Day 30: Farewell!

Well, here we are at the end of the 30 days. I have basically held up my end of the bargain although I didn't hold very close to my rules while I was in Texas or Ohio. I did a lot of other activities in those two states though, and I think it leveled out a bit against the few games I played and the movie I watched. Considering that it was no problem to watch an entire trilogy of movies in a day a month ago, only watching one movie in 30 days seems like a decent feat. It was The Social Network for those of you wondering. It's a pretty good movie.

Some of my summary of what I've accomplished can be seen in my last post. I did finish that book I was reading, The Hunger Games, and I'm about a fourth of the way through the second book in that set. Carol and I are taking turns with it. I read ahead a few chapters and she catches up. She reads a few chapters, then I catch up. We walked to Arby's today and I mentioned that I think that was the first story book I've finished in a good 5 years or so. I've read other books, for school, work, or learning, but never one just for fun. Not in a long time.

The title of this post is "Farewell" because I don't see myself posting again on this blog any more. It will stand as a testament to a personal challenge, similar to my no-pop drinking New Year's resolution. A small personal sacrifice in the attempt to make my life slightly healthier, better, whatever. I still drink pop, but the occurances are far lower since the resolution, probably about 1/20th the previous level. Do I think this Renaissance will have a similar effect on my game playing and movie watching? We'll see. I'll probably read a bit more, and I'll continue to plug away at the programming, but I'll still play games.

It's funny, but I think I just spent a month teaching myself the lesson that everyone already takes for granted. "All things in moderation." When I was younger I used to hear that phrase and I would add, "All things in moderation, including moderation." Near the end of the month I was reading and playing chess mostly. And a few days ago was the first time in a really long time where I was genuinely bored. I don't usually get bored. When I say usually I mean for years on end I have not been to the point where I consider myself bored.

What will I do now? What will I probably do this weekend? I'll probably get the dust off my Xbox. I beat all my games before starting this journey, so I'm not sure what I'll play, maybe I'll rent something. Maybe I'll just watch some NetFlix. In the not so immediate future I'll continue to learn Spanish with a coworker who has taken up the interest on our lunch break. It's nothing intensive, just 5-10 new words each day. I'll probably still play chess, though after over a hundred games I don't feel I'm much better. I'm still struggling around the bottom of the ladder.

I have to think about if I'll start another blog any time soon. Although I know a couple of you have read most of my posts, it's still a very one sided proposition to write a blog. There's very little feedback, and mostly I feel like I'm just self-publishing a public-friendly diary that any curious person can read when they eventually get around to it. It's awkward. Take for example my Texas trip. I blogged more of that trip than I would have normally talked about. That's all fine and good except it leaves me very little to talk about in person when they have read my blog and seen my photos.

Anyway, it's been a fun little experiment, and Carol will certainly be glad that it's over. She's been waiting for me to be able to watch our favorite TV shows again, or to go out to a movie. Later everyone. It's someone else's turn to start a blog.

Day 28: A Puttering End

Sorry to those of you who may actually be checking my blog daily, for the intermittent posts. I have only worked, played chess, and read the past several days. It doesn't make for great reading, and I also only remember to post very late at night when I'm tired of reading. I'm going to finish this book before the end of this Renaissance month, since it would be the only one I've finished in that time.

Considering that I've been "not wasting my time" for a month, I haven't really learned much. I worked my way through half of my coding book, learned a few units of Spanish, played over 100 games of chess, and I will finish one singular book. That's not quite the stunning showcase I had originally intended.

I did go on a couple of vacations that broke things up a bit, I discovered a new magazine, Game Developer Magazine, and I guess I can add restrung my guitar to that list. Oh, and I maintained a blog with consistent posting, that was a first for me. I'm going to cut this short now though, because as I think about it, these are all topics I should be discussing at length in two days on the 30th and final day. Maybe I can squeeze some more productivity in the final stretch...

Day 26: The End Is Near

This will be another quick one. I keep forgetting to do this until I'm already ready for bed. The last two days I haven't done anything particularly interesting. I started reading that Hunger Games book that Carol finished over the weekend. It's pretty good so far and I'm averaging 70 pages a day, so I'll be ready for the second one by the end of the week. I played some more chess today, which is going much better for me now since returning from my two trips. I'm not sure why but I seem to notice potential tactics a little easier now.

On a note unrelated to my Personal Renaissance, I start my administrator training tomorrow. We're switching to a new system and they have to train my boss's boss on how to operate the system. Since I'm going to be the new administrator, I'm going to be sitting in on those training sessions as well. I expect that it's just going to be a representative talking her through the system over speaker phone. I don't know though. Anyway, I'm going to bed.