Rearview Mirror: April 2011
Earlier this year, I set several goals for myself that I want to accomplish before the year is out. Previously, I would routinely set goals and then hope to accomplish them. Sometimes I did and sometimes I didn’t. But what I didn’t do is follow up periodically to see if I was making any progress. That changes this year.
Here is a list of the goals I have set for myself along with notes on the progress, if any, I made on the goal during April. The majority of the goals were detailed in my Making Plans for 2011 post from earlier this year. I’ve added a few goals to the list since then as well.
You can find updates from previous months here:
April was very busy for me. I spent eight days (about 12 hours each day) at the Nashville Film Festival live blogging about the festival for Nashville.com. I also made a trip to Charlotte to race at the historic Charlotte Motor Speedway. Here are all of the details on how on did on my goals in April:
Write a Novel — The bad news is that I didn’t make any progress on writing my novel in April. However, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t writing. I’ve settled into a schedule of writing short stories (more about that below) and also writing a lot for blogs. In addition to my own blogs, I wrote several posts about the Nashville Film Festival for Nashville.com. At the moment, the novel is on the backburner and I’m concentrating on short stories. I’m also in the beginning phase of writing a script for a documentary film. I still want to write a novel, but the important thing at the moment is to just get in the habit of writing every day.
Continue With Plans to Race in the Rolex 24 at Daytona — I raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway this past month. I drove with a team out of Charlotte and had a good time, although we were not very competitive. Of course, the goal is to get as much seat time as possible. I was in the car for about 2.5 of the 13 hours the car ran (it was a 14 hour race). You can learn more about the race on my racing blog.
Learn to Play Guitar — I know five chords! It’s very exciting. I’m still frustrated with my slow progress, but at least now I feel like I am making progress.
Learn to Play Piano — No progress to report. I likely won’t move forward on this goal until later this year.
Kayak the Length of the St. John’s River — Nothing new since last month. If am going to accomplish this goal this year, it likely will not be until around October or November.
Circumnavigate Wisconsin by Bicyle or Foot — Nothing new to report
Start the Adoption Process — Nothing new to report. In February, I had lost hope that this goal would happen. March brought a glimmer of hope, but nothing new in April.
Apply for an MFA in Creative Writing — I applied for the MFA in January and received word at the beginning of March that I had not been accepted into the program. I’m disappointed, but not surprised. I applied to Vanderbilt University. They received more than 600 applications and chose just six candidates.
Launch Short Stories Website — Accomplished! It took a little longer to get this done than I expected, but the site is up and is loaded with 5-6 stories. Check it out.
Launch Other Internet Businesses — Nothing new to report, but it’s time to start putting some more effort into this goal. It was on the backburner, but starting in May, it will be moving up to the front.
Read the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century — Although I did not read one of the 100 best novels of the 20th century during April, I did purchase The Great Gatsby and Catch-22. I plan on reading both in May.
