Resolution update: June 2011
/1. Lose 23 pounds, bringing me down to my high school track and field weight.
Down fourteen pounds since the beginning of the year. Nine to go.
Even my doctor noticed my weight loss at my recent visit.
2. Do at least 50 100 200 push-ups and 50 100 sit-ups a day.
I have increased sit-up goal to 100 a day, simply because 50 had become a joke. Even the 200 push-ups are becoming relatively easy, so I have changed my routine from sets of 25 push-ups at a time to sets of 40 at a time with shorter breaks in between.
There was a day when my wife and daughter were in New York when I did 600 push-ups in a day.
I did, however, miss a total of six days in June because of illness.
3. Practice the flute for at least an hour a week.
No practice.
4. Find a wine that I can drink every night or so.
No wine consumed in June.
5. Complete my fifth novel.
Five chapters into my newest book and things are still going well. My agent has the first 10,000 words to review, and I must now shift into revision mode for MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND, which will stall things for about a week.
6. Complete and submit one children’s book to my agent.
Still done. While my agent liked the book, the children’s book agent thought it needed work. She liked the concept a lot and thought it had potential, but she suggested I revise it in a way that I am not sure I like. So I’m stuck, trying to decide what to do. I kind of love it just the way it is.
7. Complete the book proposal for the non-fiction collaborative project that I began last year.
I have a meeting in August to begin work on this project.
8. Complete an outline for my memoir
Work continues, and some writing has actually commenced as well.
9. Convince my sister to write on http://107federalstreet.blogspot.com at least once a week and do the same myself.
No progress yet.
10. Drink at least four glasses of water every day.
Done.
11. Complete at least one of the three classes required for me to teach English on the high school level.
Nothing done yet.
12. Try liver.
Nope.
13. Publish an Op-Ed in a national newspaper.
Nope.
14. Participate in The Moth as a storyteller, at a live show or on their radio broadcast.
Great progress! My Moth pitch has made it to the website, where it currently has the most votes. I have been informed that this is a curatorial process, so a committee will assess my story pitch based upon total votes, overall rating from the voters and their overall assessment of the pitch. I wait to hear what they have decided.
I am also attending a live Moth event on July 12, where I plan on placing my name in the hat and hopefully getting picked to tell a story onstage.
15. See our rock opera (The Clowns) performed on stage as a full production or in a dramatic reading format.
Our dramatic reading at the local playhouse is scheduled for November 5 and 6.
16. Organize my basement.
Progress continues at a decent pace.
17. Land at least one paying client for my fledgling life coach or professional best man business.
None. But I’ll remind you again that I’ve added professional best man to the list. Please keep me in mind.
18. Rid Elysha and myself of all education debt before the end of the year.
Still waiting on the funding.
19. Replace the twelve ancient windows on the first and second floor of the house with more energy efficient ones.
Still waiting on the funding.
20. Make one mortgage payment from poker profits.
No poker in June. I remain stuck on a little less than 25% of a mortgage payment so far.
21. Post my progress in terms of these resolutions on this blog on the first day of every month.
Done.