2011 Resolutions Finale

So where did 2011 go? 

It is hard for me to believe that it has been a year already. This year has certainly had its ups and downs but I think it was still a pretty good year. I am hoping for a better 2012 and I have a bunch of new goals/resolutions that I want to undertake, which I blogged about yesterday. And since I made new goals/resolutions, I should take a look back at the past year and see how I did.


Once again I will use the Mountain Dew LiveWire Rating System with 5 Dews being the best (meaning I totally nailed the goal) and 0 Dews meaning I totally flopped.


Resolution #1
"Take Time to Write More"
I completed both the ScriptFrenzy and Nanowrimo competitions. Unfortunately I didn't do much writing aside from that. I did do some minor edits in my Official Missionary Journal but that's all folks! I did alright with the blogging as well. Not as good as I wanted but I am at least still doing it. 

Resolution #2
"Read More"
The year started out really good. But then the wheels slowly came off the wagon. I did complete my goal of reading a book a quarter. I read all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid the first quarter, Mick Foley's Have A Nice Day the second quarter, Belinda Carlisle's Lipps Unsealed for the third quarter and I just finished (a day late) Ozzy Osbourne's autobiography I am Ozzy. I did manage to read the Ensign every month for the first three months but I failed the rest of the year. And I don't really want to bring up the scriptures, I did a really lousy job with that. At times I was breezing through the New Testament and then it would stall. I don't think I did a bad job but I could have definitely done better. 

Resolution #3
"Be Healthy"
My resolution stated that I would exercise 5 days a week and I think for the most part I succeeded. I know I missed some days and the month of December suffered a bit but I think I did pretty well. I rode my bike 8 miles to work almost daily, I played a lot of racquetball and I did my Total Gym too. Unfortunately due to my knee I was unable to run the 5K marathon. But on the other hand I did run a 1 mile race. For the most part I have eaten more healthier, I pay a lot more attention to serving sizes now and I have cut my soda consumption down quite a bit. I think for the most part I knocked this one outta the park!

Resolution #4
"Pick up a Pen and Draw!"
Uh oh. I have not done any type of art since the mid-point of the year. I have taken some time to do some doodling but that is about it. I didn't do any Queen-related art which I still want to do. Ugh, I failed on this one.

Resolution #5
"Play the Bass"
For the most part I played the bass pretty regularly. I wouldn't say every day but I know that I did it at least weekly. And I am slowly expanding all the songs that I can now cover. The other part of my resolution was to use my musical talents (and I use that term lightly) and look for more opportunities to sing. Now that I have done, I sang in my local Church choir and I have joined a few others as well. I can safely say that I killed this goal/resolution! 

Some of the time I feel like I am not accomplishing anything but then I take a long look (and blog about them) and I think I have done a pretty good job. And I do owe it to the blog, if I didn't have to list goals/resolutions and then have to own up to them, I doubt I would have done anything at all. 

October Days of Reckoning

I say this every time I do one of these columns but I am amazed and frightened about how fast time as gone. October just came and went and I am so glad that I have blogged about it because I cannot remember what I did and what happened.

So what did I accomplish in October?

WRITING:

I procrastinated. Which seems to be the story of my life in some things. I was supposed to plot out my next novel but I barely looked at my old notes. Luckily the creative juices have been flowing and I am on par with where I am supposed to be at in my Nanowrimo war. In fact, things couldn't be better writing this novel. I have the basic plot line done but so far I have not even got to that part yet. The novel has already gone in a direction that I didn't think it would go. Only about 38,000 more words to go!

I gotta get me one of these pens.

READING:

I procrastinated. Now where have I heard that before? I am about halfway through my 11th book and I need to get that cranked out so I can choose my last book of the year. But I did finish my 10th book last night and it was a great read. I finished The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore and it was fantastic. For those that don't know, Alan Moore has written some of my favorite comic books like Watchmen, V For Vendetta, Captain Britain and Swamp Thing. The book I read was one long interview and he covered his whole life and it was great. Now I just need to finish Larry H. Miller's book and then I think I will snag Carrie Fisher's autobiography to finish out the year.

EXERCISE AND EATING RIGHT:

Last month was the worst month. I barely exercised and I know I am going to struggle here in the winter months. Kristy has a bunch of walking DVDs that I am going to have to do so I can get some exercise. I have to do them so I can get into shape faster when spring comes along so I can train for my first race. Halloween didn't help since I do love the candy.

I should save me the effort of dressing up for Halloween next year and just go as Homer in his moo-moo. I certainly feel as fat as he looks.

OTHER STUFF:

I do like playing the bass and I am finding it easier to figure out the notes. I am probably up to about thirty songs. Now if I could only sing at the same time as playing the bass. That is a lot harder than I thought it would be. And I am so glad that I joined the choir at Church. We are doing Christmas songs and I just love singing those.

Not a great month but I still feel that I am ahead of the game. 

The Last Days of July

Day 274

It is hard to believe that it is August 1st already, that is eight months into the new year! That means I only have about 4 months left on the blog which is even harder to believe.


It also means that it is time to be accountable for the resolutions that I made in the New Year. I was doing these columns every two weeks but I like the monthly format better. Now I just have to remember what I did last month. :)

WRITING:

I'll be honest, I have not done any writing this last month aside from my blog. I have revisited my earliest attempt at a novel that I did a few years ago but I have not done any revisions or even plotting. That really needs to change since November's NaNoWrMo is coming up and will be here quicker than I think. I have to decide if I want to go into my horror novel or continue with my early Powergate novel. Either way, I need to start outlining it out.

READING:

Last month I was struggling, now I am far ahead of schedule with no signs of stopping. I finished "Sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs : a low culture manifesto" by Chuck Klosterman and thought that was a fun read. He and I think alike on some topics, we both watched The Real World (and his chapter devoted to that was fascinating) and we both thought Billy Joel's album, the Nylon Curtain was his best work. His chapters on Saved by the Bell and breakfast cereals were pretty funny. I might check out a few more of his books.

I also read Conversations with Tom Petty, which I found very fascinating. It gave an in depth look at Petty's career and also spent a great deal of time on his songs.

I also read The Final Season by former New York Jets head coach Bill Parcell. That was fun to read as well since it took me back to one of the more interesting seasons of the New York Jets.

I am now close to finishing another book, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions Of A B-Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell. I saw this at the library and I had to read it. I have always wanted to read it and it is just as fun as you would think it would be. I'll do a Book Review column for that when I am done with the book here in a week or so.

I have a few books waiting in the wings that I am excited to read. I still have Driven: An Autobiography by Larry H Miller (former owner of the Utah Jazz and major Utah business owner). And I also want to track down Wishful Drinking (Carrie Fisher's memoirs) and Lips Unsealed (Belinda Carlisle's memoirs).

So I think I am on my way to completing this goal with ease by the end of the year.

EXERCISE AND EATING RIGHT:

This is probably the most steady exercising I have ever had. When I look back the last eight months I can say that I have exercised at least 3 times each week. I am still running (and it is getting easier, I can see the improvements) and I do try to lift some weights as well. I try to run when I can but that depends on how hot it is. If it is too hot, I work out on my Total Gym. I still have not lost any more weight but I do look a lot more tone. I am trying to eat better but I have not been very anal. Kristy and I started to get our Bountiful Baskets and so I feel like I am eating a heck of a lot more fruit and veggies. I feel healthier and I guess that is the most important thing.

OTHER STUFF:

I have not done any major art but I am doodling more. Heh, that sounds kinda strange. I am playing my bass guitar pretty regularly now. I keep it by my computer, I know that if I put it away, I will never play it. So I am keeping it out and I am trying to play for at least fifteen minutes (a few songs) a day.
So not too bad. I have to tighten the screws on a few goals and work on them and then I think I am set!

April Day(s) of Reckoning II

Day 179

Part of me likes doing these columns because I really don't have to think much about what to blog that day. On the other hand, I hate doing these columns because I have been BUSTED!

Remember last time I said that I wouldn't guarantee anything because the time before I got caught with my pants down (not literally) and guaranteed I would do something?

Well, I did it again. Joe Namath would be so disappointed in me. I won't let you down Joe!

WRITING:

Yes, I am still working on the novel. Yeah, I still have that stupid small chapter beckoning for me to finish it. UGH! As soon as I am done with this blog and a few pages for my ScriptFrenzy project I will work on this next. Seriously. I know you don't believe me.
My ScriptFrenzy project is so close to be completed and I am having a hoot with it. I can crank out ten pages at a time and then I take a few days off to recharge and then I crank out another batch of pages. Script writing was so intimidating before but now it is a lot of fun. One thing I do appreciate is comic book writers that do team books. Keeping track of a large cast of characters is pretty difficult.

I just 7 more pages and I am finished with a 100 pages! A few today and few tomorrow and I am done. And I have a fun geeky epilogue to end with that I am excited to do.  I will definitely do this again next April.

READING:
Nothing. Since I am ahead on books, I have not read anything. This obviously will change soon. I think I will give my fellow blogger Chelsea's books a try.

EXERCISE AND EATING RIGHT:

Much better than the last time. All of my Easter crap is gone so now I can refocus on my treat consumption. I have been exercising more too. When it is nice out I walk to the Logan Temple and walk around that block a couple of times and I run on the steep up hills. When I come home I try to run the last block or so. I just hope the weather stays good so I can go out.

And that is about all for my goals. So not bad but not totally good. So now I need to close my Mindsweeper game and get some writing done!

April Day(s) of Reckoning

Day 164

It feels like forever since I did one of these columns. And that may or may not be a good thing. Doing these columns certainly makes me take stock and see if I had improved any. Having to post them in such a public arena really makes me want to complete these goals.

And when it comes to New Year's Resolutions and goals, do not guarantee anything or you will look pretty silly later on. I guaranteed last time that I would have officially completed the novel. I have one month (I hope) before my coupon expires to get my book published and I really need to push it now. But I guarantee nothing. Except for the fact that I will finish off my little chapter.

I need to guarantee more like the way Broadway Joe Namath guarantees.

WRITING:

I am still working on the novel. Wait, let me rephrase that. I am going to work on finishing my novel. Which means I need to get ahead on my ScriptFrenzy project and on this blog. If I can double up some blog entries and get a few pages cranked out on my script, I can finish the novel.

My ScriptFrenzy project is progressing and is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The Scripped.com software is pretty awesome and makes scripting a lot more easier than I thought it would be. So far I am up to 41 pages out of the goal of 100 by the end of the month. Some days I can only do a few pages but some days are better than others and I can put out 10 pages or so. I will definitely do this again next April.

The blog is still going strong even though the last few weeks have been hard. I just don't know what to blog about anymore and I have to admit that I am getting lazier about writing too. Some stuff I want to blog about just takes forever to type! But I really shouldn't complain, this has been a lot of fun.

READING:

I finished this book a few days ago and it had to be one of the best autobiographies about professional wrestling I have ever read. It was engaging, funny, sad and motivational. Bret was one of the most famous and successful wrestler but then even his career was marred with heartache and unbelievable trials, in and out of the ring. Two of his brothers passed away tragically when they were young, close family members bickered and now they are no longer close, the injuries sustained by his friends and of course the famous Montreal Screwjob where in front of a national audience and in his homeland of Canada was lied to and he lost his World title by his own boss. But even in all the tribulation he still kept his head high and worked through a stroke. The amount of pain and loss this man faced makes me look at my own life. I could go on and on about this.

I am not sure what to read next. I still have Veeps to finish off but I am ahead in my book reading schedule. I have read 4 books this year already so I could take the rest of the month off.

Exercise and Eating Right
Ugh, I don't want to talk about this. With Easter I have pigged out on junk food like nothing else. So I have not been eating all that great. And this last week I barely exercised because I have not been feeling well. But I did exercise today and yesterday so I am getting back in the groove.

Lately for exercising I have been running up to the Logan Temple and walking around the block. It is great because it has quite an uphill (which I run every time) and it is beautiful to look at. I went walking around and running up the uphill portion when I noticed my neighbor running around it also. And boy did she run it, she must have lapped me a couple of times! So now the goal by the end of summer is to be able to run around it without tasting blood and feeling the spectre of death come upon me!

I have not done any drawing lately but I might pull out the drawing pad and do some doodling. Chances are I will be plotting my script instead since that goal needs to be done by the end of the month.

March Day(s) of Reckoning Part II

Day 148

I am going into my fourth month of my New Year's Resolutions and it feels like I have been doing them for YEARS. Time does fly but when it comes to these goals, time is dragging.

These last two weeks have been a ton better. I think having to blog about what I have done has helped me be more accountable and more aware. Part of me feels bad for those that follow my blog since I am sure this bores the snot out of you.

So let's get to it!

WRITING:

As many of you know already, I am starting a new writing challenge called Script Frenzy. I am looking forward to this new challenge and hope it helps hone my writing skills. It starts April 1st but I have been spending some time plotting and figuring out where I want to take this story.

I still have not yet completed my last insert into the Vessel. But that WILL be done this week. I guarantee it!

READING:

Last week, I felt horrible by not doing one single iota of reading. I certainly have changed that these last two weeks. I have read two books and I am on my way to completing my fourth ahead of schedule.

This book was an easy sell. Spider-Man has always been one of my favorite characters and I was feeling nostalgic so this book was right up my alley. DeFalco (the author) interviews about ten writers and artists about working on Spider-Man. This book is not a Marvel book so these creators really could let their feelings be known. Reading these types of books really inspire me to write. The part I enjoyed the most was reading about the Clone Saga. For those that don't know, this will go down in history as the WORST Spider-Man story ever (it lasted for years) but hearing the behind-the-scenes stuff was cool. The creators really thought that had something in that story but it quickly derailed when Sales and Marketing got involved.

I also started and completed this book by Warren Ellis. Ellis is one of my favorite comic book writers and this was his first novel. What I like about him is his cast of characters and how they are very unique. The plot was about a guy searching for the real US Constitution and who's hands it passed through. It was pretty violent and filled with stuff that I hope I never come across in real life. Definitely not for the weak of heart. I definitely like his comic books better and probably only because it is filtered down. Still, a fun and imaginative book.

The next book I am currently reading is the autobiography of Bret "The Hitman" Hart. He was a famous professional wrestler and this chronicles his life. He was a smart man, he kept audio diaries when he was wrestling just so he could write a book later in life. So far the book is excellent. Again, I like behind-the-scenes stuff and this is filled with it. A lot of funny stories; especially about the time his dad Stu would take perspective wrestlers down to the Dungeon and beat the tar out of them. In one case Stu was 65 years old and he made this one kid (who thought he was awesome) bawl like a baby because of the pain.

Exercise and Eating Right
I exercised most of the days, only missing one sessions. Unfortunately my weight was off a bit. We splurged last weekend and now I am suffering for it. No treats until Easter except for a few rare exceptions. But even then, I can only have treats in moderation. And since the weather has been nice, I have been running up to the Logan Temple and walking a few times around it. That gets the heart going since it is on a pretty big hill.

Every Tuesday during Lost I have been doing some drawing. More than likely next time I will be doing some storyboards for my script.

So not a bad two weeks.

By the way, I keep forgetting to thank Milton for the tip on cheap Creme Eggs. I got a bunch of those "gross" little things. Too bad I cannot eat them until Easter!

March Day(s) of Reckoning Part I

Day 134

Uh oh.
For whom the bell tolls?

It is that time of the month already and I have had a tough week with my goals. So let's just get down to it.

WRITING:

Nada. Nothing. I have not done any writing at all. Ugh, that is not good. So the goal for the next two weeks is finish off my chapter on Deacon and find some chapter breaks.

READING:

Nothing. Nada. I have not done any reading either. I have been a bad boy. But the good news is that I will have some new reading material soon. I will order a book I have wanted to read since it came out this week (I'll talk about it during next week's Sunday Confessional) and another book should be here Monday/Tuesday. I am still planning on reading Warren Ellis's Crooked Little Vein and finishing Veeps but I am more excited for my new book Comic Creators on Spider-Man.

Yes, I am a geek. This is a set of interviews of some of Spider-Man's creative teams (writers/artists) and they reveal some of what went on behind the scenes. I have read the X-Men one and found that one to be a lot of fun.

Exercise and Eating Right
This is the only goal that I have been doing okay on the last two weeks. I exercised most of the days, only missing one or two sessions. I am .4 pounds off my goal. I have been a little more careful in what I am eating. Except for yesterday, I splurged and ate a ton of candy.

I have not done any of my other goals. But I am hoping I will have some time this week to do them. I plan on doing some drawing while watching Lost each week.

February Day(s) of Reckoning Part II

Day 120

I am starting to loathe these columns already. They may be no fun to read but believe me, they are not fun to write either.

It has been two months since I have made my New Year's Resolutions (or has my friend Betsy calls them New Year's Goals) and looking back, in the long run, I am pretty happy for how things have turned out.

But when I look at the last 2 weeks I am only slightly happy. It has been a hard two weeks but at the same time, I feel like I have grown a bit (and luckily not in the weight category) especially these last 2 weeks. At least there has been some improvement going on.

So how am I doing?

WRITING:

HUZZAH! I finished my 2nd draft! I felt a bit guilty for hardly doing anything the last time that I really focused and completed it. I have to admit that editing the ending was a lot of fun, there is a ton of stuff that I totally have forgotten about. It reads a lot stronger than my first draft. I still have a small portion to add, about maybe a thousand words or so.

2ND DRAFT: 93,993 words
1ST DRAFT: 65,285 words

Yeah, I would say that I have added quite a bit of content. Now for another set of edits and I should be completed!

And I have done a few more doodles of some cover art. That will be the goal for next time. I will post some rough drawings.

READING:

I feel like I have failed here. But with some fancy justification I can amend that. Unfortunately I never got 'Then We Came to the End' back from the library. And I am only about halfway through my replacement book 'Veeps'. So I have not completed a book this month. So the justification is that my goal for the year is 12 books which is at least once a month. I will finish 'Veeps' for sure but it may take some time to revisit the other book.

The book for March will be Warren Ellis's 'Crooked Little Vein' which I have not read yet. I read the first chapter awhile ago but never completed it.

Exercise and Eating Right
Ugh. I have not done as well as I would have liked. I skipped exercising a few times and I have not eaten great. But I still have exercised so at least I am getting something. And I have been a little more choosy when it comes to food. Still, this is better than normal.

With Spring right around the corner, I am feeling pretty ambitious. Which is good since I will need to exercise more to burn off all those Creme Eggs.

February Day(s) of Reckoning

Day 106

By the way, before I forget. I blognapped Kristy's blog today. She must have forgotten that I helped her set up her blog so I know her password. You can see it here: 365daysofKristy

I know I say this every time this column comes up and I will probably keep saying it but I cannot believe that it has been two weeks already!

So how am I doing?


WRITING:

I am losing it. I am losing focus and I have slacked off writing and editing. I did e-mail a few folks the first half of my novel for them to edit and I am hoping that pushes me forward. I am getting real close to the end though and that makes me happy. And I just edited one of my favorite parts of my novel yesterday. When I look at the big picture and see how much I have accomplished and what I have left, I am satisfied with how much I have done. I only have 17,359 words left of my novel to edit. I have written so far on my second draft 73,173 words! All I have to do in addition to finishing is to write a small conclusion to another chapter I added. And then go through whatever edits I have that my friends have for me and I am done!

READING:

Good news/bad news here. The next book that has been recommended by my friend Steve is 'Then We Came to the End' by Joshua Ferris. I picked this up at the library and I got through the first four chapters but then I had to renew it at the library. And someone had placed a hold on it so I don't have it anymore. ARGH! The book was a little difficult to get into but the further I got the better it became. I liked it because it reminded me of WestHost. Every character that book had there was someone at my old work like them. And the chair... ...Tom's chair was (so far) my favorite part. Maybe one day I will write a book about my time at WestHost.

So until I get that book back, I will have to concentrate on finishing Veeps before the month ends.

Exercise and Eating Right
I skipped yesterday. Kristy and Logan had the day off from school and I don't like to do the Wii Fit with them around. Aside from that, I have done pretty decent. I am down a few more pounds and I am closer to my goal. I also have noticed that I look much better. I still have the ol' love handles but my chest, shoulders and arms have improved. Yes, I am an Adonis.

As far as my other goals have gone, I have not had any time yet. The novel is my focus for now. We'll see how I am in another 14 days.

January Day(s) of Reckoning II

Day 89

Is it the 28th already? It has been two weeks since the last time I posted a Days of Reckoning column? Time has certainly passed by pretty quickly. Let's see how I did.

WRITING:

I have not worked on it as much as I wanted to but the last few days I have made significant progress. I have edited about 44,883 words from my first initial draft and I have 39,547 words to go until I am done. So I am about half way done but I am at a part that I am not satisfied with and I am writing a lot of new stuff from scratch. I need to add more back story of one of the main characters and the plan is to write that and when I get tired or when I hit a wall, I go back editing what I have now. I don't want to toot my own horn but there have been some parts that I have been quite happy with. This is the first time that I have gone back to read it. Now I just need to get the stuff I have to some other people for some editing and review and finish what I have left and go from there.

READING:
Since it is still January I can say that I have accomplished this goal. I read 'Beat the Reaper' by Josh Bazell. The next book that has been recommended by my friend Steve is 'Then We Came to the End' by Joshua Ferris. I have already picked this up at the library but I have not started it yet.



I have started another book, a book which has self-contained chapters so I can just read a chapter at a time anytime. That way I have a book I can read anytime and I can count it as one of my months. The book is called Veeps: Profiles in Insignificance.


Here is a description:

"It's a tired but true cliche that every American Vice President is just a heartbeat away from the most powerful job in the world - a job they've often never really interviewed for. Who are these people? Over more than 200 years, the American voters have sent a platoon of rogues, cowards, drunks, featherweights, doddering geriatrics, bigots, and atrocious spellers to Washington D.C. to sit one bullet, cerebral hemorrhage, or case of pneumonia away from the highest office in the land. Veeps tells the sordid, head-scratching, perversely-entertaining stories of these men we've chosen to ride shotgun in the biggest rig in democracy, without ever seriously considering the possibility that they might have to take the wheel."

I am a few chapters in it and I am surprised at how some of our VP's have acted. The book is filled with a ton of neat facts as well. If you like history and political science, I highly recommend it.

ART:
I have not done anything new except for one doodle I did at my dad's house of some potential cover art for my novel.

EXERCISE AND EATING RIGHT
Ugh. I exercised good the first week but this week was a lot more difficult. I was not in the mood Monday and I did a half-arsed workout. Tuesday was normal and I went and got some extra exercise that night by playing basketball with a couple of guys from the neighborhood. I am so out of shape. Unfortunately, I came home and had a major asthma attack, I have not had a big one for years and this one was awful. So I didn't exercise yesterday. I am feeling better and did a workout today and I hope that I can continue but my chest is still tight. I felt that I have been eating better since the amount of candy and chocolate is getting scarce around here. And I am trying a new thing too. Did you know your brain needs 15 to 20 minutes to register signs of fullness? So I plan on eating slower instead of my usual world-is-ending-scarfing routine. Drink in between bites as well. According to WiiFit, I am done a few pounds.

All in all, I am happy with some of the progress I have made. Hopefully the exercising and eating right are now habits. We'll see Feb 14th.

Day(s) of Reckoning

Day 75

We love the Simpsons here at the Platis household. We have a ton of Simpsons games and one of them is the Simpsons Game of Life. It is not the same Game of Life that I remember playing as a child. Now instead of the Day of Reckoning they call it retirement. That certainly takes the edge off of it. I prefer Day of Reckoning which is why I have named this column that.

It has been two weeks since I have unveiled my New Year's Resolutions. So now it is time for some accountability. On the 14th and 28th of every month I plan on blogging about how I am doing. The good thing about doing this is that I don't have to come up with 2 blogs a month. The bad thing is that not only will it bore some to tears but it will also show how lazy I am. Hopefully that will not be the case.

So without further ado...

WRITING:

I have worked on my novel these last two weeks and I think I have made a nice bit of progress. I have a brand new beginning all written out which I am pretty satisfied with. This will introduce the main character in a much better way and also makes the impact of the first cliffhanger all more important. I have also started to edit my novel and I have got a good chunk of it started. It has been pretty interesting considering this is the first time I have read it. I am pretty happy with the progress of this goal. My other writing goals I have not started but that was to be expected. I only have a few months to knock this one out of the park.

READING:

I actually accomplished a goal by reading a new novel this month and I finished it way ahead of schedule. I read 'Beat the Reaper' by Josh Bazell. It was a fairly quick read, it was very easy to get through and flowed very well. And the more you read, the more interesting and hard to put down it got.

THE GOOD: Very quick and highly interesting. I thought it had two things that made it an excellent read. The footnotes were highly interesting with some neat facts, stuff I never knew. The book also peeled back the main character's past in an interesting way. One chapter dealt with the now and the author would reveal some tidbits and then the next chapter was in the past. So you can learn how events actually came to be.
THE BAD: I was not a huge fan of the ending. It was definitely exciting but it seemed to quick and some of the actions of the main character were almost too unbelievable. But that didn't take away from my enjoyment.

For those that like a step on the wild side, you should read this book. It does have quite a bit of colorful language and had some disturbing things so be forewarned.

The next book that has been recommended by my friend Steve is 'Then We Came to the End' by Joshua Ferris. I might pick up this book at the library and get a head start.

ART:
Nothing down with art although I did do some doodling of potential cover art for my novel. When I get a collection of them I will try to scan them in and post them.

EXERCISE AND EATING RIGHT
I have exercised for two weeks straight and I do feel like my body is responding. Sadly, I am not eating so great yet. I have loads of Christmas candy that needs to go. So the plan is to eat it all up so I don't have anymore left. Yeah, I know, doesn't totally feel like a solid plan. I was happy the first day I started, I was on the Wii Fit Plus and weighed myself. I was only a pound more than I thought, which was good considering I was eating like a pig over the holidays. I do the Wii Fit every other day and when the next time came, I was up three pounds! D'OH! So now instead of 7 pounds, I have to lose 10 now. But I have lost some since then so at least I am heading in the right direction.

As far as my other goals have gone, I have not had any time yet. The novel is my focus for now. We'll see how I am in another 14 days.