The Face Of The Earth

... I fell off it.

This summer I have slipped into an odd sleeping schedule (complete lack thereof) and time has definitely flown. It's hard to believe that we are almost to August. It's even harder to believe because I don't feel like I've accomplished a lot.

I've done some work on a new interface to the Magic site, and will hopefully get something out there on that front soon. I'm about halfway through SICP, which has been just as mind-expanding the second time as the first. I've also been dabbling the last couple days in creating my own web framework.

The standard response when someone creates their own framework is "there is no way you can do it better than the thousands of people working on existing mainstream frameworks." Yes, there is no way I have time to make a polished framework with all the features of those frameworks, so this argument is true on the surface. But frankly nothing out there is as simple as what I want, and I'm not setting out to make the greatest thing ever, I just want something that works for me.

Besides, it's fun.

But, in order to make better use of the five months of freedom that remain, I'd like to lay out some goals. They are all baby steps for now, with hopeful modifications later on.

1. Exercise every day when I get up.
2. Eat at least one piece of fruit a day.
3. Stop drinking coke.
4. Devote at least one hour a day to coding.
5. Devote at least one hour a day to a project.
6. Blog once a day, and mention progress on these goals.

You might look at #4 and think "You can't even work one hour a day?!" ... but that isn't the issue. When I get to working on something I can get lost for hours at a time. The problem is that I often go two to three days without getting anything done, which definitely needs to stop. Also notice that coding does not necessarily mean accomplishing anything on one of my projects, so those are separate. I might accomplish my coding goal through SICP or Project Euler, but I should definitely make progress on some projects too.

Also, on a less daily front, I think I want to feel out and possibly apply to grad school. So that will be my long term personal development project.

Now one caveat. My 'days' are not standard days, so for the purpose of this, 'every day' is every time I'm awake for an extended period. 'Today,' for instance, started at 10pm Saturday night and is going to end at about 4pm.