2009 Year In Review - Projects
Jan. 1st, 2010 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleIf you need a refresher, I did make a 2009 Projects post. I've stuck the projects I added as time went on where they seem to logically fit.
Dewey Decimal Project
I did continue this, mostly. I did not read anything in October, much less a nonfiction book, but I did well with this project the rest of the year (in November and December, the nonfiction book was the only book I read), and I read a couple of books I really liked.
Music
One of the nonfiction books I read totally changed my life in a completely unexpected way. When I read Jonah Lehrer's Proust Was a Neuroscientist, I said, "This makes me think I need to start listening to new music. I know I've noticed my own tendency to not bother with music I don't already know." As a result of that, I started downloading every mix I came across and making a conscious effort to listen to new-to-me music. I found a lot of music I really like, a few things I hate, and some things I didn't like at first but that grew on me over time. I actually started listening to music more than watching TV as my background noise.
PoC Authors
In April, I added reading at least one book by a PoC author every month to my list of goals. I did really well with this all the way through September. I didn't manage to read anything for this in October, November, or December.
What happened with my reading is that in about September or October, I got very, very anxious about not having a job. If I was at my computer, even if I was just reading fan fic, there was a chance I would do work (either writing or job hunting), whereas if I sat on the couch and read, then I really wasn't doing any work, so I read almost nothing for the last three months. (I'll post my book list later today or later this weekend, and you can see how true that is.)
Food
I continue to eat vegan and gluten-free. This is not an issue for me, but it does make me difficult for other people to feed. I kind of forgot that I was giving up refined sugar at the beginning of 2009; that didn't last. I did give up chocolate, though, and that's working well for me.
Exercise
I did really, really well with most of this. I continue to walk three miles every morning and do at least some yoga every day. Weights are getting a little iffy with the change that I have a job and therefore less time at home. I think I'm going to try to do Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and that way I can do them while I watch How I Met Your Mother on Monday, Mercy on Wednesday, and whatever I'm catching up with on Saturday. Dance continues to be a challenge for me, especially since I had to temporarily drop ballet because I couldn't afford it. (I didn't drop belly dance only because my teacher told me to just keep coming to class and I could pay her when I could.) I've been noticing my posture has gotten worse since then. I keep thinking I'm going to start doing pliés in the kitchen at least once a week, but then I don't do it. I do occasionally get up and kitchen dance party when I'm listening to music that I can't resist dancing to. (Note: I dance in the kitchen because it and the bathroom are the only non-carpeted areas of my house. Dancing on carpet is hard.) I'm going to have to think about how to approach this better.
Writing
Ugh. This is the one I don't want to look back on! I did submit a story to an anthology. It was rejected, so now I'm a real writer with a rejection notice. I didn't finish the third draft of football.txt or the paranormal mystery novel, nor did I start the lesbian romance novel. I did start an erotic novel and write a lot of fan fiction. My struggle with writing is that I write a lot, but I have a hard time being okay with what I'm writing. I keep thinking I should be writing other things, and then trying to remind myself that writing something is better than not writing at all. (I thought about doing the fan fic wrap-up meme, but I was kind of overwhelmed by how much I wrote this year. I'm still thinking about doing just the questions part.)
While I definitely think of myself as a writer, I found myself really discouraged this year about my ability to be the kind of writer who makes a living at it, so I've been startled when other people have put it in those terms. When I was looking for a job, my mom said I just need a job for now because eventually I'm going to live off of my writing. Then![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
schuyler said in my holiday card that this is the year we get my writing career off the ground.
Something I started doing just in November or so around writing is being up front and honest, with myself, my writing group, and selected friends and family, about the fact that as much as I'd like to think I'm going to write a sci fi/fantasy or mainstream novel, I really only write erotica.
Dewey Decimal Project
I did continue this, mostly. I did not read anything in October, much less a nonfiction book, but I did well with this project the rest of the year (in November and December, the nonfiction book was the only book I read), and I read a couple of books I really liked.
Music
One of the nonfiction books I read totally changed my life in a completely unexpected way. When I read Jonah Lehrer's Proust Was a Neuroscientist, I said, "This makes me think I need to start listening to new music. I know I've noticed my own tendency to not bother with music I don't already know." As a result of that, I started downloading every mix I came across and making a conscious effort to listen to new-to-me music. I found a lot of music I really like, a few things I hate, and some things I didn't like at first but that grew on me over time. I actually started listening to music more than watching TV as my background noise.
PoC Authors
In April, I added reading at least one book by a PoC author every month to my list of goals. I did really well with this all the way through September. I didn't manage to read anything for this in October, November, or December.
What happened with my reading is that in about September or October, I got very, very anxious about not having a job. If I was at my computer, even if I was just reading fan fic, there was a chance I would do work (either writing or job hunting), whereas if I sat on the couch and read, then I really wasn't doing any work, so I read almost nothing for the last three months. (I'll post my book list later today or later this weekend, and you can see how true that is.)
Food
I continue to eat vegan and gluten-free. This is not an issue for me, but it does make me difficult for other people to feed. I kind of forgot that I was giving up refined sugar at the beginning of 2009; that didn't last. I did give up chocolate, though, and that's working well for me.
Exercise
I did really, really well with most of this. I continue to walk three miles every morning and do at least some yoga every day. Weights are getting a little iffy with the change that I have a job and therefore less time at home. I think I'm going to try to do Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and that way I can do them while I watch How I Met Your Mother on Monday, Mercy on Wednesday, and whatever I'm catching up with on Saturday. Dance continues to be a challenge for me, especially since I had to temporarily drop ballet because I couldn't afford it. (I didn't drop belly dance only because my teacher told me to just keep coming to class and I could pay her when I could.) I've been noticing my posture has gotten worse since then. I keep thinking I'm going to start doing pliés in the kitchen at least once a week, but then I don't do it. I do occasionally get up and kitchen dance party when I'm listening to music that I can't resist dancing to. (Note: I dance in the kitchen because it and the bathroom are the only non-carpeted areas of my house. Dancing on carpet is hard.) I'm going to have to think about how to approach this better.
Writing
Ugh. This is the one I don't want to look back on! I did submit a story to an anthology. It was rejected, so now I'm a real writer with a rejection notice. I didn't finish the third draft of football.txt or the paranormal mystery novel, nor did I start the lesbian romance novel. I did start an erotic novel and write a lot of fan fiction. My struggle with writing is that I write a lot, but I have a hard time being okay with what I'm writing. I keep thinking I should be writing other things, and then trying to remind myself that writing something is better than not writing at all. (I thought about doing the fan fic wrap-up meme, but I was kind of overwhelmed by how much I wrote this year. I'm still thinking about doing just the questions part.)
While I definitely think of myself as a writer, I found myself really discouraged this year about my ability to be the kind of writer who makes a living at it, so I've been startled when other people have put it in those terms. When I was looking for a job, my mom said I just need a job for now because eventually I'm going to live off of my writing. Then
schuyler said in my holiday card that this is the year we get my writing career off the ground.Something I started doing just in November or so around writing is being up front and honest, with myself, my writing group, and selected friends and family, about the fact that as much as I'd like to think I'm going to write a sci fi/fantasy or mainstream novel, I really only write erotica.