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MY PLANS FOR 2021

BLOGGING
I noticed I used to blog a lot more in previous years. I'm going to try to get back to it.

Goal: Blog once weekly.
Progress: 1/1

DRAWING
I plan to work through as many of the Training for Comics worksheets as possible during the time I have allotted to drawing on the weekends.

Goal: 2 hrs/weekend
Progress: Not started.

FRENCH
So I was really enjoying French, but the system booted me out after the free trial week and isn't recognizing me as a premium user. I have contacted support about this and am waiting to have the issue fixed. They have reset my password, but it didn't fix my issue. It can't see my subscription.

Goal: 30 minutes/day
Progress: 4/30 days

GUITAR
With French temporarily on hold, I signed up for Fender Play to work on my guitar skills. It was 50% off, so I figured it is worth a try. Music has always been important to me and I'm enjoying doing a couple lessons each day.

Goal: 2 lessons/day
Progress: 5/36

I didn't start this until Thursday. There are 17 lessons in Level 1 and there are 5 levels for the blues stream I'm taking. I might do the rock stream after this one. At 2 lessons per day, I should be through the course pretty quickly, though I expect there will be some sections I'll need to review.

HOME
I have a new family doctor that is having me do lab-work for a bunch of things. We'll see how that goes. He seems nice and like he actually listens, so I'm hopeful.

Goals:
1. Wall behind chaise
Progress: Still cleaning the sticky residue off with Goo Gone.

2. Chaise
Progress: I made a lot of progress this weekend on my chaise. Currently, I'm waiting on hot glue to finish the upholstery on the arm.

3. Bathroom
Progress: I was right not to get my hopes up on my bathroom as it has been pushed to later this week. I did get to speak to the super and told him about a YouTube video I saw where they used a saws-all to cut the nails on a rotten board and tap it out then tap a new one in place. He's going to look into that because that seems to be part of the hold up on things. They weren't sure what to do about it.

4. Office
Progress: None to report. It's a lower priority than the other house items.

FITNESS
I could be doing better here, but I am being active through my work on my home and by using my standing desk.

Goals:
1. Martial Arts
Progress: Martial arts is going well. I'm in a beginner class on Fridays for now. I'm cool with that. I'd rather start at the bottom even if I know a couple of things about sword work in general. It gives me time to unlearn where I may need to. As it's at a different time, I had to tweak my schedule again. The new year is always like this for me with scheduling changes. At least I have very few unmovable activities, so I can play around with it until I get it right. I am taking a bit of time off to get these house items in order as I've been feeling stretched too thin.

2. Skating
Progress: This is on hold for a moment while I deal with house projects.

READING
I briefly thought it would be a great idea to start each day with an inspiring read, but I was trying a different book for each day and you can probably guess how well that worked out. I have limited myself to no more than three books at a time. Currently those are:

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin S. Sharma
Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks
The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

The first helps me set a mindset for the day. The second is a challenging read for when I'm awake. The third is a fun read before bed.

SPARKS
I've had a lot of thoughts about it. One of the things I'm wondering is how much suspension of disbelief is reasonable for the readers. If it's a fantasy story set in the real world, can I get them to believe that something has been going on for centuries right in front of regular humans without them cluing into it? That's not something to think about for writing a first draft, but this is about my sixth or seventh (or one could argue I never finished my third draft because I changed directions part way through so many times).

Goal: 5 chapters/month
Progress: 2/26

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Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada

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