Goal Progress Report

So my intention to report on my goal progress really fell apart at the end of the year, but whatever.  Next year I’ll know that a strict goal-reporting requirement doesn’t work for me :) Anyway, here is my last update on how I did with my goals this year.

1) Financial.  I’m happy to say that I’ve completed 3 big steps for my financial goals this year.  I paid off my smaller private student loan, and then I shifted gears and decided to bolster my emergency fund up to 3 months before returning to work on the big federal loan.  This I have succeeded in doing!  Finally today, after about a year of laziness and then a month or two of getting everything in order, I closed my Bank of America account and moved all my money dealings over to a credit union.  In 2012 it will be time to attack the rest of the student loans full-force, and my new goal will be to get it paid off before Christmas of 2014.

2) Free Thing in LA every month.  This sort of waned off towards the end of the year, too, since everyone is so busy with holiday events (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas…).  Some of the latest attempts at adventure didn’t end up panning out (The Victorian Advent Fair was more of a small neighborhood community thing, for example) but whatevs.  I still think I did an enormous amount of exploring of Los Angeles this past year due to my free outings, and some of them were a huge hit.  I’ll definitely be returning to the Kite Festival, for example, and Shakespeare in the Park.  Keep your eyes on your facebook events next year, LA friends, and I will try and keep digging up interesting events!  Special thanks to Eye Spy LA’s free section, from which I get most of my inspiration.

3) Games.  This is another one that waned pretty quickly on its specificity, but I still feel like I did a good job of spending time with new and different games this year.  Since my last update, there has been Dragon Age: Origins, Uncharted 3, Driver: San Francisco, TripleTown, Trine, Spacechem, Innercube, and so on and so forth.  I do have on my list to get my hands on Batman: Arkham City, Skyward Sword, and Rayman Origins soon.  We’ll see.

4) Sewing.  Again, even though I accomplished my 3 things, I still have done a fair amount of mending and sewing stuff this year, keeping the sewing machine oiled and in use.  My latest project was cobbling together some thriftstore clothes to make my wild-west costume dress for our Christmas party.

In closing, I think my goals-for-the-year experiment turned out more or less a success.  Some of these things, like the free LA events and the sewing, I hope to turn into habits.  Stay tuned for 2012 wherein I think up some new and exciting year-long goals!

Free Thing for November

So I slacked off in October for the Free Event for the month.  Partially because Blizzcon and Halloween-themed activities ate up that time.  Time to forge ahead and look at November!

Tuesday, Nov 2, 6-10pm Day of the Dead Festival.  I know it's tough to get people rallied to go out and about on a weeknight, but I really love Dia de los Muertos stuff and would really enjoy checking this out.  If anyone would be up for a middle-of-the-week adventure, please let me know!

Saturday, Nov 12, 2-3pm Family Origami Day.  Who doesn't love origami!

Saturday, Nov 12, 3:30 - 5:30pm Myth-busting Bats.   I love bats so much, they are the coolest critters ever.  I also like nature lectures a lot.

Saturday, Nov 19, 2-5pm Yarn Bombing Los Angeles Collective.  Just a meeting of a local knit group that's open to the public and free.  I'm secretly a knitter.

If any of those sound intriguing, please let me know and I'll get an event organized up!

Goal Progress Report

1) Free thing in LA every month. August's free activity was the Independent Shakespeare Festival's free performance of Hamlet in Griffith Park. It was really fun, and a fantastic performance! I'm glad lots of people came out and joined in on the picnic.

Also, Insomniac's Wrap Party was at Six Flags yesterday, so I suppose that can also count as a free event. As part of the gift package they gave us all free passes to the water park to use in September, so at the very least that'll be my September free-thing. I'll try and scare up a good public event as well. Potential events include...

Chinatown Summer Nights on 9/10 (http://chinatownsummernights.com/). Seems to involve food and music.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has lots of nature-related events throughout September: learning about snakes, stargazing hikes, wilderness survival skill lessons, etc. However, these are usually a bit of a drive and often parking is not free, so I'd want to get a bit more organized with a small group before doing any of them.

An Interfaith Choral Concert on 9/11

The Dubnoff Outdoor Festival on 9/24 in North Hollywood - food trucks, games, prizes, various bits of entertainment

Citywide Yard Sale in Santa Monica on 9/24

Vintage Paper Fair on 9/24 and 9/25 in Glendale (http://vintagepaperfair.com/) - old photography, pinups, brochures, post cards, stuff like that.

Redondo Pier Car Show, if you like cars, on 9/25

2) Games. Nick and I have been playing Deus Ex, and I like it very much! I'm actually doing more watching and back-seat gaming with this one, which leads me to question, does this count as playing? Perhaps I should explore back-seat gaming in an #AltDevBlogADay article

3) Sewing. I'm making things! With patterns! But I can't say what they are because they are for presents.

Goal Progress Report

1) Free Thing in LA Every Month. Since my parents were in town in July, we went down to El Pueblo and then on to Little Tokyo where a music and arts festival was going on. It mostly made me hungry for Japan, but was a nice walk, and I'd never been down near MOCA before to see all that artsy stuff, so it worked out well. The rest of July was filled with non-free events (NASL and MLG).

For August, I was thinking of hitting up the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, because my parents' visit made me homesick and it reminds me of Shakespeare in the Park in Louisville. I'm thinking of trying to catch either Love's Labour's Lost or Hamlet, either the weekend of the 13th or the 20th. If you want to come have a picnic with me, let me know!

2) Games. I have actually been playing a TON of games recently, but a lot of it has been research for work, so I don't think it counts for this goal. Other than that, I've been enjoying Outland immensely. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a really fast and snappy platformer combined with color-switching bullet hell (like Ikaruga). Unlike Ikaruga, though, the platforming aspect of it lets you pace yourself, and learn more slowly, so you get less panicky and spammy.

The other game I've been playing a lot for fun is Sanctum, which is a first-person-shooter tower defense game. I really like the solutions they came up with for constructing defenses in a first person view. It's also a very mild shooter, since once the defense starts, you usually just teleport to various locations in your map, and shoot from a stationary position. Running and gunning is entirely optional.

Meanwhile, there were a few re-releases (other than Stranger's Wrath) that I was looking forward to, but I've completely forgotten which ones they were now, doh! I guess when they pop up in the PSN store, I will remember :)

Goal Progress Report

1) Games. I've been doing pretty good on this front recently! Been playing a TON of Realm of the Mad God, which is a browser-based MMO fantasy-themed bullet hell shooter. It's extremely easy to jump in and out of, and it's not a grind to build up a character. Death is permanent, so if you die you just roll a new character. You unlock different classes as you level up the base ones, and it's just a generally great time killer. I might do a more in depth post about this.

Racettear: An Item Shop's Tale was on sale on Steam, so Nick and I have been playing that the past couple of days. It's a game where you run an item shop in an RPG, and you have to acquire good items to sell and haggle prices with customers and stuff. I think it's great!

2) Free things in LA. Still have an eye on that festival in Little Tokyo for this month, stay tuned.

3) Sewing: I am going to sew something for-reals! I'm assembling a pattern and everything! I really should acquire an iron for this, I think.

4) Plugging along. Contemplating selling my PS2 and all my games, we'll see...

Goal Progress Report

1) Free thing in LA every month: I went down to the Fiesta de las Flores at El Pueblo today, ate 2 churros (probably a mistake), watched some folkloric dances, wandered up and down Olvera Street, and took lots of photos - https://picasaweb.google.com/lisa.deanne.brown/FiestaDeLasFlores

This place is really one of my favorite spots in LA, I love it! So, free thing for June checked off, though I MAY consider going down to my CSA farm next weekend to pick blackberries. Only if I can get some folks to go with me, though.

Thinking ahead to July...
- FIFA Women's World Cup. The Goethe-Institut is broadcasting select matches for this, and I'm considering wrangling up the Insomniac soccer crowd to go watch together. Matches run from 6/26 to 7/17, so it's a little flexible. http://bit.ly/jZKpwW
- Obon Festival at the Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo. I am a big fan of these cultural festivals, may as well add another to the list! http://bit.ly/iBcoMO

2) Video Games: More LA Noire. Now that PSN is back up, I can get Outland, but I have to get around to it.

3) Financial: I've been having little mini stuff-sales that bring in bits of cash and help me de-clutter. It helps that I'm in another "stuff purge" mode. Otherwise, just plugging along!

Goal Progress Report

1) Games: Nick and I played a fair ways into L.A. Noire on Monday, and I am really enjoying it. I feel like it's a sort of love-it-or-hate-it game, as it is very much like Phoenix Wright. That is, it is a highly cinematic, low-impact sort of game that it is easy to play as a pair while lazing on a couch, finding clues and identifying liars together, trading the controller back and forth, and guessing the outcome of a case well before we solve it (which I find very gratifying). I am anxious to get back to it, but I would like to continue playing alongside Nick, and as it is crunch time for the programmers on R3, it may be a bit yet.

2) Financial: Today was a glorious day! I sent in the final payment for my small private student loan. GOAL ACHIEVED! Now all that money will in turn go towards the last big beast of a federal loan. I'm working on ways to break it down into short-term goals for myself, so that I can stay focused and pay it off as efficiently as possible. With my current budget, I can be debt-free by October of 2014, but I feel like I can keep pushing that further and further.

3) Free Thing in LA Every Month: When at the soap box race, we swung down to El Pueblo for a bite to eat, and I noticed banners for La Fiesta de Las Flores, which takes place June 18. I'm definitely going to hit this up, but am still perusing EyeSpyLA for other free events of interest in June.

Goal Progress Report

1) Sew 3 things. 3 of 3 complete! I have reached my goal of sewing 3 things with the sewing machine this year! I decided to try and think of more things that I could use my scrap fabric for, and ended up making a sort of hanging pouch to keep my books and notepads in when taking a bath. Just because I've completed this goal doesn't mean I'll close up the sewing machine for good, but I will stop reporting on it unless I do another project.

2) Free thing in LA each month: Yesterday, Josh Noble and I went down to see the Redbull Soapbox Race, which was really fun. It was craaaaaaazy crowded. The entries were judged on speed, creativity, and showmanship, so all the cars were decorated in ridiculous ways. My favorites were a food truck soapbox car and one that was done up to look like a Mexican ice cream cart. There was even an Angry Birds entry, and feathers flew everywhere as it zoomed down the course. There were a few spectacular crashes, too! We didn't end up seeing all the entries (there were 40!) but it was a fun time and we ended up grabbing lunch in Chinatown and eating at El Pueblo, which is fast becoming one of my favorite spots in LA.

3) Games. Still slacking on this, as I've been playing League of Legends pretty much exclusively all month. It's going to be hard to re-focus until after Gold, but I do still intend to get Outland once the PSN store is back up.

4) Financial: Nothing exciting to report here, just plugging along.

Plan of Attack

When times get busy at work, my apartment tends to fall to pieces. Usually it just takes enough motivation to get started tidying and before too long things are in place and my energy restored. I don’t have a huge place, so it never takes too long to clean, but this weekend I decided a different approach was in order. I went around my apartment and inventoried the places that were messy and what was out of place, to see if I can put in some measures of prevention once things get clean again.

Here are the problem spots and some brainstorms for solutions. Any thoughts are welcome:

Entrance Hallway:
This is the worst offender. I have a nice empty to-do crate on the other side of my apartment, and the idea is that this is where I drop mail and stuff to be processed later. It used to work really well before I got Mr. Davis. Now, as soon as I enter my apartment, I am met by the happiest, most affectionate kitty, and snuggle time begins. This means that mail, grocery bags, and anything I carry in winds up on the floor and stays there for days or weeks.

1) I clearly need something here right at the entrance to throw my stuff down on, and ideally I would just move my to-do crate right here. However, I still need to keep the entrance from feeling cluttered, and it’s a very narrow hallway.
2) I have my bike bags hanging here, and this is where I store flattened CSA boxes, I can move these elsewhere.

Bathroom:
I read books while in the tub, and sometimes make notes or lists. This usually means that the bathroom floor is covered in books and notepads. Next is that I tend to leave stuff like floss or tweezers or nail clippers out on the sink, because my medicine cabinet is narrow and they fall out easily. Next is dirty clothes on the floor. This one is baffling to me, because I have a built-in cabinet hamper right there. It’s RIGHT THERE. I do not know what stifles my motivation to lift my discarded clothes a mere 2 feet vertically and put them into the hamper.

1) I really just need a basket or something to stick the books in, maybe with a towel cover to keep them from getting dripped on. Maybe something with pockets that I could hang from the towel rack.
2) I should probably clear out one of my pull-out drawers by the sink to use for the stuff that clutters there, or just put a small open basket out on the sink that I can lay the things in.
3) I really have no idea what to do about the hamper issue, this might just be a behavioral thing that I’ll have to hammer on. IT’S RIGHT THERE.


Kitchen:
For some reason I’m always really unmotivated about emptying the dishwasher. Filling the dishwasher and running it is great. Totally on top of those. But when I’m lazy about emptying it and dirty up more dishes, I get the gross sink backlog. Also, I’m terrible about shutting cabinets. It used to drive my mother crazy, and I’ve never been able to shake the habit. Lastly, my garbage can and recycling can are difficult to get to.

1) The dishes thing might just be behavior, but I could also address the issue by culling some of my dishes, which would force me to wash as I go. I don’t have a ton of dishes as it is already, though. I think easier-to-reach dishtowels would help me wash as I go. I hang them on the oven handle right now and they fall off really easily. I should just hang them on the wall.
2) Is there some device you can put on cabinet doors that makes them push closed automatically? Surely this has been invented.
3) The issue with my garbage and recycling is that there’s not enough room under the sink for both of them, and there’s no other room in the kitchen for them. If I went for a small thing that I could keep on the counter, it might encourage me to empty it more often. Or I could try and find something narrow enough to fit in the gap between my fridge and counter

Living Room
Biggest problem here is the laptop with its cables and accessories dragging all over the place. That and cat toys laying all around the place.

1) I think i can solve the laptop issue by running an extension cord from an out-of-the-way socket around to the couch, so that it isn’t crossing walking space. then I can keep most of my power cable tucked away in the laptop bag.
2) One of my neighbors moved out and didn’t want to haul along their cat tree, so I took it on. Mr. Davis has 2 cat trees now! SPOILED! Anyway, this new one has a cubby at the bottom that he doesn’t seem interested in, so I think I’ll pile all his toys in there

Crafty Area
When I’m not actively sewing, this area stays tidy, but the moment I open the machine to mend something, it explodes with mess. I think that’s because right now I just have all my scrap fabric shoved into a cabinet, so it all spills out when I open it to get something.

1) I can solve this by condensing some things in my chest of drawers and organizing the scrap fabric in the drawers. I can use the rolly cabinet for something else.

Goal Progress Update - lost count

This is what happens when the Gold deadline approaches, I fall off the wagon! Here’s an update all the same.

1) Free thing in LA Every Month: Alas, I fell off the wagon and missed an event for April. I had one lined up - a free pass to the Renn Faire, but when the day came Nick and I were so low-energy that we decided it was best to stay in. However, I am determined to make May count. Here are some ideas

Tomorrow - NASA/JPL open house. Science! http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/open-house.cfm

Friday, May 20 - Jazz and Steel Drums. I like steel drums. http://bit.ly/mErrAv

Memorial Day Weekend - DOG SHOW. I have a secret, guilty pleasure for watching dog shows. The genetic manipulation just utterly fascinates me! I need someone dog-nerdy as me to come, too http://bit.ly/ioKx4u

2) Sew 3 things. 2 of 3 complete. That’s right, I completed my second sewn thing! It’s a pretty simple project, a sachet I made as an apartment-warming gift for Josh when he moved. It’s filled with dried lavender leaves from last year’s herb garden, and dried thyme buds from this year’s. Simple enough that I need to buy another lavender plant and make more (last year’s plant didn’t make it). I also have an idea for project number 3, but it will actually require me to go buy fabric instead of using stuff from my scrap pile.

3) 20 minutes of games every other day. I’ve really fallen off the wagon with this one. Part of it was that my game plans were disrupted with the PSN outage - no Outland and no Portal 2 (I wanted to get it through steam to get a free PC copy), and no updates on HD Stranger’s Wrath. The other part is that Nick and I have been watching the NASL Starcraft II matches, which just makes us want to play Starcraft II. Oh, and League of Legends. Lots of League of Legends. Fortunately, PSN seems to be stirring with signs of life, so Outland may be soon within my grasp.

4) Financial. Lots of frugality for April. We had an easter egg hunt at work, and amidst all the candy, one of my eggs had a Target gift card (groceries!) and another had a free commissary lunch. I am super excited about paying off the private student loan next month, which I guess makes me a big ole nerd.

Weekly Goal Progress Report #12

Missed a week. Oh well! Forging on...

1) One free thing in LA per month. I think I'm going to take a rest on the events and instead check out the California Science Center either this weekend or next.

2) Financial: Been stickin close to the budget, and as such I will pay off my small private student loan in June, which is a big deal to me. Otherwise, budgeting isn't terribly exciting.

3) Sew 3 Things. 1 or 3 completed. Some mending, but no updates on the next project. I contemplated making a rain coat for Mr. Davis, but that might be crossing the line. Tips for good beginner sewing projects welcome!

4) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day: I've been a busy gamer, recently! Still charging through Okamiden and enjoying it immensely, and I'm dabbling about in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, plotting to try the multiplayer eventually. If I had the time to devote to games that I did in high school and college, I feel I would be the sort of person to just play the crap out of Assassin's Creed. Meanwhile, I hadn't played League of Legends or Starcraft II in awhile, so I took them off the "doesn't count" list. Well, now they have to go right back on! The HD Stranger's Wrath is supposed to come out this month, though I haven't heard any updates on release dates or price. Still, that is the next game on my radar.

Weekly Goal Progress Report #11

Switching up the order to keep things fresh

1) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day: I think I've reached my limit with Lost in Shadow, unfortunately. At first its slow and cautious pace seemed fitting with the mood and the teaching of mechanics, but it's stretching on for too long. I'm certain there's some sort of changing moment to be had, but I'm tired and anxious to move on to other games. Maybe I'll come back to it someday. Meanwhile, Okamiden came and I've been playing the crap out of it! I enjoy it very much, and it warrants a post all to itself. More lunchtime Minecraft this week as well.

2) Financial: I did my annual credit report (which you can and should do once a year, here) to make sure my credit card was closed properly, which it was! I found another error on the report, though, so I submitted a dispute and it's already been cleared and removed from my report. It was a way faster turnaround than what I was expecting!

3) Sew 3 Things. 1 or 3 completed. No updates here.

4) One free thing in LA per month: Starting to think ahead to April. I haven't run across any events I'm interested in yet, but there are still several free museums I am interested in, so perhaps I'll check one of those out in April. Ideas include the California Science Center, MOCA, and the Museum of Television and Radio. Sound interesting to anyone?

Weekly Goal Progress Report #10

Switching up the order to keep things fresh

1) Sew 3 things: 1 of 3 complete. Just some mending this week, as I got my set of bobbins. I think that'll go a long way in encouraging me to sew more, since changing thread when you only have 1 bobbin is a pain. I think I'm getting the hang of the darning foot, but sometimes my thread breaks so I might not have it attached properly. I really wish I knew someone in LA who knows sewing machines inside and out so they could come give me a crash course in these attachments. LA friends? Any tailors or seamstresses?

2) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day: More Magicka! I think we've just about beaten the adventure mode, but I'm not sure. I've also been Minecrafting a bunch lately. The latest updates fixed monster hit detection on multiplayer servers, so the Insomniac server is much safer. Also been playing Shining Force, which I don't think counts since it's a game I've already played. BUT! My copy of Okamiden should get here soon!

3) One free thing in LA per month: Oh man, the kite festival was amaaaaaaaaazing. There were so many kites in the sky of all shapes and sizes and types! It was beautiful! I particularly liked the dragon kites. The atmosphere on the beach was really nice, too. Everyone was super chill, and maybe your string got tangled on another kite but whatevs, there were a billion kites up there so how could anyone complain! They had a big 25ft wide kite that had a cord so thick that you could see it all the way up to where it attached. My favorite was a teeny tiny butterfly shaped kite that someone was just dragging along behind them on a short string, and it still fluttered up in the air like a pet! So cool. Definitely going again next year.

4) Financial: I updated my annual mileage with my auto insurance company, since I haven't driven back and forth across the country in a few years, and they sent me a reimbursement check on my insurance payment for the lower mileage. Nice! I wasn't expecting it to kick in until the next time my premium was due.

Weekly Goal Progress Report #9

1) Financial: It was a tough race, but I'm deciding to go with Lockheed. The main reason is, even though USAA sounds more awesome, there are a few little things I need to be able to do that they can't, and everyone's response is that they recommend to also keep a small local bank account in addition. Well, the small local bank account is the one that I'm looking for! So, credit union for now, though USAA definitely sounds super awesome.

2) One free thing in LA per month: Kite Festival is tomorrow! Nick and I also snuck down to the Lantern Festival last Saturday for our Anniversary. Got to see some shadow puppetry and a dragon dance, very cool stuff!

3) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day: Finished Stacking. SUCH a delightful game! I would recommend it to anyone with a PS3 or XBox to buy, it is certainly worth it. It's very low key to get through the whole story, but there are plenty of extra puzzles to solve for the completionists. Also, we've been playing Magicka this week, which is fun and hilarious! But it keeps overheating my laptop, which is unfortunate

4) Sew 3 things: 1 of 3 complete. Nothing to report here, though I did order some extra bobbins. Woo.

Weekly Goal Progress Report #8

1) Financial: Bank of America started blocking connections to Mint.com, which annoys me, and I'd always felt bad about having an account with those jerks anyway, so I'm investigating local credit unions to switch my checking account to. So far, Lockheed FCU is in the lead, but I'm still collecting opinions and recommendations.

2) One free thing in LA per month: For March, I've settled on the Festival of the Kite! I'll set up a facebook event like I did for the dragon parade, that seemed to work well enough

3) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day: Still playing lots of Lost in Shadow. It remains simple platforming and puzzle solving, but I still have a hunch that something is going to change in an exciting way, so I'm holding out.

4) Sew 3 things: 1 of 3 complete. Today, I experimented with the darning foot to mend a hole in a pair of pants. I've never used any of my sewing machine's attachments before, so it was a bit of an experiment. The hole is mended, though it's a bit of a patchy hack job. I feel like I have quite a piece of machinery here that I don't appreciate.

Weekly Goal Progress Report #7

1) Financial: Wrapping up February's budget on a good clip. Cutting back on eating out is tricky, but hopefully with Saturday's grocery shopping I can add some variety to my foods to bring for lunch (I want to make a pork pie, which should freeze well in pieces. YUM).

2) One free thing in LA per month: Time to start thinking about March. There are several events I have my eye on, so maybe my LA friends could help me choose! Here they are:

Chinese Lantern Festival at El Pueblo, Saturday, March 5. They'll have LION DANCES so this is super tempting!

Long Beach Mardi Gras (what is it with Long Beach and the New Orleans culture stuff anyway?), including a parade, on Saturday, March 5

The Festival of the Kite at Redondo Pier, on Sunday, March 13

St. Patrick's Day Festival in Costa Mesa, Saturday, March 13. Looks like a lot of dance troupes and musicians.

LA Friends, I await your input!

3) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day: Started Lost in Shadow this week. I am enjoying it so far for its aesthetics alone. So far the gameplay is pretty basic platforming and environmental puzzle solving, but I keep getting taught new things that make me think the game is going to ramp up. We'll see!

4) Sew 3 things: 1 of 3 complete

Weekly Goal Progress Report #6

1) Financial: After some budget reworking and tightening up a few categories here and there, I realized that I can actually beat my 5-year student loan payoff plan and pay them off in 3 1/2 years. Gogogo!

2) One free thing in LA per month: I actually got in an extra bonus free thing this month. At work the HR department gets tickets to various venues, and every so often calls on us to nominate someone who has done something awesome to

give the tickets to. So, apparently someone thought I was awesome! Nick and I went and saw the LA Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and it was very nice. Especially because we were able to take the metro and avoid driving in the rain :)

3) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day: Slacking on this goal this week. I played a bit of stacking, and have been playing Minecraft at lunch every day. I really need to start up Lost in Shadow!

4) Sew 3 things: SUCCESS! I completed Mr. Davis's kitty quilt, thus accomplishing 1 of the 3 things to sew this year! It's a little patchy, but he doesn't seem to min

d:

Weekly Goal Progress Report #5

I missed a week! Curses! Oh well, moving on!

1) Financial: Since eating out is my Achilles Heel when it comes to spending money, I made some huge batches of food that can be frozen and eaten over the month (the lentil soup and the kimchi borscht). I also nabbed some knitting needles and extra yarn on Freecycle.

2) One free thing in LA per month. The Golden Dragon Parade was a big hit! There were lots of dragons and lion dances and that was fine by me. Photos here. There was also an awesome moment at the end where they set off a bajillion firecrackers at once. There are no photos of that because I was too busy gawking. The parade was really long, but fortunately there was this fast food dim sum style place right next to our spot, so we feasted on dumplings. It was a smashing success!

3) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day. More Donkey Kong, and LOTS more League of Legends and StarJeweled. The latter two are moved to my "doesn't count" list. WoW is moved off that list, since I haven't played since my Cataclysm binge over Christmas Break. I also got Trino off Steam, since it was made by some of my ETC friends. Using the mouse to control it isn't so bad, except that it's really easy to get stressed out and accidentally click outside the game window. I also got Stacking off of PSN, which is wonderfully charming. How can a game about matryoshka dolls not be?

4) Sew 3 things: Alas, I'm slacking on this one. I have the fabric cut and measured for Mr. Davis's blanket, and I have the batting, but I have yet to fire up the sewing machine. Meanwhile, I have picked knitting back up, but that doesn't count for this goal.

Weekly Goal Progress Report #4

1) Financial: Did my taxes. Got my refund. Dumped it into the ole student loans. Adjusted my W-4 accordingly.

2) One free thing in LA per month. January complete. Waiting for February

3) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day: Bit of Donkey Kong, and a lot of League of Legends and StarJeweled. LoL is great, it's free to play, so it's easy for a busy person like me to just pick up and play a match. The paid portion seems to support the more hard core community, so it serves both audiences really well! I've already posted about StarJeweled, but man I love that game.

4) Sew 3 things: I have started on my first project: a cat blanket! I figure Mr. Davis won't mind if my scrap fabric is ugly and clashing, it'll give me a place to start. I already cut out and sorted the squares of scrap fabric to use for his blanket.

Weekly Goal Progress Report #3

1) Financial: I'm focusing on reducing my eating-out spending this year, and have started with a budget of $40 every 2 weeks. So far I'm sticking to it!

2) One free thing in LA per month. Nick and I spent last Saturday at the Getty. It was beautiful! The grounds alone are enough that I would spend all day out there, lounging around the water features. Art-wise, there was a great exhibit of illuminated manuscripts that I found really fascinating. I love seeing the tiny detail in the illuminations, and all the shiny gold leaf. For February, I think I'm set on the Golden Dragon Parade.

3) 20 Minutes of Games Every Other Day: Lots of Sonic Colors this week. And Starcraft, of course, but I've already said that doesn't count.

4) Sew 3 things: No progress this week, but I have a rip in one of my pants that needs mending, so that will get me to fire the machine up.