Rearview Mirror: August 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 August. 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:
August was a very productive month. Most importantly, my writing really took off. I finally cleared away all of the clutter and got started on a novel. Unfortunately, not all of the news was good. Due to a database error in the hosting system at Go Daddy, I lost all of my WordPress websites for a couple of weeks. Worse yet, my Weekly Stories short story website was lost completely and is still not back up and running.
For all of the activity I had during August, both good and bad, keep reading.
Write a Novel — As I promised last month, once the kids headed back to school, I got busy on my novel. When the month started, I wasn’t even sure which idea I was going to pursue, but I think I picked the right one. The book is called “The Ones That Got Away,” and it is a mainstream novel with a fantasy/time travel element to it. I just wasn’t making any headway on my mystery novel, so I put it to the side for a while. During August, I completed the first draft of 15 chapters. I’m very pleased with the progress I made during the month. My blog posts have continued according to schedule, except for the time my WordPress sites were down. Also, even though I lost everything on the WeekleyStories.com website, I’ve continued to write short stories and prose poetry. I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do with the Weekly Stories site. I’m either going to restore it or I’m going to build a different site focused more on all of my writing rather than on the “one-story-a-week” idea.
Continue With Plans to Race in the Rolex 24 at Daytona — No racing in August. My next race is a 14-hour event at Sebring International Raceway on September 24.
Learn to Play Guitar — I had my final guitar lesson in June. CJ Vaughn, my guitar teacher, is terrific, but I just haven’t found time to attend the lessons or practice like I should. I may still try to learn, but if I do, it will be by using a DVD or Internet-based lessons.
Learn to Play Piano — I had planned on starting on this goal by now. However, with the time I am spending on writing and my travel schedule, I just haven’t found time to pursue it.
Kayak the Length of the St. John’s River — I spoke to a friend who I am hoping can help me with logistics (i.e. pick up and drop off) along the route. I’m not holding my breath, but it’s still possible I could accomplish this goal before the year is over.
Circumnavigate Wisconsin by Bicyle or Foot — This goal is officially changed to hiking the length of the Ice Age Trail (IAT). That’s 1,000 miles across Wisconsin. I visited the IAT offices in Cross Plains, WI in July and purchased the maps and companion guide for the trail. I’m currently in the process of breaking the trail down into daily hikes. That’s the easy part. The hard part will be figuring out the logistics (drop off, pick up, where to sleep) of such a goal.
Start the Adoption Process — I’m not getting my hopes up, but we did have some conversation about adopting during August. The problem continues to be that I am much more excited about the prospect of adopting than is my wife. As a compromise, we are looking into the possibility of becoming foster parents.
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 solely to Vanderbilt University. They received more than 600 applications and chose just six candidates. I’m convinced I was 7th on the list.
Launch Short Stories Website — Accomplished! Check it out. Update: The site is currently not working.
Launch Other Internet Businesses — I spoke to Rob Monster from Epik.com about using his services on some of my domains. Still no decisions, but at least we seem to be moving forward.
Read the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century — I read Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence in August. It was a very long and uneventful book. It was about a poor mining family in England. The best way I can describe the plot is to imagine if someone wrote a book about your entire life, giving details about your daily routines. Not very exciting, eh? Well, neither was the book. It was very well written, but like many of the books I have read from the early 20th century, it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable read. In September, I’ll be reading William Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury.
