3. read 30 books in 2005

12 down. 18 to go.

Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman is a wonderfully-written series of essays about books, reading, and writing. I thought my favorite essay in Ex Libris was going to be "You Are There" about reading passages in the same places where they are set. But I liked equally well the next two essays, one on gender-neutral language and one on hereditary proofreading.

39. decorate the loft at the cabin

Rick's night stand

Before:


After:


Big improvement, huh? The new piece is a child's wash stand. I got it from a friend of my mother's who recently opened an antique store.

6. publish in a peer-review journal

It turns out I was wrong last week when I thought I hadn't won the student paper competition. I received word today that I won. Either they were running behind their time schedule or somebody backed out and I'm the runner up. I'm not as happy about this as I thought I would be because I had really adjusted to the idea of not having to do all of that work right now. Now, my summer looks way over-scheduled....OTOH, this was and is my best shot at meeting this goal, so it's time to call in that 43 Things spirit and get going.

23. Switch to reusable shopping bags for groceries

The last time I tried to do this I couldn’t get in the habit of getting my bags in the car when I go shopping. I’ve solved that problem. As soon as the bags are emptied they go on the doorknob and I put them in the car the next time I go out (whether it’s to the grocery store or somewhere else).

Now, the problem is that I too often leave the bags in the car when I should take them into the store! So I can’t call this done yet. I still have half of a habit to develop….

4. get a job

I mailed two applications today. I have done several things to pursue this goal, but this is the first step that might actually lead to a job.

2. Be a better blogger

This blog has a spin-off. The Missouri Humanities Council took an interest in the pictures and entries of the Chautauqua. Since the blog wasn't a really good forum to send people to (reverse chronology and you have to go back to the June entries to see the relevant posts), I pulled the Chautauqua entries into a separate diary.

32. watch more movies

War of the Worlds

I think this one was enjoyed equally by myself and my teenage movie buddy. We liked the intensity, focus on character, and special effects.