29 Things: Week 5

And just like that we are almost at the end of the month. I feel like I have been working pretty hard and been rather productive!  It helps that I have moved to a new office, and the hustle and bustle has helped me to stay focused on getting things done--- and there is lots to do because there are lot of changes and new things happening.  Being productive makes me feel really good about myself, go figure!

I have also started using Habitica to help motivate me and keep me oriented on my goals.  I am also try to break some bad habits and start new ones.  The prospect of having to log in and subtract points for drinking soda has kept me from indulging.  This week I've started to make a point to bring my lunch to work and give myself the chance to hit the (+) button!  I still need to work on going to bed on time (and therefore getting up on time) and exercising. I even have a 'No Netflix' button that I get to hit . . . sometimes, thanks Star Trek Voyager.

How am I doing with everything else?

29 Things Before 30

I'm going be 30 soon!  It's scary and exciting!  It's motivating to get some sh!t done before then!

I've been fine tuning these for over a week and now I'm going to force myself to stop and post them or I will never get on with it.

28 Things Progress Report: Week 23

Boy do American politics make it tough to get anything done!  It seems like every couple days there is something crazy going on that requires time to read up on and decide how to react--- laugh, cry, scream, organize.  I'm trying to stay focused on my goals when I can, but it is hard with so many important things demanding my attention in addition to the usual--- work, school, doggie.

1. Finish #52FilmsByWomen challenge (goes until end of 2016)

PROGRESS:  I drew up a fab plan to get the remaining 7 films watched, but I fell behind last week.  Instead of 4 films I only watched two.  I finally watched Double Happiness (yes, internal library loans!) and I also watched After the Wedding after I heard Hugh Laurie praise the director at the Golden Globes.

28 Things: Progress Report Week 20

Week 20! That means my 28th year is nearly halfway over!  Eek!  Time flies!  I also feel like I lost most of November and December to a black hole of post-election/NoDAPL attacks/work drama depression.  I had a restful holiday week and am hopeful that my funk in drawing to a close and that I'm looking forward to getting back into the thick of things in this next year!

I am expecting 2017 to be tough, probably tougher than 2016.  But I did a tarot reading for myself for the year, and although it predicted a few rough patches, it was surprisingly positive and promising much success.  That's a bit perplexing for me, but I'm going to try to run with it (albeit with a bit of skepticism).

Since this is the start of the new year, I'm also taking the opportunity to revise and/or change some of my goals a bit if I want.  I did not take into account how taxing it is to be back in school, and I've got a lot on for the spring semester so I maybe want to dial down the number of big projects I'm assigning myself.

While I didn't accomplish all 70 million things I wanted to get done during the holiday week, I do feel like I made some good progress on several thing.  Let's see if I did . . . 

1. Finish #52FilmsByWomen challenge (goes until end of 2016)

PROGRESS: Ok, so I should have completed this by Dec 31st, but I'm a little behind.  I went back through my list and I only need to watch 7 more films.  Not too bad!  I already have them planned out so I should be able to complete this by the first week of February.

Over the past two weeks I also got some good viewing time in and checked off 5 films.  I watched--- May in Summer (ok I guess, interesting because it is not set in the US but in Jordan), Your Sister's Sister (eh, more white people giving themselves drama/depression due to relationship problems), Under the Tuscan Sun (cute romantic feel-good movie set in beautiful Tuscany, Sandra Oh is there, has a nice message about love and family not having to be the husband/wife/nuclear family kind), How to Make an American Quilt (I really liked this!), and because I liked Quilt, I watched The Dressmaker (quirky, cute, darkly and subtly funny) which was directed by same director, Jocelyn Moorhouse.

Progress Report: Week 18

It's been hard to keep up with my goals over the last two months.  I've been feeling depressed and have been having trouble writing and being motivated.  But it's good to check in and make some steps forward no matter how small or few.  The end of the year is coming, and I must look forward to what I can do with some New Year's momentum . . .

1. Finish #52FilmsByWomen challenge (goes until end of 2016)

PROGRESS - I've gotten more behind on this, but I am still chipping away.  I was behind by 3 films and then added 6 more weeks, meaning I should have watched 9 films by now.  I've watched 5 - Miss Julie (didn't like), Adore (found interesting), Absolutely Fabulous The Movie (cute for those who get all the inside jokes), and Black in America Since MLK: and Still I Rise (definitely learned a lot, but felt like some stuff seemed missing) and What Happened Miss Simone (liked! learned a lot here too).

2. Collect the rest of the state quarters I am missing (I am missing Hawaii, Nebraska, Michigan, and Iowa) - COMPLETE

PROGRESS A friend of mine send me Hawaii, Michigan, and Iowa, and then someone at work serendipitously found the Nebraska quarter a few days later. 

3. Watch these 12 films : The Darjeeling Limited, Wild, Trainspotting, Equity, Carol, Absolutely Fabulous The Movie, 8 1/2, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Day for Night, The Fits, Brief Encounter 

PROGRESS: Absolutely Fabulous finally became available for digital rental!

4. Read these 4 feminist reads: To the Lighthouse, The Feminine Mystique, The Beauty Myth, Americanah

No Progress

5. Read 3 of these books that I own or have started reading: Shrill, We Were Feminist Once, Savage Grace, Anna Karenina, Lean In

No Progress

6. Visit Lambert Castle in Paterson, NJ

No Progress

7. Get my passport

No Progress

8. Get involved in local alumni film festival or environmental film festival

TINY PROGRESS:  I was emailing back and forth with a film festival and was about to meet with them, when I realized they had confused me with someone else.  Once I cleared that up, they stopped being so responsive.  So who know what will come of this.

9. Finish off another student loan COMPLETE

I only have one small loan left, so I want to pay that off this week.  I just need to find time to call them during business hours.

10. Start to learn to play the drums

No Progress

11. Complete a serious outline for a screenplay

No Progress

12. Write a song

No Progress

13. Move  COMPLETE 

28 Things: Progress Report Week 12

Boy, have I had trouble keeping up with these progress reports!  It is a sign that I've forgotten about my goals.  Between never-ending upheaval at work, trying to stay on top of school work, and feeling depressed and exhausted by the world I've bumped off track a little bit.

1. Finish #52FilmsByWomen challenge (goes until end of 2016)

PROGRESS - I'm still behind on this, I really want to catch up.  I really enjoyed working on this challenge last (calendar year)!  I need to stop watching junk and focus on checking out some lady directors again.  I should have watched 6 films by women since the last report.  I've watched two: Pelican Dreams and The Lifeguard.  I enjoyed both.  At the time I watched Pelican Dreams I was really depressed about the state of the planet and I was hoping that the film would cheer me up and although it really wasn't a depressing film it didn't make me feel any better.  I also watched the final cut of the documentary film about women's education I've been working on which was directed by June Cross . . .  I've got 3 films to catch up on! . . . I also watched The Girl on the Train, which I really liked and felt like it was directed by a woman but it wasn't HOWEVER it was shot by a woman (who also did Far from the Madding Crowd)!

2. Collect the rest of the state quarters I am missing (I am missing Hawaii, Nebraska, Michigan, and Iowa) 

No Progress

3. Watch these 12 films : The Darjeeling Limited, Wild, Trainspotting, Equity, Carol, Absolutely Fabulous The Movie, 8 1/2, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Day for Night, The Fits, Brief Encounter

No Progress

4. Read these 4 feminist reads: To the Lighthouse, The Feminine Mystique, The Beauty Myth, Americanah

PROGRESS:  I finished Americanah!  I really really liked it a lot!

5. Read 3 of these books that I own or have started reading: Shrill, We Were Feminist Once, Savage Grace, Anna Karenina, Lean In

No Progress

6. Visit Lambert Castle in Paterson, NJ

No Progress

7. Get my passport

No Progress

8. Get involved in local alumni film festival or environmental film festival

TINY PROGRESS:  I emailed the local environmental film festival about getting involved, but I've yet to hear back.

9. Finish off another student loan

COMPLETE!  I completed this on a bit of whim!  Originally planning on pay this off in January, I got frustrated trying to sort out a technicality and just paid it off three months early! Surprise!  Now I just have one loan left and it is not very large, I plan on ridding myself of that one very soon as well!

10. Start to learn to play the drums

No Progress

Next Step - Find the drum sticks in the garage

11. Complete a serious outline for a screenplay

No Progress

12. Write a song

No Progress

13. Move  COMPLETE