The first sign that it's been too long since I last posted is that I had to reset my password because I couldn't remember how to log into my account. The second sign was the 100+ spam comments on old blog posts, trying to sell Viagra or dating websites or whatever. Then, of course there's my previous post, which is helpfully dated in bold letters as having gone up in March. 9 months ago.
I can't say that it's been an especially busy year, although I have taken on a second job and I did spend a week and a half in California with my family, visiting a good friend and behaving like a tourist. The simple truth is that I was not motivated to write. Occasionally I would try to buckle down and come up with something to say, maybe even getting as far as writing down a page or so of notes. That never went any farther, though, and as the days became weeks became months, it just became easier and easier to stop trying. October was going to be my big comeback. I was going to take part in the Countdown to Halloween again, and I even began to list ideas for Halloween related posts. But then I got that second job, and knew I'd be out of state and mostly offline for much of the time leading up to the big day, and I opted out. And then, well, the momentum had been lost, and I didn't make much of an attempt after that.
Now comes a new year, and although I've never been one for resolutions, I've decided on a couple that I want to make this year. Last year I resolved to read nothing but nonfiction until the new year, and that was a pretty good experience, although now I have a stack of fiction books I can't wait to dive into once I finish Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris' second in his trilogy of Theodore Roosevelt biographies. This year my reading habits go back to normal, but my writing habits will hopefully become a bit more focused.
Resolution #1: Limit Internet usage to one hour a day. I've noticed that many of those studies about the Internet lowering attention span are correct, at least in my case. I've become much more of a multitasker, to the deficit of most of the projects I'm involved in. I spend too much time using stumbleupon to find new websites, and I spend too much time on facebook and flickchart and other websites that provide entertainment and information in bite sized chunks. Not that I'm an ADD-addled hyperactive chipmunk, but I find that spending time on these time-waster sites gives me a false sense of accomplishment when I haven't actually done anything. An hour a day limit is probably higher than I'll end up using, but will at least keep me from wasting the day. The hour limit won't apply to anything work-related, or any time spent posting to this blog.
Resolution #2: Spend at least 30 minutes each day writing. Not all of these writings will show up on this blog, and many of them will probably be stream of consciousness ramblings, or thoughts on the recent movies I've seen. The point isn't to keep the blog active, but to keep me active. Once again the time limit isn't set in stone, but I'm going to set aside at least a half hour every day to do nothing but write. TV off, iPod on, notepad out. Most likely you will see an increase in activity on this blog, but I'm not making it a priority as of now.
There are a few others that I'm leaving open ended. I'd like to learn HTML this year, and become a bit more proficient with the gadgets in my life. My technical proficiency is adequate, but I feel like I know what buttons to push to get things done, but I don't know why or how they work. But generally that's it. I'm keeping it simple, so hopefully I won't become overwhelmed and give up on these resolutions. If you're reading this, thanks for stopping by, and I hope to be here again soon.
