Tuesday, January 18, 2011

2011: The Year Of Projects


I've always liked the word 'project' (unless it is related to living space) and, with the new time I've freed with the end of the show and discontinuation of Web sites, I have a bunch in the works.  I'm going to spill a little about them now but will hold onto a few others to mention later when it's more appropriate.

Since June of last year, I've switched to a vegan diet for 5 days of the week.  I figure that my choices at work lead me to some bad choices... so why not control them.  Pretty much, it's a dismissal of all animal products and by-products.  The days that I'm not at work, I enjoy but don't pig out on the items I can't otherwise.  When I first did this, I saw my cholesterol drop from over 300 to around 150.  Yes, cut that sucker in half but didn't add oatmeal to the diet until this week.  I may re-introduce seafood (like tuna) after my next bloodwork comes back.  But, I feel really good.

I've also gotten more involved with my son's schooling.  I saw him doing the same things that I was:  acing tests, not turning in homework and upsetting my parents with my grades.  After a lot of thinking on this and much frustration (as this happened once before) we are working on structure.  He now sits at the kitchen table doing homework for at least an hour and a half each night.  If he doesn't have homework, he'll have to read ahead or work on a school project.  So far, so good.

I have been picking up some new tech gear for a new video project that I'm starting focused on my family.  I can't say much as it includes more than myself and I don't want to overstep my bounds.  It's a great chance for me to enhance my interview and add new film skills to my arsenal.  All I know is that it is going to be fun and get me to spend more time with my family... and that's pretty important.  Now, if only those new microphones get here by Saturday.

Lastly, exercise.  It's been difficult to work in work out (boy, is that a weird phrase) time with my odd schedule.  I try something and lose interest.  My wife has set a goal.  There is a cool event coming up in November supporting the Susan G. Komen For The Cure foundation for breast cancer in the form of a 3-day, 20-mile per day walk.  We are trying to build her endurance up to this goal.  So we started last weekend to go walking one day and yoga/stretching the next.  We even found an interesting site called GeoDistance that allows you to see areas that you already have around you (as well as alternate routes) and measure them to figure distances.  This worked well for our hikes and other areas and have set the plan in motion.  So, my exercise is going to increase and I support her goal.  I'll be giving you updates as she gets closer to the November event.

So, I'm not spending all my free time sleeping in... those rumors are entirely untrue.  I have a lot of new stuff on my plate but feel that it's not only going in the right direction but the best direction.

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Post Show Post

Today we had a proper ceremony to bid adieu to Talking 80s Music.  I did discover that once you get the idea in your head to do something in the future, it's really easy to accelerate the process.  First you come up with a list of things you want to accomplish before the end of the project.  Then you start whittling it down into 'must have' and 'possible' columns.  Then, you impose an even shorter deadline than before.

Regrets will always happen in life.  You could have always said something better, done something quicker or taken a short-cut but one thing I'm sure of is that we ended things on our terms.  Sometimes regrets are the areas of your life you put a curtain around and occasionally look at to say, "I'll get to that.  I will."  Well, the curtain has been drawn aside as I now try to incorporate my family into these future projects.