Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Victory is mine! The day-to-day account of a year in the life of my lens and my mind comes to a close. Knowing that I actually fulfilled the old "you can do whatever you put your mind to" adage is motivating in looking forward to 2013. So it's time to set some new benchmarks. Based on my commentary from yesterday's post, regarding the over-exuberance in committing to new things, I'm approaching plans for next year in a slightly different manner.
Similar to goal-setting in a business environment, I'll have a couple overarching goals for the year. But I'll think a little more short-term for the goals with more of a trial and error aspect - those will be revised quasi-quarterly. (I say 'quasi' because the odds of me regrouping exactly on April 1 is unlikely.) This will allow me to feel at ease in not taking on a million ideas at once, and also in assessing whether my Q1 attempts were worthwhile without feeling guilty for not following through all year long. So it's more of a way to trick my own mind while also maintaining a semblance of organization.
--
The overarching goals, as they stand today:
1. International Travel - At least two international excursions. Those are tentatively set already: Ecuador in late May and Croatia in September. If this quantity has room for increase, you'll find no complaints from me. I'd be happy to overachieve on this one.
2. Keeping in Touch - I can admittedly be pretty bad at this. I'm not the world's best phone talker. I'd actually be better at keeping touch if we went back to the old pen pal method, pen and paper. Or even email. My communication style is better suited to writing, but that's not the general method that other people in my life employ. But it's important to me that I do a better job of touching base with the important, yet distant, people in my life.
So there isn't an exact plan in place, but I need to sometimes suck up my lack of enthusiasm for phone calls and also consider other communication adaptations. Cards, flowers, text messages. It'll be different for the individual in question. And where the option is feasible, finding time to visit is the best alternative of all.
3. Photography - This should go without saying. I want to learn my camera so well that it feels like a native limb to my body, exploring function as well as composition and point of view. Where infatuation already exists, I think there is an opportunity to develop this hobby into a real love affair.
--
For the approximate timeframe of January through March, my trial and error goals include:
1. Exercise - The New Year's gold standard. As soon as spring hits, I can't get enough of active outdoor pursuits. A natural vigor for physical activity hits me. When it's dark, cold and dreary - nothing. Pushing buttons on my TV remote sounds like suitable aerobic activity.
So while I don't expect myself to be pushing five to seven days a week, I'd like to maintain at least a moderate level. They say it's good for your mental sanity, which is actual more important for me in the winter than my physical state. So a combo of yoga, perhaps once a week, and a couple pre- or post-work sessions in my basic basement gym will be the aim.
2. Spanish - I've loved the language since I was ten. While most people couldn't wait to finish the obligatory two years of language required in high school, I took four. Then I took two semesters in college, for fun. When I visit Spanish-speaking countries, I have mixed emotions of love and fear. I want to speak it, I love the way Spanish feels rolling off of my tongue, but I'm frustrated by my elementary capabilities.
Clearly that's all within my control. I've looked at language classes and online instruction exhaustively, but it never feels like good value for my money. That's because I've already been through all of those lessons. What I really need is simple immersion. Not having a Spanish-speaking friend, I need to seek one out. So the mission is to find a conversation partner (after first determining a reputable source to do so) and begin working my way up to fluency.
Though this one is part of a lifelong mission, it falls into the trial and error goals, because I'm not sure if this method is the solution. Perhaps I'll get started and realize that I do, in fact, need a structured course. Or that I need to drop everything and move in with a family in rural Argentina.
3. Creative Outlets - This category will start out vague, because I'm not sure which ones will catch on. Or maybe none of them will catch, but they'll all be valuable one-off experiences. They say that engaging in other creative outlets helps feed the creativity for your true passion. And who knows, maybe along the way I find another passion. Or learn some important lessons about life, the world, myself.
So I'm going to push myself to try things that I've never done, while trying to quell the fear of not being good at them. As a perfectionist, that's always part of the fear of new things. "What if I'm horrible?" My mind has often run away with itself, imagining the consequences in great, horrid detail. It can rarely be as bad as all of that. Thanks to services like Dabble, I'm going to keep the creative wheels turning and see what happens.
--
Three macro and micro goals apiece seems like a good starting point. Especially since some of them are still a little vague in my head and not immediately executable. They'll require some sifting, sorting and planning. I feel good about starting 2013; it's difficult to believe what a different starting position I'm in from last year.
Last, but not least, thanks to anyone and everyone who kept my little project on their radar in 2012. Honestly, keeping it up would've been infinitely more difficult if I hadn't seen any views when I peaked at the stats. Even one page view a day kept me compelled. It'll actually be pretty cool some day in the future to look back on that one time I essentially chronicled a year of my life. So thanks for keeping me on track.
In the next year, I'm not planning to disappear from cyberspace but the rules will be a little more lax. Tentatively, the plan is at least one post a week. The focus will probably be more photos and less text, but it'll really just depend on inspiration. You may get five posts one week, a short novel one day, or a single snapshot in a week with only a title. But I'll be around - and I hope you will too.
Happy New Year!
pour the bubbly \12.31\
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Labels:
champagne,
hat,
holiday,
wine
Victory is mine! The day-to-day account of a year in the life of my lens and my mind comes to a close. Knowing that I actually fulfilled the old "you can do whatever you put your mind to" adage is motivating in looking forward to 2013. So it's time to set some new benchmarks. Based on my commentary from yesterday's post, regarding the over-exuberance in committing to new things, I'm approaching plans for next year in a slightly different manner.Similar to goal-setting in a business environment, I'll have a couple overarching goals for the year. But I'll think a little more short-term for the goals with more of a trial and error aspect - those will be revised quasi-quarterly. (I say 'quasi' because the odds of me regrouping exactly on April 1 is unlikely.) This will allow me to feel at ease in not taking on a million ideas at once, and also in assessing whether my Q1 attempts were worthwhile without feeling guilty for not following through all year long. So it's more of a way to trick my own mind while also maintaining a semblance of organization.--
The overarching goals, as they stand today:
1. International Travel - At least two international excursions. Those are tentatively set already: Ecuador in late May and Croatia in September. If this quantity has room for increase, you'll find no complaints from me. I'd be happy to overachieve on this one.
2. Keeping in Touch - I can admittedly be pretty bad at this. I'm not the world's best phone talker. I'd actually be better at keeping touch if we went back to the old pen pal method, pen and paper. Or even email. My communication style is better suited to writing, but that's not the general method that other people in my life employ. But it's important to me that I do a better job of touching base with the important, yet distant, people in my life.
So there isn't an exact plan in place, but I need to sometimes suck up my lack of enthusiasm for phone calls and also consider other communication adaptations. Cards, flowers, text messages. It'll be different for the individual in question. And where the option is feasible, finding time to visit is the best alternative of all.
3. Photography - This should go without saying. I want to learn my camera so well that it feels like a native limb to my body, exploring function as well as composition and point of view. Where infatuation already exists, I think there is an opportunity to develop this hobby into a real love affair.
--
For the approximate timeframe of January through March, my trial and error goals include:
1. Exercise - The New Year's gold standard. As soon as spring hits, I can't get enough of active outdoor pursuits. A natural vigor for physical activity hits me. When it's dark, cold and dreary - nothing. Pushing buttons on my TV remote sounds like suitable aerobic activity.
So while I don't expect myself to be pushing five to seven days a week, I'd like to maintain at least a moderate level. They say it's good for your mental sanity, which is actual more important for me in the winter than my physical state. So a combo of yoga, perhaps once a week, and a couple pre- or post-work sessions in my basic basement gym will be the aim.
2. Spanish - I've loved the language since I was ten. While most people couldn't wait to finish the obligatory two years of language required in high school, I took four. Then I took two semesters in college, for fun. When I visit Spanish-speaking countries, I have mixed emotions of love and fear. I want to speak it, I love the way Spanish feels rolling off of my tongue, but I'm frustrated by my elementary capabilities.
Clearly that's all within my control. I've looked at language classes and online instruction exhaustively, but it never feels like good value for my money. That's because I've already been through all of those lessons. What I really need is simple immersion. Not having a Spanish-speaking friend, I need to seek one out. So the mission is to find a conversation partner (after first determining a reputable source to do so) and begin working my way up to fluency.
Though this one is part of a lifelong mission, it falls into the trial and error goals, because I'm not sure if this method is the solution. Perhaps I'll get started and realize that I do, in fact, need a structured course. Or that I need to drop everything and move in with a family in rural Argentina.
3. Creative Outlets - This category will start out vague, because I'm not sure which ones will catch on. Or maybe none of them will catch, but they'll all be valuable one-off experiences. They say that engaging in other creative outlets helps feed the creativity for your true passion. And who knows, maybe along the way I find another passion. Or learn some important lessons about life, the world, myself.
So I'm going to push myself to try things that I've never done, while trying to quell the fear of not being good at them. As a perfectionist, that's always part of the fear of new things. "What if I'm horrible?" My mind has often run away with itself, imagining the consequences in great, horrid detail. It can rarely be as bad as all of that. Thanks to services like Dabble, I'm going to keep the creative wheels turning and see what happens.
--
Three macro and micro goals apiece seems like a good starting point. Especially since some of them are still a little vague in my head and not immediately executable. They'll require some sifting, sorting and planning. I feel good about starting 2013; it's difficult to believe what a different starting position I'm in from last year.
Last, but not least, thanks to anyone and everyone who kept my little project on their radar in 2012. Honestly, keeping it up would've been infinitely more difficult if I hadn't seen any views when I peaked at the stats. Even one page view a day kept me compelled. It'll actually be pretty cool some day in the future to look back on that one time I essentially chronicled a year of my life. So thanks for keeping me on track.
In the next year, I'm not planning to disappear from cyberspace but the rules will be a little more lax. Tentatively, the plan is at least one post a week. The focus will probably be more photos and less text, but it'll really just depend on inspiration. You may get five posts one week, a short novel one day, or a single snapshot in a week with only a title. But I'll be around - and I hope you will too.
Happy New Year!
After a long, tense week there's one way to lighten the strain. NSYNC Home for Christmas. Belting it out as I make my way up three hours worth of highway, ironically, to go home for Christmas.
Did anyone else have a holiday concert when they were in elementary school (or perhaps you called it grade school)? For some reason I thought of that today. Perhaps it was the NSYNC tunes, despite the fact that none of those would've been featured in our musical program.
Each grade was assigned the same song year after year, and there was a perceived escalation of the songs' cool factor until you reached the pinnacle in fifth grade. The only year I'm drawing a blank on is first grade, but something makes me want to say that was Jingle Bells. Kindergarteners sang All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, for obvious reasons. And second graders were unenthusiastically stuck with Deck the Halls.
Things started to get fun in third grade; not only was there singing, but choreography as well. You'd be amazed at how much fun Up on the Housetop can be when you're eight years old. You may also be amazed at how long you can retain such choreography (twenty years and counting). And in fourth grade, we were given permission to sing both version of Rudolph. After singing it properly, we were allowed to amuse ourselves by throwing in nonsense ad libs - "Like George Washington!"
But the pinnacle, the culmination of an elementary school singing career, was the fifth grade performance of Jingle Bell Rock. You got to wear sunglasses. Indoors. At night. We prepared for the moment in December when the classes would unite to rehearse...and then the bomb was dropped. Fifth graders were being relegated to Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. Let the uprising begin. I don't actual recall how we boycotted or argued or whined about this, but the mandate was reversed and we became the final class to sing Jingle Bell Rock.
Every year ended with the whole school singing Silent Night, with the lights dimmed, while the fifth graders lined the aisles with battery-powered candles. Now that my life no longer contains an annual holiday concert, I've moved on to an annual trip down NSYNC holiday memory lane.
in sync with the season \12.20\
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Labels:
holiday,
music,
nsync
Did anyone else have a holiday concert when they were in elementary school (or perhaps you called it grade school)? For some reason I thought of that today. Perhaps it was the NSYNC tunes, despite the fact that none of those would've been featured in our musical program.
Each grade was assigned the same song year after year, and there was a perceived escalation of the songs' cool factor until you reached the pinnacle in fifth grade. The only year I'm drawing a blank on is first grade, but something makes me want to say that was Jingle Bells. Kindergarteners sang All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, for obvious reasons. And second graders were unenthusiastically stuck with Deck the Halls.
Things started to get fun in third grade; not only was there singing, but choreography as well. You'd be amazed at how much fun Up on the Housetop can be when you're eight years old. You may also be amazed at how long you can retain such choreography (twenty years and counting). And in fourth grade, we were given permission to sing both version of Rudolph. After singing it properly, we were allowed to amuse ourselves by throwing in nonsense ad libs - "Like George Washington!"
But the pinnacle, the culmination of an elementary school singing career, was the fifth grade performance of Jingle Bell Rock. You got to wear sunglasses. Indoors. At night. We prepared for the moment in December when the classes would unite to rehearse...and then the bomb was dropped. Fifth graders were being relegated to Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. Let the uprising begin. I don't actual recall how we boycotted or argued or whined about this, but the mandate was reversed and we became the final class to sing Jingle Bell Rock.
Every year ended with the whole school singing Silent Night, with the lights dimmed, while the fifth graders lined the aisles with battery-powered candles. Now that my life no longer contains an annual holiday concert, I've moved on to an annual trip down NSYNC holiday memory lane.
With the way that November disappeared, I already foresee the next week and a half whizzing past me. So things got a little crafty this weekend. You see, I somehow started this belief in my family that I'm creative. Hallmark has been deemed an unacceptable substitute, Mom and Grandma wait in expectation of what I can come up with on my own.
Most of my cards are a project in upcycling - paper scraps, magazine clippings, bits of ribbon, shapes made from cereal box, and so many other found objects. It helps that I also have a little cache of paints, markers, glues, and the oh-so-necessary X-ACTO knife.
Truth be told, I always think about the effort that goes into these cards with a lack of anticipation. It takes a lot of time and effort, constantly generating new ideas and putting them into effect. Then something funny happens, I get absorbed in the process. Once I get started, I can't stop thinking, "What else?"
Over time I've learned that the trick is to start early. If Christmas isn't until December 25, then December 9 gives me a good cushion to work on a little bit at a time. I don't feel rushed and make work that I'm not proud of.
On one hand it feels a little ridiculous that I'm nearly 29 years old and still creating homemade Christmas, birthday and Mother's Day cards. Then I remember that there's a huge crafting industry and a lot of women older than me making homemade cards...scrapbooks...and so many other things. And I must say that my current array of cards have a bit more panache than the washable Crayola marker on computer paper variety of days past.
coffee table takeover \12.09\
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Labels:
cards,
crafts,
holiday
Most of my cards are a project in upcycling - paper scraps, magazine clippings, bits of ribbon, shapes made from cereal box, and so many other found objects. It helps that I also have a little cache of paints, markers, glues, and the oh-so-necessary X-ACTO knife.
Truth be told, I always think about the effort that goes into these cards with a lack of anticipation. It takes a lot of time and effort, constantly generating new ideas and putting them into effect. Then something funny happens, I get absorbed in the process. Once I get started, I can't stop thinking, "What else?"
Over time I've learned that the trick is to start early. If Christmas isn't until December 25, then December 9 gives me a good cushion to work on a little bit at a time. I don't feel rushed and make work that I'm not proud of.
On one hand it feels a little ridiculous that I'm nearly 29 years old and still creating homemade Christmas, birthday and Mother's Day cards. Then I remember that there's a huge crafting industry and a lot of women older than me making homemade cards...scrapbooks...and so many other things. And I must say that my current array of cards have a bit more panache than the washable Crayola marker on computer paper variety of days past.
Do you remember, as a kid, when you got a new toy so coveted that you couldn't even consider leaving home without it? That's how I'm feeling about my camera. I'm afraid that if I don't have it with me at all times, I'm going to miss a prime photo opportunity. And my Android camera just isn't going to instill the same giddy feelings in me.
Since I don't currently have a bag for my camera, I'm tentative about bringing it out into the wild. Not to mention that I don't have a strap attached to the body, and the cold air makes me afraid of fumbling through gloved hands. I did go for a little test drive through the Lincoln Park Conservatory today, after an owners manual reading session.
Although the camera managed to catch some interesting shots, I'd attribute that more to the naturally amazing baseline of a dSLR and some luck. When playing with manual adjustments, I was just fooling around with only a scant idea of why I'd nudge the setting up or down a level. The good news is that I'm excited to learn; being the nerd that I am, learning and projects are exciting to me.
If anyone happens to know Chicagoland locations that would provide rich atmospheres for test driving my gear, I'm all ears.
miss scarlet, in the conservatory \11.25\
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Labels:
coffee,
flower,
holiday,
industrial,
tree
Do you remember, as a kid, when you got a new toy so coveted that you couldn't even consider leaving home without it? That's how I'm feeling about my camera. I'm afraid that if I don't have it with me at all times, I'm going to miss a prime photo opportunity. And my Android camera just isn't going to instill the same giddy feelings in me.Since I don't currently have a bag for my camera, I'm tentative about bringing it out into the wild. Not to mention that I don't have a strap attached to the body, and the cold air makes me afraid of fumbling through gloved hands. I did go for a little test drive through the Lincoln Park Conservatory today, after an owners manual reading session.Although the camera managed to catch some interesting shots, I'd attribute that more to the naturally amazing baseline of a dSLR and some luck. When playing with manual adjustments, I was just fooling around with only a scant idea of why I'd nudge the setting up or down a level. The good news is that I'm excited to learn; being the nerd that I am, learning and projects are exciting to me.If anyone happens to know Chicagoland locations that would provide rich atmospheres for test driving my gear, I'm all ears.
I'm reading a book that I don't particularly enjoy. It's all in the name of accomplishing that Randomhouse list of best books, which has taught me that everyone has a different definition of "best". Looking on the bright side though, the book did bring me one phrase that piqued my analytical mind.
"...she smiled, thinking how many shapes one person might wear..."
On a day where I wanted to do nothing more than come home and make zero effort at anything, I started thinking about the shapes that I wear. They're all me at the end of the day. (I'm less than adept at things involving lying and faking.) But what I'm learning as I get older is that "me" is not a single point on a grid. It's more of an arc that lives in a certain quadrant of that grid.
We all learn how to stretch or censor our personalities depending on the people and occasions. It's not natural for me to network in large groups of people I don't know, but I've learned how to fit who I am into that situation and do it my way. Sometimes I'm exhausted and have a penchant to enmesh myself in silence, but I wouldn't imagine leaving work at 2:00pm and refuse to talk to people.
And if you have ever managed to catch me in a state of sheer joy, you've witnessed one of the extremes in that arc known as "me". Giddy isn't a shape that I often wear, but I smile knowing that I possess it in my repertoire.
twinkle, twinkle big city \11.13\
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Labels:
buildings,
downtown,
holiday,
lights
"...she smiled, thinking how many shapes one person might wear..."
On a day where I wanted to do nothing more than come home and make zero effort at anything, I started thinking about the shapes that I wear. They're all me at the end of the day. (I'm less than adept at things involving lying and faking.) But what I'm learning as I get older is that "me" is not a single point on a grid. It's more of an arc that lives in a certain quadrant of that grid.
We all learn how to stretch or censor our personalities depending on the people and occasions. It's not natural for me to network in large groups of people I don't know, but I've learned how to fit who I am into that situation and do it my way. Sometimes I'm exhausted and have a penchant to enmesh myself in silence, but I wouldn't imagine leaving work at 2:00pm and refuse to talk to people.
And if you have ever managed to catch me in a state of sheer joy, you've witnessed one of the extremes in that arc known as "me". Giddy isn't a shape that I often wear, but I smile knowing that I possess it in my repertoire.
I've started seeing this every day as I wait at my usual bus stop. And it makes me grit my teeth, every day. Don't get me wrong, I'm impressed with the effort and showmanship of Zoo Lights. It's just that I refuse to accept November 1st as the beginning of Christmas season.
Go ahead, call me Scrooge or Grinch; you wouldn't be the first. While you're at it, though, tell Starbucks to put away their festive red coffee cups. Inform Lowe's that ornaments and twinkle lights are not yet in season, so they can hold the TV ads. And put the brakes on stacking tree stands and stockings next to the clearance-priced Halloween candy.
What's so wrong with taking twenty two days to appreciate and look forward to Thanksgiving? It has everything worth anticipating: food, football, family. Must we skip right past the day of giving thanks?
Once we hit Black Friday, do what you will with your tidings and cheer. Paint the town red. Throw up your bells and holly and lights. Direct masses of consumers to swoop through your doors and spend, spend, spend. I can't even argue with holiday music by that time (though I can still begrudge any holiday song that is not by *NSYNC or Mariah Carey).
For the record, it's not just the early mania for Christmas that gets under my skin; Halloween does not start the first week of September, nor does Valentine's Day need to begin before we've even stopped to revere MLK Jr. Christmas just seems to arrive early AND with heightened fanfare over these other days. Mostly I just love Thanksgiving, and I wish our society wouldn't throw it under the bus in an effort to fast forward to the next holiday.
what ever happened to thanksgiving? \11.03\
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Labels:
holiday,
neighborhood,
zoo
Go ahead, call me Scrooge or Grinch; you wouldn't be the first. While you're at it, though, tell Starbucks to put away their festive red coffee cups. Inform Lowe's that ornaments and twinkle lights are not yet in season, so they can hold the TV ads. And put the brakes on stacking tree stands and stockings next to the clearance-priced Halloween candy.
What's so wrong with taking twenty two days to appreciate and look forward to Thanksgiving? It has everything worth anticipating: food, football, family. Must we skip right past the day of giving thanks?
Once we hit Black Friday, do what you will with your tidings and cheer. Paint the town red. Throw up your bells and holly and lights. Direct masses of consumers to swoop through your doors and spend, spend, spend. I can't even argue with holiday music by that time (though I can still begrudge any holiday song that is not by *NSYNC or Mariah Carey).
For the record, it's not just the early mania for Christmas that gets under my skin; Halloween does not start the first week of September, nor does Valentine's Day need to begin before we've even stopped to revere MLK Jr. Christmas just seems to arrive early AND with heightened fanfare over these other days. Mostly I just love Thanksgiving, and I wish our society wouldn't throw it under the bus in an effort to fast forward to the next holiday.
Words that I would not use to describe my family's gatherings: quiet, dull, mundane, proper. Despite having to yell to be heard and the occasional need to escape to another room and recalibrate my hearing, there's a certain comfort in the chaos. It keeps things interesting. Today's individual topics of conversation ranged from cars and Elvis to toilet paper and my aunt's scarring episode with an unrelenting clown at the circus.
In the traditional sense, the heat chased us from a lot of the Fourth of July fanfare. Our picnic was indoors with the air conditioning, we watched some fireworks from the living room window, and no one brought sparklers. But the American flag flew from the back patio all day and we celebrated the independence of our nation through the togetherness of our family.
I can't even imagine being an outside individual (i.e. boyfriend or girlfriend) showing up to one of these gatherings for the first time. Even being born into this family, I find it difficult to get a word in edgewise most days.
grillin' time \07.04\
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Labels:
holiday,
miscellany,
summer
In the traditional sense, the heat chased us from a lot of the Fourth of July fanfare. Our picnic was indoors with the air conditioning, we watched some fireworks from the living room window, and no one brought sparklers. But the American flag flew from the back patio all day and we celebrated the independence of our nation through the togetherness of our family.
I can't even imagine being an outside individual (i.e. boyfriend or girlfriend) showing up to one of these gatherings for the first time. Even being born into this family, I find it difficult to get a word in edgewise most days.