Date: 1-21-2014

Due Date: 1-21-2015

Resolution: My 52 Tuesdays is a challenge where this website (that is promoting a movie that they made) asks a new question every week on Tuesday. You then write down your answer and take a picture of your answer to share on their site. It seems fun, because of the way they have it set up, where you can only answer on Tuesday.

This is another project that I was thinking of doing to take the place of my weekly Southland Tales Review experiment. For those of you who haven't follow the experiment, click on the link to check it out. The weekly deadline I gave myself for this experiment was Tuesday before I went to sleep, so I thought this would be a fun way to make Tuesdays continue to be special.

That was before I came up with this 365 Days of Resolution experiment where every day is going to be special, but this resolution here will be why Tuesday's special.

I'll post updates here as well as on their site.

Date: 1-22-2014

Due date: 1-22-2015

Resolutions: I watch a lot of documentaries no matter what the topic. The other night I was watching The Revisionaries "This documentary looks at a pitched cultural conflict over school textbook standards in Texas, as determined by the state's Board of Education. For many, the creationist views of the board's chairman run counter to the findings of modern science." Somehow that triggered the above joke so I decided to make a meme about it.

I'm more of an evolution person so as I figure I would use this as an opportunity to track down the evolution of the hipster. Granted they weren't always known as hipsters and the name will change again but for the sake of this experiment with your help, I would like to create a timeline made up of memes depicting hipsters throughout history.

Date: 1-23-2014

Due Date: 1-23-2015

Resolution: Though this may sound like another mundane task, it's probably one of the more important projects especially as these resolutions continue to pile up.

I'm one of those people who work well in chaos. I usually create systems for organization, then create subsystems for how I will deal with my disorganized way until I have the time to commit to the main systems.

These subsystems usually become the main system after I return to the sub-subsystem of saving everything to the desktop. The subsystem being one file where I put everything to later sort out into the nicely organize folder structure of the main system when I feel like it.

Does that make sense?

As I said I work well in chaos to it all makes perfect sense to me. By the way, that's not my desktop in the image above. I at least hide my mess. I mainly deal with text, movies, and music. and keep any files for current projects readily available on the desktop, roughly sort the finished projects and the rest in my "to organize" folder.

I have a good memory as to where I store things and since (up until I started this blog) I mainly used computers to write screenplays. There's no real need to create folders within folders when you're dealing with a stand-alone document, so all this randomness worked for me at the time.

Now that I have this plan to pretty much start 365 projects I'm going to need to work on my computer organization skills. I've actually been organizing files bits at a time as a way to take breaks while transitioning from one project to next instead of my old transition technic of playing my favorite dart monkey game to switch gears and take a break. In fact… I've found that I rarely play games at all, choosing instead to work on one of the more mundane resolutions

This will be one of my new time killers, and believe it or not, since I'm making it part of a resolution it now seems fun and not like a chore.

Speaking of chores, here's the deal:

Right now I have two computers and several hard drives from computers past. One year from now I'll have all this information sorted out. Unlike my resolutions to clean my apartment and update this website where my goal was to get everything into working order as a one time deal, this resolution will go all the way up to 1-23-2015.

By that time all my resolutions will be made and I'll have folders with subfolders for sub-subfolders for each resolution. I will actually use folders with systems for photos, videos music, documents, etc. I'll be deleting all the useless files from everything that I own. Any external storage device will have an actual purpose and not just be additional dumping grounds. Most importantly I'll be using these systems and not just creating them.

This goes for my email as well.

I'm going to be in front of this computer a lot so I may as well make it pleasant.

To organization!!!

Date: 1-24-2014

Due date: 1-24-2015

Resolution: This year I'm finally going to figure out Photoshop.

If you've been following my progress you may notice that I add pretty simple images to my posts. The most complex I get is adding multiple images to one canvas without any other image manipulations. If I'm feeling fancy I may add text to an image.

That's always been good enough for me so I never bothered to learn more.

I once joked with a friend that I'm a bit of a half-assed perfectionist. It does bother me that the stuff I create isn't perfect but rather than get hung up on it, my pessimism kicks in thinking no one will see the thing anyways. so

This doesn't hold me back. I do complete most things that I set out to create. The problem is that I consider everything I do to be a first draft. I get everything to the point where I figure it's good enough to share for feedback to perfect at a later date, always waiting for someone else to say, "Hey this is good, if you perfect it I'll help you do something with it." I'm usually too busy with the next project to seek out this person so I have piles and piles of first drafts.

I'm currently working on an animation for the free Computer Science Class that I'm taking as part of Resolution #4. If you're wondering how I plan to come up with 365 resolutions, these things are like Matryoshka dolls. For every resolution that I start… I find there are at least three things I could learn to make them better.

I was originally just going to slap together an animation with whatever images I could find. Since I'm getting graded on the coding and not the imagery I figured why focus on the aesthetics. I figured if anyone was interested in this first draft I could revisit it then, or offer the file up to someone else to tidy up the images after I receive my grade.

Yesterday I was working on removing the background to an image using that stupid little wand. Even though I learned from You Suck at Photoshop that this is a stupid rookie tool, I've already come to grips with the fact that I'm also a stupid rookie tool so it seemed like it would be a good fit.

I fought with this wand and clicked and clicked and clicked and finally gave up.

I know there's a better way, and that's why I'm here.

Date: 1-25-2014

Due Date: 1-25-2015

Resolution: When I started this blog I meant for it to be a place for me to share my random musing in an attempt to branch out of my comfort zone and write more than just screenplay after screenplay.

I figured it would also be a good way to ease myself into sharing my work. As I said in past resolutions I'm a first draft writer. I write first drafts and then move on to the next project, in hopes that one day I will enter one of these first draft scripts into a contest or something where it will be selected and get the attention to encourage me to revisit past projects and release a flood gate of material.

This website was a good enough first draft for what I was up to at the time, but now people are actually looking at it.

I'd better make myself presentable.

This will be an ongoing process that will continue past the due date, but I have to be able to know when to judge whether I pass or fail.

Bear with me as I experiment with the SquareSpace platform that this site is built on as I try and figure it out. I know there may be better ways to develop a website as of now it works great for my needs.

I'm guessing as I learn more from my free education, get better at Photoshop and find myself entering in more and more code to create features that are not readily available through the SquareSpace I'm sure I'll eventually want to build something from scratch (brand new, not the cat based computer language I've been playing with.)

I can't wait to share my progress!

Date: 1-26-2014

Due Date: 1-26-2015

Resolution: Back when I first started this blog, a little over a year ago, I had a feature called The Wicker Pitch. This is where I throw out ideas to the world just to see what happens.

These pitches are made up of story ideas, services, inventions, or whatever else comes to mind that I would like to see exist but don't know how to go about making that happen.

Granted the stories that I pitch are for things that I would write if there's any interest, but for the rest of the ideas… I don't know where to begin. I also don't really know if I want to begin them. I just want them to happen.

For example, the other day I was looking for a TV series to marathon watch on Netflix. I saw the cover for the show The 4400 and it looked interesting to me so I went to Wikipedia to see if the show made it through its entire run. I found out that it was canceled on a cliff hanger after four seasons.

Alright, I'm not going to watch that one.

This led me to think that either Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon should produce a Closure series, where one or all of these companies would produce one last episode for each of these dead-end series. I don't know about you, but I would watch a lot more of these shows if I knew that I was just going to be abandoned at the end.

(I'm going to write this up an official pitch for this later)

I think that's a good idea, but I have no idea how to approach the companies to pitch this idea. I also don't know if I would want to be in charge of this project if they agreed. I just want to see it, even if I didn't get the pay or credit. I'd be fine if someone were to take the idea and run with it and make it a reality.

That said if you do steal any of my ideas and make a fortune I'd at least like a thank you... and maybe a couple of bucks. Also if you're inspired by one of these ideas and end up losing a fortune because it's actually a horrible idea I apologize in advance…

Date: 1-27-2014

Due Date: 1-27-2015

Resolution: A while back I read this article about how book reading in America is on the decline, whether it's a physical book, any form of an e-book, even audiobooks, book reading is dying.

I felt this was a sad fact but justified it by thinking of how non-book reading must be going through the roof. Between text, social media, email, online articles, etc. the average American probably fits in way more overall reading than ever before.

I could easily do a search to see if I'm correct, but I'm too busy not reading books to do any sort of research.

I'm actually good for reading at least one or two books a year, but rarely for the purpose of entertainment or leisure. I usually only read books when I want to learn how to do something or hone my skills for things that I already know how to do.

This year I'm going to change that. This year I'm going to turn book reading into a leisure time activity and fit in at least a half hours’ worth a day. I will count books that I read for research for any of these resolutions, but I won't count training manuals or how-to books that I plan to read to learn the skills needed to fulfill any of these resolutions.

I'll provide updates with the books that I'm going to read followed by updates with reviews of the books as I complete them.

I'm going to start with a book written by Chris Elliott entitled The Shroud of the Thwacker, a book that I bought years ago because I'm a Chris Elliot fan so I figure his book had to be up my alley. I still have yet to open the book, but I talk about it a lot and how I want to finally get around to reading it.

So, here I go...

Date: 1-28-14

Due Date: 1-28-15

Resolution: There's always been a part of me that wished I had it in me to be a gamer. I was lucky enough to get an NES back in Jr. High School when they first came out. I played the hell out of that system.

I bought the SNES years after it came out but only ended up buying and playing a couple of games. My friends and I played a lot of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. These friends were so better than me that I lost interest.

I still liked to watch people play, I was just nothing more than a button masher so and I gave up playing before I ever got comfortable with the new controller configuration. I have a hard enough time instinctively figuring out left and right due to my dyslexia.

By the time video game systems started to get more advanced I was busy with school, work, and my newfound love of partying, so I'm happy living in a world of two buttons and a direction pad.

My two favorite games of all time are Moon Patrol and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. I'm good to revisit both of these games at least once a year. These moments of nostalgia rarely last more than a couple of days, but it's fun when it happens.

When was in High School I would play Mike Tyson's Punch-Out until the buttons fell out of the controller yet I have only managed to beat Mike Tyson one time, and I think that was by decision if that even possible?

I know for sure that I got there by using the save-code 007 373 5963.

I’ve beaten every opponent in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out but I've always wanted to make it through an entire campaign undefeated. Hopefully this year I'll finally make that happen.

That said this resolution is about beating Mike Tyson, so below I will breakdown what I am requiring of myself to consider this resolution a success.

Date: 1-29-2014

Due Date: 1-29-2015

Resolution: I know I already have a section for posting updates for individual projects but sometimes I'm either too busy jumping from project to project to be able to update every little thing that I work on each day, especially now that these resolutions are piling up. I fear that my lack of updates makes it seem like I am only making these resolutions without any follow-through.

Every morning after posting my new resolution I go through the list and see which projects I can work on. I also determine which resolutions are either completed, are passive resolutions that are happening whether or not I'm actively working on them, or are resolutions that I'm waiting on. I then justify why I'm waiting. If there is no justification for why I'm not working on a resolution then I work it into my strategy for the day.

I will be sharing the notes that I take during this process so that those of you who are interested can follow along even if I am not posting resolution-specific updates.

I posted an example of yesterday’s notes here so that you can see what a complete day will look like. I may not always post updates in this format, and this may not happen every day, but if I do any work on a resolution you will be able to find out about it here.

The calendar in the sidebar will provide links to progress by date. I set up an RSS feed for these updates and am looking into what it would take to automatically generate a daily or weekly newsletter based on these updates. If you are interested in receiving updates in your email you are welcome to sign up for my mailing list for when I do implement this feature.

I look forward to continuing to share my progress.

Date: 1-30-2014

Due date: 1-30-2015

Resolution: I need to be my own boss so I can do projects like this for the rest of my life.

Date: 1-31-2014

Due Date: 1-31-2015

The Resolution: I just discovered this website last night… after they favorited this Tweet… ”Another day… another doubt!!! I need to sleep… no novel writing… I’ll finish in time though not the doubt I’m seeking…” A post that I made after feeling upset with myself for not fitting in any writing… other than blog writing… I went a little crazy and posted story after story until I ended up on the leaderboard… Even being number one in a couple of categories… This made me feel better about not meeting my writing goal… My resolution… write at least one post a day on this site… or more… if it’s needed to stay on the top of the charts!!!

Yay… the owl is excited…

Date: 2-1-2014

Due date: 2-1-2014

Resolution: I don't know if this is an actual thing or not but either way I'm going to make it a thing; a thing that I will complete.

When I was growing up my family couldn't be in a car without playing some sort of game to kill the time as we traveled from point A to point B. One of my favorites was the alphabet game where using signs, license plates, anything outside of the car your goal was to track down every letter in the alphabet, be the first to find a billboard for the San Diego Zoo to use the Z… and be declared the alphabet champion of the day.

Sure this made car rides fun but now I'm beginning to wonder if this is why I have no patience for just enjoying the moment. I feel if there is no purpose for leaving the house then why bother. You will never see me out venturing just to see where the day takes me. I do enough of that in my head as I come up with stories. I need a point B. I also need to know why I'm going to point B and when I can return to point A.

This mentality doesn't lead to much physical activity and I need to move around more so I figured why not use this resolution thing to try and get something going. I mean what list of resolutions would be complete without there being at least one promise to get more exercise?

I'm going to give myself 26 point Bs to get my A out of the apartment.

Date: 2-2-2014

Due date: 2-2-2015

Resolution: I guess I already appreciate classical music, but I want to get to a point where I hear a song and think "Oh, that's 'that song,' composed by 'that guy'," instead of what I currently think when I hear a song that I recognize, "Oh, that's that song from that movie." Then I go on to beatbox what else I know of the song.

Date: 2-3-2014

Due Date: 2-3-2015

Resolution: I just want to get back into the habit of wearing a watch.

I don’t have a cool story as to why I want to achieve this goal, well other than there being a time before cell phones that I never left the house without a watch, and I kind of liked the look. For this reason… I’m going to bring it back.

Date: 2-4-2014

Due Date: 2-4-2015

Resolution: It started as a joke that I made in response to a post about the outrage over a multilingual America the Beautiful Coke commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, but then I got to thinking about and figured... Why not? I'm going to learn Dutch.

Date: 2-5-2014

Due Date: 2-5-2015

Resolution: Ever since I was a little kid I've been unable to sleep without the TV on. In the days of the tube television… it was so bad that not only would I turn the brightness all the way down, as the night went on I would wake from time to time to turn the volume down until it got to the point where it was basically off. However, I wouldn't turn the TV off because I needed to hear that whistle sound that tube televisions make while they're on.

I've also had horrible sleep problems my entire life and have always known that this sleep habit is partially to blame and that's why I'm going to make the change.

Date: 2-6-2014

Due Date: 2-6-2015

Resolution: About five years ago I lost a lot of weight when my car broke down and I started riding a bike to work every day. It felt good to be smaller, but I was only exercising out of necessity. Once I got my car back I pretty much gave up on the bike.

That said I did keep the weight off for a good two or three years until whatever that trigger that's in me flipped leading me to not care anymore. I guess I figured my life would be better if I looked better, only to find that I still have to deal with the same problems in my head. I started to slowly put the weight back on and the next thing you know here we are.

I weighed myself the other day to see if this bucket-o-food diet would do anything. I was shocked to find that I managed to put more of the weight back on than I originally thought.

I was initially going to set a goal to get my weight down to the target BMI that’s recommended for my height of 6 foot 4 inches. They say I should be down to about 205lbs.

Granted I'm not skinny in this photo but I was happy with this size. Yet according to the BMI, I'm not overweight here, I'm still obese. I'd like to get down to around the 225-235lbs range which would still be considered overweight but I'm fine with that.

I know by adding this goal as a resolution that I will be able to make this happen.

Date: 2-7-2014

Due Date: 2-7-15

Resolution: Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Date: 2-8-2014

Due Date: 2-8-2015

Resolution: The Muppet Show was brought up on the podcast (Pop Everything) I was listening to on yesterday's walk. I remember really liking the show as a kid and if you asked me today I'd say I still love The Muppet Show, but I have no proof of this. Other than characters I couldn't tell you one thing that happened on that show.

At the time this was just a passing thought. Then I got home from the walk, posted some updates, got some writing in, and then decided to take a break. Lately… breaks mean I start up a movie, sit down, and knit as part of my Panchos for Penguins and my creative gift exchange resolutions…

I know it's not really a break because I'm still working towards completing another resolution but it's pretty relaxing and I look forward to it so I'll happily consider it a break. Then I started to think that I should create a resolution to watch something during these "breaks." That would ease any of my slacker guilt.

That's when the, "You put your chocolate in my peanut butter," moment hit me, and here we are.

Date: 2-9-2014

Due Date: 2-9-2014

Resolution: As these resolutions start to pile up it's getting harder and harder to divvy up the workload. I feel that I'm setting realistic goals and that I'm pretty good a prioritizing my daily game plan. In the end, I have a full year to accomplish any given goal. I went into this project expecting it to grow to be on the verge of getting out of control, so in no way am I discourage.

The past couple of days I've devoted the majority of my time to completing Resolution #10. Since I announced in The Daily Breaker that I was going to focus on this resolution until it's complete I felt less stress about neglecting my other resolutions.

I've learned over the past couple of days that juggling is fine, but sometimes I need to slow down and focus on one trick. So from here on out, I will be setting aside at least one day a week to focus on one resolution without feeling any guilt that I'm neglecting the others. If anything this day of focus will bring the resolution that I'm focusing on closer to completion, giving me more time to work on everything else.

Note: During this day of focus I will continue to work on the resolution I set to be either daily, ongoing, or designed to force me to take breaks.

This may be another resolution that's not all that exciting, but it's needed.