Thursday, September 20, 2012

RoW - Round 3 Final Thoughts

When I started A Round of Words in 80 Days six weeks ago for the first time, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect.  Here we have a group of writers who...
  • Seem to be unnaturally nice.
  • Seem to actually care about each other.
  • Are down to earth.
  • Encourage each other's successes.
  • Pick each other up after failures.
  • Have immense knowledge of all aspects of the writing, revision, and publishing process.
Can it possibly be true that these writers are actually all these things?

Well, after six weeks, I'm come to the conclusion that... it's all true.

I've had an up and down half-round.  I've had weeks that were so productive that I was beaming as I wrote my blog posts.  I've had weeks that were so unproductive that I saw no point in updating at all.  Through all of it, all of my fellow RoW participants were there, commenting on every post, sharing in my good and bad moments.

So... before I go into all the end-of-round goals I didn't accomplish, I'd like to take a moment to thank every one of you who took a minute here or there to stop by and write a comment.  It's very validating to me to receive these comments, to know that you all are supporting me, someone you barely know.

I've spent many hours over the past six weeks doing the same with as many of you as possible, and I feel like I've begun developing friendships with you as well.  I am truly looking forward to Round 4, where I can take everything I've learned and grow from the experience.  I hope to see you all then!

Please feel free to comment about your round as well, either to share in your commiseration, or to shine in your success!

Here's my list of goals, and how I progressed:

ROW80 2012R3 - End-of-Round Goals

Writing - I will push toward having completed the first draft of my 2011 NaNo novel. This will be exceptionally difficult, as I believe I still have at least 50-70,000 words left to reach completion, but I feel this is necessary, as my desire is to start the second book in the series for the 2012 NaNo.  I managed to write about 12,000 words onto my 2011 NaNo novel.  I didn't come close to completing the novel, but I did make great progress in comparison to the past eight months since NaNo came to a close.

Blogging - I don't really have an end-of-round goal for blogging, but I would like to get to the point where I feel comfortable writing blog posts on a regular basis. Having a few followers would also be nice!  I have written fourteen blog posts since I started RoW in mid-August, which accounts for around two posts a week.  I feel like I have gained much insight in the blogosphere and how to connect with other bloggers around me.  I've also gained 5 followers, which was more than I was expecting, so thank you for the follow!

Exercise - While not excessively overweight, I weigh more than I am comfortable with, and my goal is to lose 5 pounds by the end of this round.  I did not do very well on this goal.  I did get some exercise in, but my eating habits caused me to gain a couple pounds instead of lose.  I'll be expanding on this goal for Round 4.

Housework - Talk about running a treadmill, housework will never cease, but I want to get to a point at my house that the house is at least free of clutter every night before I go to bed, and my wife is happy with the assistance I give the household.  I made some serious progress in this area, which makes me quite happy.  I've been helping more with various activities, from dishes and cleaning the kitchen to helping keep the kids' areas uncluttered.  I still have a long way to go on this goal, but the progress made was wonderful.

Monday, September 10, 2012

RoW80 Update -The Balloon is Squeezing Me

For those of you that read my RoW80 post last Wednesday, I was being overly ambitious by trying to cram an immense amount of things into my day each day.  This was partially because I believed I could handle the pressure, and partially because I was running through the manic end of my mood swings.  (My therapist says I only have issues with depression, that I'm not bipolar, but sometimes I'm not so sure.)

I received comments from multiple people stating that they themselves would not be able to handle this kind of level of multitasking.  What they didn't say was that I probably wouldn't be able to handle it either.  Of course, my commenters don't know me very well yet, so they couldn't know that for sure either way, right?

Well... if you were thinking that failure was imminent... you were right.

Failed might be a strong word, but I sure didn't pass all my goals with flying colors.  I'm actually not going to go into detail about the end-of-week goal progress, because very little happened on my goals the second half of the week.  Between work, and the pressures there, and a weekend packed with activities not conducive to getting anything accomplished, it was a dismal few days for my goals.  I went from trying to squeeze the balloon... to the balloon squeezing me!

So, what should I do?  I'm not sure, but here's what I'm going to do:

I'm going to forget last week existed.

I have to set some new goals for this week, but that will be difficult as well, as my wife leaves Wednesday morning for a weeklong vacation in California, leaving me with the kids by myself.  As hard as writing, reading, etc., was with my wife around, it'll be doubly difficult with her gone.  So, I'm going to take a light week this week, and just shoot for some simple goals.  Here's what I'm planning:


RoW80 Detailed Goal Progress


Writing - I will write something toward finishing my as yet untitled book from NaNo last year, even if only 50 words, every day.  This Week's Goal:  Get from 61,172 words to 63,500 words in my NaNo novel.

Reading - I will read at least 10 pages of a book each day.  This Week's Goal:  Read to page 175 of Battle Royale.

Blogging - I will write at least three blog posts each week, one of which must not be ROW80-related.  This Week's Goal:  Write my Wednesday RoW update, one miscellaneous post, and keep up with reading my subscribed blogs throughout the week.

Exercise - I will get "real" exercise for at least 30 minutes, three times a week. This Week's Goal:  Get out for at least one walk with my kids this week.

Housework - I will, in some small way, make my house look better each night than it did the previous night.  This Week's Goal:  Try to keep the house as clean as it is when my wife leaves for California, if not cleaner.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Book Review: The Power of Paradox

It's not often that I find occasion to read a book that, in all respects, appears to be a philosophical text.  However, I also don't pass up a book recommended by a friend, as "The Power of Paradox" had been, so I decided to give this book a try.

This book, written by a local retired pastor, W. Brewster Willcox, discusses in depth the idea that the Bible's stories are often full of paradoxical concepts which people outside of Christianity often use as proof that the Bible is either a collection of non-literal documents, or not inspired by God at all.

Willcox uses this book to help create an understanding that a paradox does not imply two things that cannot coexist, but instead two ideas that seem not to be able to coexist.  These seemingly conflicting ideas or circumstances are in fact quite compatible, but difficult to see because of our narrow viewpoint or understanding of the subject matter.

The central tenet behind Christianity as we understand it today is that Christ, the son of God, died through crucifixion and was resurrected three days later and ascended into heaven.  This, Willcox asserts, "is the ultimate paradox of life, of creation: sometimes when things look bad they're actually very good."

The way that Willcox goes about making his argument is quite unique.  His background in theoretical physics leads him to spend a great deal of time comparing the paradoxes of Christianity to the conflicts between various theories in physics, the greatest of these being the inability to reconcile the theories of general relativity and quantum physics. 

For those of you who have even a little background in physics, you are aware that, when taken to extremes of size, Einstein's theory of general relativity falls apart and quantum mechanics takes over, and vice versa.  The problem with this is that many of the consequences of each theory conflict with the other, leaving one of the greatest paradoxes of science.  How can we use experimentation to prove that both theories are correct, and yet yield conflicting conclusions about the universe around us?

I have bad news for you:  Willcox doesn't solve any of life's greatest mysteries in this book.  What he does do, however, is help the reader to open his mind to an understanding that conflicting ideas within the Bible are not mutually exclusive, and can actually work in tandem to create a deeper understanding of Christ's love for us.

Furthermore, Willcox has written a lengthy section on "muddling through," as he calls it.  The idea revolves around another paradox that affects not only churches, but all businesses and groups in today's increasingly connected society:  the more information you have to base a decision on, the more difficult it becomes to make the decision.

He goes on to discuss how, instead of bogging down with information overload, we muddle through with a less than accurate picture, and this process causes us to make smaller changes.  These smaller changes, in turn, build on each other over what can be a very short period of time to create huge positive change.  In fact, muddling through with small changes makes more of a positive effort in the long run, because with small changes, nothing can go drastically wrong.

Would I recommend this book to you?  That would depend upon you.  This book is not for those who are looking for a light read.  This book is also not for those who don't have a base understanding of physics, as many of the examples use physics stories to illustrate larger points.  However, I would recommend this book to anyone who truly questions the seeming contradictions in the Bible, and sees them as sticking points to growing in her religion.  Despite its difficulty, I gained a great deal of insight from this book, and believe you could do the same.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Wednesday RoW80 Update - Squeezing the Balloon

About two months ago I was seated in my boss's office at Goodwill, where I work.  Financially, things had been going poorly for the past two months, and some evidence of quality issues were starting to pop up as well.

My boss asked me if I still wanted to work at Goodwill, to which I responded that I did, of course.  He asked why I wasn't fixing some of these problems, which had a tendency to keep popping up now and then.  At first I had difficulty determining how to describe the feelings I was dealing with in relation to the department and its host of problems.

Then I thought of a balloon.  It was a nearly perfect analogy, in my opinion, to trying to squeeze a balloon down to a smaller size.  The goal is to reduce problems in all areas of the department.  However, whenever I would focus on one problem, essentially squeezing that part of the balloon, another problem would pop up somewhere else.  It's no wonder people swing so hard on the Whack-a-Mole game... never knowing which part will pop up next is incredibly frustrating.

Getting back to RoW80, I find a similar type of frustration in putting enough focus on each area of my life to meet all my goals.  Trying to balance work, a wife, kids, and various scheduled events with writing, reading, blogging, exercise and housework has been a fascinating challenge for me.

Please don't get me wrong... I love every minute of it.  I'd had an unusual drive the past three days, a drive to succeed at everything.  I'm running myself ragged, scheduling every minute of my day, from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep.  I'm getting exhausted, but it's not really slowing me down.  Not yet, at least.

I've been quite productive so far this week, if you don't count Sunday.  Sunday was my trip to the Detroit Tigers game, and was worth every minute of wasted time.  Monday I hung around the house while my wife took the kids to her family's Labor Day cookout, and I got a load of writing, housework and blogging completed.  I'm still trying to catch up on reading all of your blogs, but I'll get there... I think.

I can't wait to see what the rest of this week will bring.  Tell me your successes, and let us cheer each other on to victory!

RoW80 Detailed Goal Progress


Writing - I will write something toward finishing my as yet untitled book from NaNo last year, even if only 50 words, every day.  Write at least five days, and shoot for a wordcount goal of 65,000 - cutting down the overwhelming goal of last week.
9/2/12 - No writing accomplished.
9/3/12 - Wrote approximately 1600 words.
9/4/12 - Wrote approximately 1000 words.
9/5/12 - Wrote approximately 150 words (so far).

Reading - I will read at least 10 pages of a book each day.  Next Week's Goal: Read at least five days, and get to page 120 of Battle Royale.
9/2/12 - No reading done.
9/3/12 - Read 11 pages to page 40.
9/4/12 - Read 1 page to page 41 - sad, I know.

Blogging - I will write at least three blog posts each week, one of which must not be ROW80-related.  Next Week's Goal: Write my two RoW80 post, my book review of "The Power of Paradox", and one other post.
9/2/12 - No posts.
9/3/12 - Wrote Sunday's RoW update post.
9/4/12 - No posts.
9/5/12 - Wrote Wednesday's RoW update post.

Exercise - I will get "real" exercise for at least 30 minutes, three times a week. Get at least three prayer walks, and one aerobic exercise routine.
9/2/12 - Got about half an hour of walking during the hike between the parking lot and the baseball stadium.  Not sure how much it counts as exercise, though, as I was walking with a group of slow-pokes.  :)
9/3/12 - No exercise.
9/4/12 - No exercise.

Housework - I will, in some small way, make my house look better each night than it did the previous night.  Keep up with dishes as best as possible, work on reorganizing entertainment center area in basement, and organize garage.
9/2/12 - No housework completed.
9/3/12 - Did about two hours' worth of solid housework, taking care of dishes, moving dirty laundry to the laundry room, and picking up after my wife and kids (and myself a little bit, too.)
9/4/12 - Emptied the dishwasher, reloaded and ran another load of dishes, picked up all the DVD cases and loose disks on the entertainment center, reorganized and put them all away.

Monday, September 3, 2012

RoW Sunday Update on Monday

Just when a tough week was looking bad on Wednesday, the rest of the week happened.  To explain some of my mental state, I have difficulties staying on task when I get some bumps in the road.  Work through me some major bumps this last week.

My job, at a local Goodwill Corporate Headquarters, involves running a Janitorial contracts division and coordinating all of our environmental, "going green" efforts as an agency.  In the two and a half years I've been with Goodwill, our janitorial division has been struggling, and I've been unable to really get any traction to move forward.

This last week, I took a serious blow by learning that my star contract acquisition, which I picked up in January, is dropping us for quality concerns.  This is the first contract we've lost since before I started with Goodwill for quality reasons.  This has really made me feel like a failure.

This feeling has left me a little (okay, a lot) unfocused.  I didn't really accomplish anything on any of my goals since Wednesday or so.  This further deepens the feelings I have, and puts me in a downward spiral.

Yesterday, though, I had the opportunity to turn things around, emotionally.  I was one of six guys, between my family and my in-laws, who went to the Detroit Tigers game last night.  The game was incredible, and for those of you who follow baseball at all, their win, and sweep of the White Sox, brought Detroit into a tie in the division.

As we were driving home last night in the middle of the night, I thought long and hard about what today (Monday) would be like.  I decided I needed a bounceback day, and bounce back I have, but today's progress falls under next week's updates, so you'll have to wait to hear about it.

So, long story short... I had a rough week, but I'm very hopeful that I will be turning things around in the coming week.  Here's my day by day statistics.  Let me know how you did this week, or how you're doing in the new week!


RoW80 Detailed Goal Progress


Writing - I will write something toward finishing my as yet untitled book from NaNo last year, even if only 50 words, every day.  By the end of Saturday, I want my novel to be at a minimum of 68,000 words, from a starting number of 56,636 words.  I also want my novel outlined through at least 35 scenes, from a current progress of 29 scenes outlined.
8/26/12 - Wrote 381 words, to a total of 57,017 words written.  No scene outlines added.
8/27/12 - Wrote 745 words, to a total of 57,762 words written.  No scene outlines added.
8/28/12 - No writing done.
8/29/12 - No writing done yet.
8/30/12 - No writing done.
8/31/12 - No writing done.
9/1/12 - Wrote 183 words, for a final total of 57,945 - nowhere near my total wordcount goal.  No new scenes outlines this week either.
Next week's goal: Write at least five days, and shoot for a wordcount goal of 65,000 - cutting down the overwhelming goal of last week.

Reading - I will read at least 10 pages of a book each day.  By the end of Saturday, I want to have finished "The Power of Paradox" and read at least 100 pages of "Battle Royale" by Koushun Takami.
8/26/12 - Read 11 pages of "The Power of Paradox", on page 56 of 79.
8/27/12 - Read the rest of "The Power of Paradox".
8/28/12 - No reading done.
8/29/12 - Read to page 29 of "Battle Royale".
8/30/12 - No reading done.
8/31/12 - No reading done.
9/1/12 - No reading done.  I did finish "The Power of Paradox", but didn't make 100 pages of "Battle Royale".
Next Week's Goal: Read at least five days, and get to page 120 of Battle Royale.

Blogging - I will write at least three blog posts each week, one of which must not be ROW80-related.  By the end of Saturday, I want to have written my Sunday and Wednesday RoW80 updates, a book review of "The Power of Paradox," and one other miscellaneous post.
8/26/12 - Wrote Weekly Check-In for RoW80 (technically on 8/25, but just before midnight 8/26)
8/27/12 - No progress.
8/28/12 - No progress.
8/29/12 - Wrote RoW80 Wednesday Update.
8/30/12 - Wrote miscellaneous post "A Walk in The Woods".
8/31/12 - No progress.
9/1/12 - No progress.  Wrote my two RoW80 posts and one miscellaneous post, but wasn't able to complete my book review post.  Not too bad.
Next Week's Goal:  Write my two RoW80 post, my book review of "The Power of Paradox", and one other post.

Exercise - I will get "real" exercise for at least 30 minutes, three times a week. As part of a regular exercise routine, I want to get a mix of "prayer walks", which are rapid walks combined with extended prayer time, and running or other aerobic exercise.  I'd like to see at least 3 prayer walks and one aerobic activity by Saturday.
8/26/12 - Went for 30 minute prayer walk.
8/27/12 - Went for 32 minute prayer walk.
8/28/12 - Went for 35 minute walk in Muskegon Community College's nature trail.
8/29/12 - No progress yet.
8/30/12 - No progress.
8/31/12 - No progress.
9/1/12 - No progress.  I got in my three walks, only two of which were prayer walks, and no real aerobic activity.  Not bad, but could be better.
Next Week's Goal: Get at least three prayer walks, and one aerobic exercise routine.

Housework - I will, in some small way, make my house look better each night than it did the previous night.  By Saturday, I'd like to have caught up on all the laundry in the house, and picked up the messy basement area.
8/26/12 - Gathered up some dirty dishes, loaded and ran the dishwasher.  Picked up / cleaned the living room.
8/27/12 - Cleaned up the kitchen after dinner, ran two loads of laundry through the washer and dryer.  Helped the girls pick up their rooms.
8/28/12 - Cleaned up half the basement.
8/29/12 - No progress yet.
8/30/12 - No progress.
8/31/12 - No progress.
9/1/12 - No progress.  Despite not making any progress the last four days, the two goals were accomplished.  All the laundry is caught up (thanks to my wife for helping with this), and I picked up the basement.
Next Week's Goal: Keep up with dishes as best as possible, work on reorganizing entertainment center area in basement, and organize garage.
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