In no particular order:
*Play live music again. I haven't played music on stage since 2003, with The Jet Effect. Thanks to the Awesome efforts of Karen (of Onanon), I've already got one gig booked for this year, playing with our Guided By Voices tribute band on February 27th at Chicks Hotel, which will double as my going away party from Dunedin. There may be other things in the works. I will be circumspect for now, you know the saying about one's mouth writing checks one's ass can't cash.
*Play 8 video games to completion. This one may seem bizarre; it may help partially to explain that I basically haven't played video games since 1992 or so, give or take a little bit of MIDNIGHT CLUB 3 for the PS2. I've become increasingly convinced that the average video game these days has more thought, more creativity, and overall more awesomeness than the average movie, and that further my job will somehow converge with video game creation. So I've bought an XBox, and begun my first game, BIOSHOCK, which supports all of my theories right now. I've got DEAD SPACE, MASS EFFECT, and BURNOUT: PARADISE cued up; further recommendations welcome.
*Go scuba diving 6 times. I got certified in 2005, fell in love with it, and promptly never went. This is mostly because it's a lot better if you have someone to go with. I'm rectifying this slightly by going to Vanuatu and the Great Barrier Reef in March with my friend Randy; I'm hoping to do additional dives with my brother when he comes to visit.
*6 new outdoor activities. I've sort of made up this number, and hopefully I'll come up with this many that I actually want to do. I've got 1 under my belt (paragliding). Skydiving is definitely in the cards, and undoubtedly other things will come up in Vanuatu - parasailing, jetskiing, and other suchlike things are being discuss. I was going to try surfing lessons down here, but there's a bit of a problem with Dunedin's propensity to pour poo into the ocean and for people to get sick as a result, so the beaches are close. (Ah, Dunedin? This is Not Awesome.)
*Find my photographic voice. Photography is my new hobby/obsession. I'm certain I'll take lots of different pictures, but I'd like to really develop a certain style that I focus on. But there's lots of interesting things to look at:
Long exposures?
Low light exposures?
Very brief exposures?
Gig photography?
Macro photography?
Abstract nature?
Slice of life?
Or something else? We'll see.
*Get a new tattoo. The proviso is that it has to be at least as awesome as my current tattoo, which I'm still very happy with 4 1/2 years later. I won't get one for the sake of getting one, but I would love to find another one that I like as much as this one.
*Consolidate/sort out my web presence. I've got blogs, facebook, myspace, twitters, dougdillaman.com, other random domains, and soon I'll want something for the feature that I'm doing. Lots of these are outdated and unmaintained. Need to deal with it.
*Go on a date. Maybe even two. I mean, it's been almost three years.
*Get my health and diet issues sorted out. Obvious. Been procrastinating on this, which is Not Awesome. I apologize for this dereliction of duties in the pursuit of Awesome.
I also have vague ideas about awesome goals for reading, music, and TV and film-watching, getting my room to be awesome, planning my follow-up feature, something about work, learning to draw (at least well enough to make basic storyboards) and planning a big long trip for the future (2010 or 11, maybe?) to Southeast Asia.
That seems like a lot. But that's the goal: always, please, More Awesome.
2 comments:
The last good video game I purchased (other than Bejeweled on the iTouch, and I really don't think that's what you're going for) was Civilization II which ... is also not what you're going for. A wee bit old, I imagine. But I've heard really good things about Portal. Although it may be more of a puzzle game than the sort of narrative thing you may be looking for.
As to sorting out your Web presence, I wish thee well. I've got mine all sorted out ... in my head. Now I just need to sit down and make it all happen. But before that happens, we may develop the technology that allows people to tap directly into my brain over the Internet, at which point I won't need to sort it out -- I'll just tell people to look at how I'd imagined it would go. Which would save me lots of time. Either way, I've got a plan.
And as pedestrian as it may be, do please take care of your health. Preaches the man with half a carton of sour-cream-topped sausage halusky from the Czech cart. It is rather integral to Awesomeness, as I understand things.
A question I've been wondering, but have not yet asked for fear of sounding critical: is there a point at which getting so much Awesome done becomes itself un-Awesome because you're doing so much? Or am I just secretly rationalizing my own sloth?
I'm quite keen to check out Portal, actually. Should really add that to the list.
Re: Web presence - at least you have a plan. And graphic design abilities. And Web programming abilities. So you're, like, three steps ahead of me. But that probably just means your plans are overly ambitious.
As for your question: it is a very reasonable question. I had the option to go to Stewart Island this weekend or go for an advanced scuba diving course. I chose neither, because I could feel myself getting spread too thin. Still trying to find ways to have an awesome weekend, but in a low-key way.
Reading, for instance, is awesome.
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