Resolution Update: April 2011

In an effort to achieve my yearly goals, I post my monthly progress here. Below are my sixteen New Year’s resolutions and my progress thus far.

1.  Lose seventeen more pounds, bringing my weight down to 185 pounds, which was my high school pole vaulting weight.

I lost one pound this month, and one pound all year after the February debacle.  Sixteen pounds to go.

2.  Complete CHICKEN SHACK by April 15 (adjusted from an original target of my birthday).

Finished writing the book on April 17.  Finished final revisions on May 2.

I’m thinking about trying to finish my next book this summer by turning my vacation into five hour work days, five days a week.  Why not?  Right?

3.  Eat three servings of oatmeal a week in order to reduce my cholesterol.

Done!  I had exactly three bowls of oatmeal per week in the month of April.  My wife also made a batch of steel cut oatmeal tonight for the coming week.  Yum.

4.  Try liver.

Not yet.

5.  Publish an Op-Ed in a national newspaper.

Not yet.  But with THE CHICKEN SHACK in the hands of my agent, the time is now.

6.  Participate in The Moth as a storyteller, at a live show or on their radio broadcast.

Not yet, but I’ll be using my free time to draft another Moth radio hour proposal, and I’m sending my last one, which they rejected, to This American Life.  Maybe they have better taste.

7.  Complete the rock opera.

Still complete, though revisions proceed and will likely continue indefinitely as we tweak things.  But still, the full draft is complete!

8.  Read at least six novels that were published in 2010.

Three down!  GAME CHANGE, THE BIG SHORT: INSIDE THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE, and THE CHECKLIST MANIFESTO.

9.  Organize my basement.

Summer project.

10.  Learn to use Dreamweaver with reasonable skill.

Must start this now, before my summer book tour begins.

11.  Land at least one paying client for my fledgling life coach business.

None yet.

12. Go to at least twelve movies this year, continuing to debunk the myth that the parents of newborns are no longer able to go out to the movies.

My total remains at five.  None this month.  Too busy writing.

13. Rid Elysha and myself of all education debt before the end of the year.

Nothing to report.

14. Replace the twelve ancient windows on the first and second floor of the house with more energy efficient ones.

Nothing to report.

15. Make one mortgage payment from poker profits.

I remain about a quarter of the way to a mortgage payment.  No time to play.  Too busy writing.

16. Post my progress in terms of these resolutions on this blog on the first day of every month.

Done.