Sunday, June 26, 2011

The Goal

I've never maintained a true blog before. This is my first. It might be my last. I just hope it doesn't have a short shelf life. I'm a little nervous that this blog will be another diary that starts off with high hopes of daily attention immediately followed by crisp, blank pages. Thankfully, this blog isn't intended to be a "dear diary" type anyway. This blog isn't even the real target. It's just a way to document my actual goal: to try new things.

More specifically, my goal is to try one new thing after another. This will result in a series of new experiences, something different in the hopper at any given time. This project is intentionally broad, but I've set a few rules to give it some structure. First, each new "thing" must be a skill that I can learn and practice. Needless to say, it should be a skill of interest that I can have some success with. Second, it must be completed over an extended (but reasonable) period of time. No "one-shot" deals, and no black belt mastery. Lastly, it must be tangible enough to document online with words and photographs. To further illustrate the point, here are some reject ideas. Around the World in Eighty Chocolates? Delicious, but not a skill. How about hopscotch? Whimsical, but too simple. Learning to play tabla? Highly awesome, but too complex. ESP? Difficult to document and generally questionable.

There are a couple reasons behind this project. First, I'm totally jealous. The creative efforts of others often make me say, "I want to do that! Why can't I be cool like that person?" I have a whole closet full of untouched interests and would-be passions. This project might give me the extra incentive I need to get a move on some of them. Second, while I'll be a full-time graduate assistant in the fall, technically I'm unemployed. Aren't jobless people supposed to blog?

I hope once in a while you'll visit and read about my latest phase. Or at least look at the pictures.

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