just start

"Perfectionism is the enemy of action.  Kill it, immediately.  You can't let perfect stop you from doing.  You can turn a bad draft into a good one, but you can't turn no draft into a good draft.  So get going."

Leo Babuta, zen habits

So, why did I feel the need to start a blog at all?  Well, a couple of reasons actually:

1.  To get into the habit of writing every day, no matter how little or how imperfect or how banal.  Because some days, I hope my writing will be lovely and interesting, but, well, see above quote.
2.  To document for myself things that I would like to accomplish in 2010, and my progress towards these goals.  I hope that this blog will outlast 2010, but one year at a time--365 days, 8760 hours, and yes, 525,600 minutes.
3.  Accountability--to myself, but also to my readers (note the optimistic use of the plural!)
4.  Really, with the amount of traveling I do, I'm starting to worry that if I don't make a note of where I am (geographically/physically speaking)  I'm going to forget where I am, where I've been, and where I'm going.  Today I am home--Philadelphia, PA.

ok, so goal number one (in terms of the first one I'm mentioning, not in any order of importance) for 2010 is read 50 books.  While this is an average of about one a week, I know it won't literally be one a week.  I mean, I'd like to get through both Ulysses and Les Miserables this year, and I KNOW they aren't going to be one week books.

Plus, let's face it--sometimes I spend hour upon hour in planes and stuck in airports, prime reading time.  Um, except for when I fall asleep.  Or tune out with my iPod.  But one of the strategies I've implemented for the days when I work at home is that 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (at least) are "technology-free".  This came about to keep me from walking away from my computer when I was done working and strolling all of three steps over to the TV and flipping it on, only to get sucked into some Law & Order SVU rerun.  Don't get me wrong; I'm not anti-television as a rule, just against the time suck it can be if one is not careful.  And I'll be honest, within the first 5 minutes of watching Detectives Benson & Stabler, I can pretty much tell you who did it.  I'm not proud.

This goal is ambitious for me, but achievable.  I read 30 books in 2009 without really setting any kind of specific goal surrounding it, so working actively at it should give me the edge.  I've started out with The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.  I was about to say that I've never read anything by Oscar Wilde, just seen some of his plays, but, err, I think that I have just seen movie adaptations of his plays.  ...Dorian Gray is his only novel.

I'm also reading Cleaving by Julie Powell (of Julie & Julia fame), but I need a break.  Don't want to put any spoilers in here yet, but...it's not my cup of tea.  Or cut of beef, as the case may be.  Plus, I started it in 2009, so does it even count?  My blog, my resolution, my rules; I'll figure it out.


You can follow along with what I've read and am reading via the good reads link at the side of the page.  Better yet, join and add me as your friend!


Tomorrow--how many pairs of shoes DOES one girl really need?  Stay tuned!