March 11, 2012

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us

It's strange, I don't feel like I've been doing much of anything lately, but when I stop and think about it, I have plenty on my plate- at least in theory. Maybe I need to focus my attention on a few things at a time. I'm very much a "starter" and tend to lack follow-through.

Rather than make this another apologetic post about how I've been putting off blogging in favor of other things, I'll just switch it up and talk about all that's going on- and what isn't so much.

Girlfriend: Most importantly, I have fallen in love with a beautiful young lady named Jessica. I mentioned her briefly before, and you will hear more about her in the future. I may even persuade her to co-author this blog. Jessica is a life-long acquaintance, but we only recently realized that we're perfect for each other. She has unquestionably been the highlight of the past few months. Unfortunately we're forced to maintain a long-distance relationship, but we have been able to visit each other frequently and we manage to make do with Skype and IM.

Working: My job obviously takes up the largest share of my time and effort. The project that I have been assigned to for almost a year now as the sole GUI developer is starting to wrap up. I've learned a lot and gained some valuable experience, but it hasn't all been fun or even tolerable. As a junior engineer with limited experience I'm working a bit outside of my technical comfort zone and above my pay grade, but my results are being noticed. The company is making some transitions in technology and practices, and I'm right in the middle of some of it. Personally though, I'm just looking forward to moving on to a new project at this point.

Reading: I've tried to get back in the habit of reading books since I finished college, and now my to-read list is growing out of control. In addition to my extensive bookshelf on Goodreads (those 250+ don't count sequels and series), I keep picking up more used books from the library to the point where my (large-ish) physical bookshelf is double-stacked with books I haven't read. I'm currently in the middle of The Deed of Paksenarrion, Primal: The Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, and yet another pass through The Lord of the Rings. Meanwhile, Jessica and I are participating in a challenge that my church organized to read through the whole Bible in a year. I'm still struggling to finish Genesis, although we're supposed to have read through Deuteronomy 8 and the gospels by now. So no so good on that front.

Writing: My foray into NaNoWriMo obviously didn't work out so well, but I certainly haven't given up on writing. I've been trying to organize all of my notes for the book, and recently came up with an important new plot thread. I think what I need most is practice- writing anything. It seems that when I do try to draft long passages I get bogged down in my inability to put my thoughts clearly into words, and soon give up because I can't get it to sound right. Writing more frequently, even on completely unrelated topics, would probably help me focus on getting more words down.

Drinking: As last year, I'm participating in 40 Days of Water. It's a campaign from the charity Blood:Water Mission to give up all beverages except tap water for Lent, and donate your savings to fund wells in Uganda where 30% of the population doesn't have access to clean drinking water. I got Jessica to join me this time, mostly to see if she could break her chocolate milk addiction. Today happens to be Sunday, so I'm enjoying the day off with a Yuengling. Okay, so that isn't really an ongoing activity, but it's a point of interest.

Gaming: As always, I picked up a number of new games from Steam's holiday sale. This time I added Mass Effect 1 & 2, Fallout 3 & New Vegas, Empire & Napoleon: Total War, and the complete X (space sim) series to my repertoire. Being the avid gamer I am, I'm still working on the early stages of Mass Effect. Like most other hobbies, my game library is growing faster than I can enjoy it. In other news, I'm still working on my Civ3 mod Legacy, which could theoretically be ready for a 1-era beta as soon as I check all the rules and insert some workable placeholder graphics.

In addition to all of that, I'll be getting back into running soon if the weather will stabilize. Then there's the political mischief that I'm always getting into. And don't forget blogging. I think I'll have enough to keep me busy, if I can stay focused on a few items and not get

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