Can this work? Can I pull this off?

As I said in my original post to this blog, I'm a compulsive goal-setter, and only sometime goal achiever. A few weeks after I posted that blog, my church small group had a discussion about the New Years Resolution phenomenon, and several of us chimed in on whether or not we'd ever kept a resolution. I have. To my memory, I have kept only one, and it was an unhealthy resolution that I kept in a not-quite-as-unhealthy manner. Nonetheless, I was happy to be among those who had kept one. It gave me hope, you see.

One thing that's making this list go by is that some of my friends are spurring me on, watching this list, reminding me when I have an opportunity to knock one or more of these goals. So far, it's been great, very encouraging, and I'm hopeful, if not entirely confident that I'll complete the whole list. The multi-tiered ones are particularly daunting, but I'm at least determined. We'll see how that all goes.

And hey, if you're inclined to want to participate in one of the tasks listed here, and are looking for someone to come along, well, I'm clearly your guy. Give a shout.

Update: New Glasses

2 pair, ordered from ZenniOptical.com. Total price: $47.90, S&H and prescription lenses included.



The first pair are the conservative choice, and the ones I feel most comfortable with. But I'm giving the plastic frames with 10% amber lens tint a shot. Not my usual, but I've gotta say, I kinda dig.

Update - January Seventeen

Here's a quick update on my 101:

- ordered new glasses (two pair!) from ZenniOptical.com ("Health" #5)
- started reading The Reivers (1963) ("Read" #1)
- read The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed, and the 95 Theses (3/5 of "Faith" #4)
- read Psalms 1-9 (9/150 of "Faith" #5)
- saw Heypenny at The Basement ("Nashville" #1)

I'm really excited about the glasses; it's part of an experiment of mine, both fashion-wise (with trendy, plastic frames) and bargain hunting-wise (2 pairs with shipping = $47.90). Erin warned me about the dangers of ordering things like glasses online, but I disagree (the benefit outweighs the risk anyway, I think), and will be interested to see how well these glasses work out.

Also, because I've read the psalms before, and have caught myself skipping lines, zoning out, and re-reading passages, I'm recording myself reading them aloud, in the hope of having them ring truer than they do as just words on a page. I remember vividly hearing this young woman recite a good chunk of Philippians once, and thinking how beautiful scripture was when spoken aloud conversationally, rather than academically. I'm just trying to make them come to life a little more, and maybe to reach David's heart a little more, by trying to capture his tone at the time of writing. We'll see. Obviously it's kinda geeky, and I do it when no one else is in the house, but it's an interesting project, and that's what this whole thing is about, right? :)

LIST: 20 Nashville Venues and the Shows I Saw There

1. Windows On the Cumberland - Wild Honey/Larissa Maestro
2. The Family Wash - some Boston blues/Americana act
3. Exit/In - Biscuits and Gravy/The Lonely Hearts; How I Became The Bomb
4. The Basement - Heypenny; Matthew Perryman Jones/Glen Phillips
5. Station Inn - Farewell Drifters
6. Mercy Lounge - Heypenny; Space Capone
7. The Rutledge - Disappointed By Candy/Harrison Hudson; Waves On Waves/Heypenny/Umbrella Tree
8. Kimbro's Cafe - The Dust Poets
9. Wildhorse Saloon - taping of CMT's Can You Duet?
10. Grand Ol' Opry - Grand Ol' Opry Live (Del McCoury, Ricky Skaggs, Restless Heart), GMA Dove Awards
11. FooBar - James Farrell/Larissa Maestro/Treble-icious/Joe Bob and His Low Eb String
12. Uptown 162 - Cornerstone/HM/Gyroscope GMA Showcase
13. Rocketown - Tooth & Nail Records GMA Showcase
14. 3rd & Lindsley - Everyday Visuals; Mike Farris; The Dirty Guv'nahs
15. Christopher's Pizza - Rhona Kelley
16. Trevecca Nazarene (a stretch) - Jon Foreman/Deas Vail
17. Edgehill Studios - a couple random songwriters
18. Bluebird Cafe - Glen Phillips/Dan Wilson/Kevin Griffin/Daniel Tashian
19. City Hall - The Dynamites/DJ Egon
20. The End - Armed Forces; We Were the States
21. Borders West End - Matt Wertz

Update - January One

Progress Report #1 - 1/1/8

The lead-up to Christmas and New Years has kept me from being as aggressive with my list as I'd hoped. This will make the multi-tiered goals (reading and film-watching, mostly) more difficult, but certainly not too much so.

That said, I'm happy to report the first few victories (in red on the master list), and a couple of works-in-progress (green):

Completed (in no particular order):

1. I finished scanning my magazines and took them to my local recycling center. ("Simplify" #2)
2. I sent my digital camera off to Canon to be repaired, a mere 8 days before the warranty expired. I received notice from them that the repairs were covered, and I should be getting it back any day now. ("Do" #7)
3. I got rid of about a garbage-bag-and-a-half of clothes I haven't worn in quite some time. This, along with the magazine scanning, was done as part of my move, and I'll probably do another round soon, but this was significant progress. ("Simplify" #3)

In Progress:

1. One of the items on my private list is, by God's grace, underway. I'm both excited and scared, and I'd ask that those of you who are so inclined, please pray for wisdom, humility, and confidence at their appropriate times, for me. ("Private" #1)
2. I've started memorizing Philippians. ("Faith" #6)
3. I went to a show at Windows on the Cumberland. Seedy place, but the music was great. My Coke came in a can. ("Nashville/TN" #1) Also, I caught a great roots/blues act from BOSTON at The Family Wash.

That covers the progress for now. I'll update again soon!