Rearview Mirror: June 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 June. 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:
June was a month for recovering. My mom got sick in May and I spent much of that month with her in Florida. She died on May 20 and I spent the rest of May and the beginning of June helping to plan her funeral and tie up some loose ends. During much of May I was feeling lousy. However, I had family issues to attend to, so I really couldn’t deal with my own problems at that time. After my mom’s funeral, I finally got in to see a doctor and found out I am having some complications from the prostate cancer treatment I received last year.* Thankfully, it’s nothing serious, but it is annoying as hell and it is lingering longer than it is supposed to. As I write this, I’m still having some problems and I’m scheduled to see the doctor in a couple of days.
*My apologies. I know there is nothing in the world more boring than listening to someone else go on about their health problems.
The point to all of this is that I was under the weather for much of the month and didn’t get as much done as I would have liked. Either that, or I’m just looking for excuses.
So, what did I get done? Let’s take a look:
Write a Novel — I did quite a bit of writing in June, although none of it was on a novel. I got back into the groove of writing short stories, and I discovered something called “prose poetry” that I absolutely love. Now that I am back to posting regularly on Weekly Stories, I’ll be sharing some of my latest stories and prose poetry in the upcoming weeks. I also wrote several posts as part of The Domino Project’s Trust 30 writing challenge. For right now, the novel is on hold. That could change tomorrow, but I’m doing a lot of good writing for other projects, so I’m just going to ride this wave for a while and see where it takes me.
Continue With Plans to Race in the Rolex 24 at Daytona — As I intimated last month, I ended up not racing at Roebling Road in June. Part of the problem was the health issue I’m dealing with right now. Sometimes I forget I have cancer, but this little episode has reminded me. Also, I really wanted to help run the race at Roebling. I wanted to learn what goes on behind the scenes. It was a great experience and I plan on helping out at Nashville and VIR in July as well. In other racing news, I agreed to buy out Randy’s share of our little RX-7 race car. Randy has gotten busy and has lost interest in our racing plans, so I’m going to take over the car and try to get it ready for a race here in Nashville in October. It should be interesting.
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 — 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 — I checked more into the Ice Age Trail (IAT) and it is becoming increasingly clearer that hiking the trail makes a lot more sense than circumnavigating the state. Most of the IAT is actually a trail, while my route for circumnavigating the state required a lot of walking on public roads. Now I just need to find the time and logistics to do this. The good news is that I have been walking and trying to build up my endurance. I’m getting there.
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 since 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 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! Some technical gremlins shut the site down for a bit in June, but all is well now. I just posted a new story this past Wednesday, and more are on their way. Check it out.
Launch Other Internet Businesses — June was a month for brainstrorming ideas. This is my specialty and I came up with some good ones. Unfortunately, the next step is follow through, which is not my specialty. I need to move forward on this goal soon.
Read the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century — I read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller in June. I enjoyed it, but I’m surprised it is considered one of the best novels of the 20th century. It’s a very convoluted story told in a very convoluted and unstructured (or oddly structured) way. Even so, I thought it was very inventive and entertaining. For July, I’ve picked up Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
[...] June 2011 [...]