleaned up a lot of duplicate pictures and deleted photos that I really didn’t need to keep.  So this was my biggest success of the year.  And having it all clean has been very calming as well.  Really glad I did this.

Continue Kindness.  This was hard.  Everything was so divisive this year.  I tried my best to be kind, but I also fell into the traps of arguments over politics and everything of that nature.  It was frustrating, and hard.  That said, moving forward I’ll keep the kindness going in real life.  And I’m going to try to avoid the drama online as much as possible.

In general, the world sucked in 2016, but my family and I are healthy and here, and that’s what I’m going to focus on.  Let’s end this, and start off on the right foot.  Here’s to 2017.

resolute

2016 Resolutions

/ / , / 0 Comments

Maintain or Lose Weight

This past year I did pretty well bringing my weight down, but I would really love to lose another 10-15 pounds.  I need to keep at it and at least maintain where I am, but it would be good to get some exercise going too.  If I can do that, I might be able to shed some more weight.

Focus on Photography

Okay, I failed on this last year, but photography is a passion for me, something I love.  So I am going to try to post at least one picture a day on Instagram.  If I keep doing it, I’ll focus on composition and trying to keep my skills up.  I also really need to focus on cleaning up my Lightroom library.

Work/Life Balance

2016 is going to be a very interesting and challenging work year for me for a variety of reasons.  Because of this, I need to be in the right mindset to deal with what is going to happen.  It’s not that all the change will be bad, I just need to deal with it in the right ways.  I also need to make sure that I don’t bring my work home and take out any frustrations on the family.

Read More

I like to read but I just never make time, so there’s no excuse.  I enjoy good novels as well as magazines and some comics.  I have Texture so I should take some time to read magazines as well as some stuff I have queued up on Kindle.

Clean Up My Stuff

I need to redo my basement office with a new more streamlined design.  I need to sort through my clothes and pair them down to what I really wear.  I need to throw away all the old technology boxes I’ve kept for far too long. I also need to go through and rip a bunch of DVD and blu-rays and get them on my file server.  So whether my stuff is physical or digital, I need to tidy up this year.

Continue Kindness

With the election coming up, the refugee crisis, and terrorism rearing it’s ugly head, people will be even more divided this year.  It’s going to suck, and I think all I can do is simply be kind to people.  Be nice, be kind, and don’t engage in arguments that will lead nowhere.

So here’s to a good 2016.  I’m generally an optimistic person, and I think I can make this an extraordinary year ahead.  I hope to share it with you along the way.

resolute

Resolute 2015 – This time it’s Personal!

/ / , , , , , / 1 Comment

Alright.  Since I failed so miserably at last years resolutions, I’m going to really try to focus on these this year and make them a reality.

  • Get Healthier.  I just added a standing desk at work, so that will help.  I think I’ll cut back on cigars some and replace them with vaping instead.  I’ll eat a little less, eat a little healthier and when a certain health conscious watch comes out this year, I’ll probably integrate that into my routine.  I looked at my weight chart for the past two years and 2013-2014 really let me down from where I was in 2012 when I was at my best in years.  I’m going to do little things all around and hopefully that will help. 
  • Do more with my photography.  No, really.  I want to go through my catalog and tag metadata correctly, import my iPhoto library into Lightroom, and whack a bunch of pictures that just suck.  I’m not going to promise I’ll take more photos, but I’ll try.  I have an excellent camera on me at all times, I really should make use of it. 
  • Write more again.  Whether it’s a music review, internal marketing of our IT team at work, hardware reviews, my musings on the world, or tips and tricks in the IT space, I want to do more long form stuff.  I do quite a bit on Twitter and Facebook, but I need to not let my longer form writing skills languish like they have been. 
  • Learn.  I don’t care if it’s learning more about software, hardware, cigars, photography, vaping, managing or creating music.  I need to learn new things and make it a priority. 
  • Work/Life Balance.  This has been a staple here in my resolutions, but it’s really the most important thing to me.  I need to make sure that work doesn’t consume me and make me ever place my family on the back burner. I’ve focused on it over the last few years and I will continue to do so. 
  • Be kind. 2014 had a lot of very unkind things in the world.  I’m just going to do my best to be nicer and kinder in all of my dealings.  If we all do, maybe the world gets just a little bit better.

I think that’s where I’m going to leave it this year.  Here’s wishing you all an exemplary 2015.

The 2014 Greyhawk Recap

/ / , , / 0 Comments

Okay, I completely sucked on my resolutions this past year.  Lose Weight?  HA!  Have fun with photography?  Nope.  Learn More? Not enough.  Put some reviews on the blog?  Two.

Did I keep a good work/life balance?  There I think I did pretty well.  I didn’t let work consume me to the point where I would sacrifice the family.  And since that was really the most important resolution, I think things went well.

So 2014 in general for ME was okay, even though I didn’t do anything resolution wise.  However 2014 sucked for humanity in general.

  • A friend of mind and a brilliant mind committed suicide.
  • One of my childhood icons committed suicide.
  • Gamergate raised a level of misogyny online that made me embarrassed to be called a gamer
  • The Israeli/Palestinian conflict caused immeasurable suffering
  • Ferguson Missouri, NYC, Ohio and more proved that it’s hard to get rid of bad cops, and that race is still a very big issue in America
  • Execution of police officers in NYC in retaliation for the above just answered injustice with murder.

All of these horrible things made 2014 one of the worst years in recent memory.  I’m glad for it to be over, and for the world to heal a little.  Be kind to one another everyone.  Let’s pledge to do better in 2015.

2014

I Resolve That 2014 Will Rock

/ / , / 1 Comment

Every new year, I like to come up with my resolutions here on the blog so they are public for all to see.  It gives me a little more motivation to actually complete some of them.  So, for 2014 my resolutions are as follows:

Lose Weight (Again) – Two years ago I did really well on some Biggest Loser contests and lost a lot of weight.  This past year wasn’t as easy and I gained some back.  I miss how I felt when I had fewer pounds on this frame.  So I would like to get back under 200 pounds.  I definitely think it’s doable, I just need to have the willpower.

Have Fun with Photography – The last couple of years my photography has consisted mainly of gymnastics meets, dance recitals, and food.  I want to re-ignite my passion for taking pictures.  Now I have a great camera on me with the iPhone 5S or Nokia 1020 pretty much at all times, so there’s no excuse not to take more shots.  I also need to break out the DSLR and go take pictures more often.  I think I can make it more fun again.

Learn More – I want to take the time to learn more stuff.  More software, more about managing folks, more techniques for developing photos.  I need to take more time to read, and more time to sit down and simply learn.  We have lynda.com at work now, so I think I’ll have an easy time with this resolution.

Keep a Good Work/Life Balance – This upcoming year promises to be my busiest yet.  We have a ton going on at work and I’ll really have a lot going on, and a good amount of travel.  I want to make sure I still have time to spend with my girls, my wife and my friends.  No matter how much work comes at me, family comes first.  I’ve seen people lose family this year, and you can never get this time back.  My family will know they mean the most to me.

Put Some Reviews Here on the Blog – In my job, I play with a lot of technology.  I play with new phones, tablets and computers all the time.  I’m also a gadget addict on my own time, so I pick up cool stuff for holidays and such too.  Since I actually review this stuff, I want to write up my thoughts and share it here.  It will get my post count up for the year too.

I think these are all attainable goals and I’m really looking forward to an exciting 2014.  I just need to spend less time in front of a TV and more time enjoying life.  I can make it happen.  Here’s to a great new year!

How ‘Bout Those Resolutions Fat Boy?

/ / , , , / 0 Comments

Well we’ve completed another trip around the sun, and I always like to look back at the prior year to see how I did on my resolutions.  Kinda half and half this year, so let’s see how I fared:

Enjoy my family – On this one I think I did very well.  I made it a point to schedule work trips around recitals and gymnastics meets, and made it a point to say yes more often when I get asked “Do you want to play?”  Could I still be better?  Sure, but for the most part I didn’t let work consume me, and was able to let my family know they were important.

Maintain my weight and Exercise SOME – Nope.  Not even close.  I’ve gained back about 15-20 pounds since last year at this time and I’m not happy about it.  I just need to get my head back in the right place.  I’m sure this will be something for 2014.

Play more Games – I absolutely excelled on this one.  I completed both Startcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm and Bioshock: Infinite.  I got sucked into the addiction that is Minecraft with my daughters and spent many an afternoon or evening building and mining with my girls.  We also played a lot of Settlers of Catan, and Ticket 2 Ride on the board game front.  Santa brought Risk: Plants vs Zombies edition, Tsuro, and Zombie Dice for Christmas.  My parents also bought us Sour Apples to Apples.  I’ve got Plants vs. Zombies 2 and the next Walking Dead series queued up on the iPad.  So I feel I can once again call myself a gamer.

Learn some stuff – Once again, not really close.  I try to tell myself I’m too busy, but unfortunately the times I could be learning I tend to plop down in front of mindless TV.  I know I’ll do better in the coming year.  I just signed a two year contract at work with lynda.com.  I’ll make sure to take advantage of that.

Update my personal websites – I actually completed this as well.  I tried a couple new themes here on the blog, and have come up with one I like.  In addition I took roling.com and set it up to point to all of the places I spend time online.  I figure I’m putting content in a lot of places, so I should make those places easy to find.  They might evolve more in the coming year, but I’m happy I finally got around to completing the updates as my places were feeling kind of stale.

So like I said, I was about 50/50.  I really need to get healthier again, and that’s the one I’m most upset myself for failing on.  I’ll definitely turn that around in 2014.  Now to think about what else is important to me for the upcoming year…

Planning a Resolute 2013

/ / , , / 1 Comment

‘Tis a little late I know, but it’s time for me to outline my resolutions and plans for 2013.  So without further adieu, here it goes.

Enjoy my family – I want to put this here to remind myself to continue to maintain a really good family/work balance.  This is going to be a busy year for my job, and I want to make sure I can balance work, time with my kids, time with my wife and even time with my buddies in the man cave.  Family is the most important piece, so I want to make sure the other things don’t overshadow them.

Maintain my weight – This past year has been a great one for weight loss, and I could probably use to lose another 10 pounds or so.  That said, I’m not setting my sights that high.  I just want to maintain where I am, and not gain it back like I’ve done so many times before.  So here’s to watching what I eat and drink, and trying to keep things level.

Exercise SOME – Even though I lost a lot of weight this past year, it was primarily due to the fact that I changed my eating habits.  So this year I would like to actually try to exercise some.  Walk during lunchtime more often, use the Gazelle occasionally.  Spend more time doing things like yard work that really do burn calories.

Play more Games – I know this one sounds kind of cheesy, but the fact is that due to work and other obligations I had stopped gaming almost entirely.  I used to be a big time video gamer, and quite frankly I miss it.  Over the holidays my family and I played the Ticket To Ride board game, and I played a lot of Fieldrunners 2 and all five episodes of the Walking Dead game on iOS.  I really enjoyed it all, and want to make sure I carve out some time to get back to escaping with a good game once in awhile.

Learn some stuff – I don’t care if it’s by playing around myself, reading a book, watching a training video, or following a web tutorial, but I want to learn some new things.  Doesn’t matter if it’s about photography, web design, social media, cigars, software or anything else.

Update my personal websites – I haven’t updated my main site in a cringe-worthly length of time, and I’d like to change my blog template design too.  In addition I have a lot of personal nameplate sites and social networks out there, and it would make sense to have that a little more organized and up to date.

So I think that’s about it!  Quite enough to accomplish I imagine.  I still plan on hugging as much as ever, keeping my anger/sarcasm in check a bit, and forgiving more quickly when I do get upset about things.  I have a feeling 2013 will be a very packed, but very good year!

Load More