The Rage Diaries

Where to go in 2008 ...?

I am thinking ahead to 108 in 2008 ... what to put on it, whether I even want to do it, or whether there's another effective way to map out and execute a new project.

The Reduce-Reuse-Recycle challenge worked out really well for a lot of reasons this year: the incremental nature made it easy to incorporate new actions into everyone's lives; the tripartite nature of the challenge let us mix up the activities each month; it was a collaboration where we all shared information; we have somewhat quantifiable net results. I don't think I want to do another reduce-reuse-recycle challenge, but I would like to do another month-by-month venture that picks up the best traits from Reduce-Reuse-Recycle.

What areas do you think we can take this into in 2008? Fiscal fitness? Consumer activism? Conscious commerce? Think about one area you'd like to tackle in 2008 and make your suggestions below.

How I did: 105 in 2005

We were driving over to our friends' house last night when the urge to take stock of 2005 struck.

"If I had to come up with a theme for this year," I said, "It would be 'This was the year I learned my limits.' Or maybe it's 'This is the year I learned it's okay to need people.' Or maybe, 'Good grief, this was the year of unpredictability.'"

Hey! Maybe this is why I didn't finish that novel in 2005 -- I am unable to focus on a theme.

Anyway, y'all can look at last year's list on your own time. Here's how it went for me.

"And then ... I hear it yowling."

The blog is hungry. The blog will not be ignored. It is an insatiable little beast, a creature still unclassified by science -- hairy, warty, slobbering, with its own fiendish agenda. I often fantasize about killing the blog, but I worry that it will respond just like the crazed computer in "2001: A Space Odyssey": It will try to kill me first.

-- "The Tail That Wags The Blog," WaPo, Aug 21, 05

So where the hell have I been?

Nobody likes to read posts in which someone complains about getting slammed by work so I'll offer up another reason for my prolonged absence:

I also had to hop cross-country so I could watch my mom graduate from Mary Washington College. Yep, Mom's a Real College Graduate now, with her 4.0 GPA and everything. It is impossible to put into words the tremendous pride I had as I watched my mom walk across the stage to get her diploma; suffice it to say that it was so overwhelming, it kept me from getting miffed that a) someone in the registrar's office screwed up and didn't put Mom's name in the "with highest distinction" section of the program, thus denying her that extra bit of deserved recognition, and b) the announcer pronounced her last name as "Shmeeezer."

(At least, I didn't get miffed until Monday. Behold the mood-lifting powers of parental accomplishment!)

And that's why I haven't been around much. Deadlines + hectic cross-country jaunt to witness a most awesome family milestone = not much time for the site. But rest assured ... I'm tanned, not at all rested, yet I'm ready to Rage again.

So what have you all been up to?

Lo, and it was tasty

Despite being part-Irish and therefore genetically hard-wired to crave potatoes every third meal, I have rarely ventured beyond your basic baked spud when making my own taters.

However, I had vowed this year to come up with the perfect home fries, because sometimes there is nothing more meet and right than a steaming plate of crispy-tender potatoes. It's hard to figure out what I love best about home fries: the pleasing crackle of pan-fried skin as your teeth crunch down? The faintly salty tingle and melting, starchy taste of a perfectly cooked inner fry? The insane amount of carbohydrates rocketing around the bloodstream afterward? It's like asking me to choose between Scharffen Berger's 62% semisweet, 70% bittersweet and 80% extra dark. They're all delicious, each in its own way.

There go several nights of my life

So the Museum of Television and Radio is holding the William S. Paley Television Festival from March 2-March 16. If you've ever watched a show and wondered, "What on Earth were they thinking?" -- well, now's your chance to find out.

Some events are likely to be fairly well-attended, like the Desperate Housewives event ( 7 p.m., Tues, March 8, with: Marc Cherry and the Desperate Housewives. Wow, that would be an excellent band name.), the Lost night (7 p.m., Sat, March 12, with: J.J. Abrams and what appears to be everyone on the island except the polar bear) and the Veronica Mars night (Mon, March 14 with: Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Joel Silver, Rob Thomas. I have no jokes about this.).

Personally, I'm scoping out the Adult Swim event (7 p.m., Fri, March 4) and Michael Palin night (7 p.m., Fri, March 11), because I am just THAT MUCH of a cable-watching dork. Other cable-watching dorks may appreciate the L-Word event (7 p.m., Thurs, March 10) and the Deadwood event (7 p.m., Wed, March 16).

Each event costs $25 for museum members and $29 for non-members; tickets go on sale Feb 5 for members and Feb 11 for us unwashed masses*.

Breech, Berth

Evidently January is going to be the nautical month: two Sundays ago, we gawped at the great white shark, and yesterday, we went whale-watching.

Go, go, go

If you live anywhere near the Bay Area, you need to find a way to get down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and go see the great white shark. It will give you a whole new appreciation for big aquariums with thick glass walls.

For those who haven't ever had the pleasure of going to the aquarium: its two big showpiece displays are its kelp forest and its Outer Bay exhibit. The kelp forest is very cool, if a little overwhelming: looking at marine plants that are three stories tall will make anyone feel somewhat petite, and then there's the gazillions of animals living in the kelp. The exhibit's light-filled and teeming with activity, and it's very easy to wander out filled with a sunny buoyancy -- Yay, ecosystems!

One of those yearly projects I wish I had thought of

I will admit right off the bat that I love long-term projects with a simple goal*. So this whole 50 Book Challenge thing really appeals to me. From the Bookslut entry:

With a new year comes a new 50 Book Challenge. The idea, of course, is to read 50 books in 2005 and blog about them either in this livejournal community or on your own blog. (I think there was a list of non-livejournal participants last year, but I can't seem to find it again this year.) Large Hearted Boy is going all fancy this year with the challenge and getting sponsored. (It must be those extra two books he commits to.)

I'm not planning on doing the challenge -- for one thing, I've already got a full plate with my 105 Things in 2005. But any of you casting about for some sustained activity to complete over the year would dig this.

*Case in point: the Julie/Julia project. Sheer genius, that idea.

The list goes up: 105 Things in 2005

Optimism springs eternal. Here's this year's list. I'm changing the approach this year -- fewer big projects, more incremental goals. The one thing I (re)learned in 2004: doing something big -- i.e., running a marathon -- is the result of acquiring several incremental habits and focusing on those daily. So 2005 is the year of incremental acts. You're free to draw your own conclusions about whatever larger goals I'm hoping to hit by this time next year.