Oolong and Oatmeal

So, I'm not a fan of resolutions. They don't work. Stop it. They don't.

Goals work. Commitments work. But resolutions. Not so much.

All that to say, here are my goals, my commitments for 2010:

I'm going to post here again. I miss it. No one reads it so no one misses it, but I miss it.

I'm going to dial in some quite time. This is not Quiet Time like Bible reading and prayer. Not that I'm not going to do those things, in fact, I'm going to focus on doing those things more and better, but this is different. I'm talking about having time where I am quiet. Time with no noise, radio, tv, phone, computer, etc. Quiet. I'm not sure what i'm going to do in these times, but that'll come.

My iPhone is going to stay in my pocket more. Less "checking facebook and Twitter." Less games. I'm on the phone fiddling and wasting time way, way too much.

Back to the gym and better on the diet. I haven't weighed myself yet, that'll be Monday. But the goal will be to lose. That I assure you.

I'm going to compete in something physical. At least a 10k.

That's all I've got for now. I'll post more later.

So, I've been quiet on the Twitter and Facebook lately. Not just on my personal pages but for Celebrate Recovery and Life's Healing Choices too. I don't really know why.

Well, that's not entirely true. I've needed the break. Pure and simple. Around the Summit I was almost always checking Twitter and Facebook and lots of other social sites too. It was fun, exhilarating. But it was exhausting too. Ever notice how those things tend to go together?

It was fun because people were talking about the Summit, about what we were about to go through together, but it was exhausting because I always felt late, behind. Like I was playing catch up.

So, I unplugged for a bit. I've enjoyed the break but if I let it go too much longer I know that I'll go nuts. Either that, or I'll forget about those things all together and then I really will be behind. I plan to get back on this week, if for no other reason than the distraction from the truly mind boggling amount of work ahead of me for the next few weeks. But also, I miss it. I miss the conversations and connections. 

I never thought I would think of status updates and tweets as conversations, but they are. I can't wait to get back into it.

Plus, seriously. I have so much work to do. It's scary really.

So, a couple of years ago I started listening to classical music. I never know, should it be Classical Music all imposing like or classical music, like it's your friend?

Whatever.

Anyway, I started listening to classical Music (how's that for a compromise. By the way from now on we'll just use CM. Cool? Cool.) as background music while I worked. Slowly but surely it's become my favorite genre of music. Don't get me wrong, it isn't for every occasion. The gym for instance is not the ideal time for CM. But writing, or cooking or reading or any number of other things? Yes please.

Yesterday I found that I've amassed 3 1/2 days worth of CM in my iTunes library. I have no idea how that happened. I'm going to try an experiment, I'm going to listen to all three and one half days worth of music in a row. No, not without a break, but if I'm listening to music, then that music will be classical. 

To be clear, I'm not sitting in a dark room with headphones really studying the music (although that doesn't sound half bad. Can I get paid for that?) I'm going to listen to it a work and the car and at home. (You're welcome kids!)

At the gym, nope. Right now I'm listening to some opera. This is not my favorite kind of CM but I thought I'd give some of the standards a shot. It is very pretty and in a different language. It is kind of challenging because it's just so opera, you know?

Anyway, I like it and it's great to write to. I'll keep you posted on the experiment and if I blow it and end up listening to something not Classical but still music.

So, every so often I get a little big for my britches and spend far too much time thinking about things like writing, classical music and tea.

Then something so great comes along that gets me right back where I belong. Tonight that thing was the show Wipeout. Oh. My. Goodness. I love this show. I love the obstacles, I love the commentary, but mostly I LOVE watching the contestants make fools of themselves and fall. The harder, the funnier.

I have to wonder what some of these people are thinking because, man, this show looks hard. I love that my wife laughs with me too. 

Such a great show and a great way to bring me back to my roots. Now, who's up for some fart jokes?

I just wanted to quickly point out that lots of the stuff on this blog regarding writing and productivity has been inspired by a guy named Merlin Mann. Now, before you go and Google his name I just want to warn you that sometimes Merlin "works blue." This doesn't so much bother me, but I wanted to point it out just in case it would bother you. 

Anyway, Merlin has an idea (system?) called Inbox Zero which is very popular. It's all about processing distractions out of your life so you can get to the business of creating. I love it. A lot of the stuff he talks about has found it's way into my head and onto this blog. I don't think I've outright stolen anything from him, but I do want to give him credit for getting me thinking about writing and being creative. 

That is all.